Mount Kelly, Tavistock | The Good Schools Guide

Mount Kelly
Parkwood Road
Tavistock
Devon
PL19 0HZ
Head: Mr Guy Ayling
T 01822 813193
F 01822 612050
E [email protected]
W www.mountkelly.com
A mainstream independent school for pupils aged from 13 to 18 with a linked junior school
Boarding: Yes
Local authority: Devon
Pupils: 584; sixth formers: 128
Religion: Church of England
Fees: Day £18,000, Boarding £31,410 pa
Open days: October
Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report
ISI report: View the ISI report
Linked schools: Mount Kelly Prep

What The Good Schools Guide says..

It’s a lively place but also cheerful, friendly and definitely not frenetic, even at exam time. It is old fashioned enough to insist on school blazers with ribbons and badges festooned all over athletic gods and goddesses, but musicians, artists, thespians and prefects can be equally decorated - the school is just good at celebrating and acknowledging. Mount Kelly is rapidly becoming synonymous with swimming. Its reputation, built up over 30 years, is currently growing under the tutelage of Robin Brew, ex-pupil and international and Olympic swimmer, who heads a…

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What the school says...

Mount Kelly, set on the edge of Dartmoor National Park between Exeter and Plymouth, combines academic excellence with an outstanding range of learning opportunities outside the classroom and exceptional pastoral care. The School, for girls and boys aged between 3 and 18, offers both day and a full range of boarding provision and currently has 575 pupils.
Children at Mount Kelly are nurtured, guided and inspired to develop their own skills and interests. Each pupil joins one of the Schools Houses, serving as a boarders home from home and a day pupils working base. Boarders comprise approximately 50% of the Colleges pupils and are fully integrated with the day pupil body. Pupils enjoy small class sizes offering exceptional levels of individual focus. Each pupil is cared for by a Housemaster or Housemistress and assigned a dedicated tutor who oversees their academic, pastoral and co-curricular progress. This comprehensive tutoring system produces happy pupils who are confident, well-rounded and ambitious.
Mount Kelly offers a high standard of academic schooling including a proven track record of 100% A-level pass rates, 70% awarded at A* B and 85% gaining places at their top choices of universities. Mount Kelly also has an excellent reputation for 100% Common Entrance success and top Scholarships to a range of leading national schools.
The School is well known for its strong commitment to co-curricular activities and the majority of pupils are involved with at least one of the following: the Combined Cadet Force, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Marathon or the Ten Tors Challenge. The Saturday School Programme, optional for all day pupils, gives the children the opportunity to explore a wide range of interests with activities from kayaking to cookery. In addition the academic staff, in collaboration with well-resourced on-site Adventure Centre, runs the innovative Learning Outside the Classroom Programme utilising activities from coasteering to creative writing on location. Mount Kelly is well known for its world class coaching facility for swimming and an elite training programme which is fully integrated within the School. Mount Kelly has produced competitors at the last five Olympic and Paralympic games. ...Read more

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Other features

All-through school (for example 3-18 years). - An all-through school covers junior and senior education. It may start at 3 or 4, or later, and continue through to 16 or 18. Some all-through schools set exams at 11 or 13 that pupils must pass to move on.

Sports

Shooting

Sailing

What The Good Schools Guide says

Head master and principal of Mount Kelly Foundation

Since April 2019, Guy Ayling, previously head of Llandovery College in Wales. Degree in medieval history from St Andrews; spent 15 years at Sedbergh, where he was housemaster and senior deputy head. A keen rugby and hockey player, he captained the St Andrews 1st XV and played for Scottish Universities. He and his wife, Heather, have three sons.

Academic matters

A level results commendable, especially for a school which is not academically selective, with maths definitely impressive at all levels. In 2019, 31 per cent of grades were A*/A and 54 per cent A*-B; at GCSE 41 per cent A*-A/9-7 grades.

Class sizes are small – sometimes very small at A level. Currently the school will put on a course for one pupil – sadly necessary...

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Overall school performance (for comparison or review only)

Independent schools frequently offer IGCSEs or other qualifications alongside or as an alternative to GCSE. The DfE does not record performance data for these exams so independent school GCSE data is frequently misleading; parents should check the results with the schools.

Results by exam and subject

Subject results

Entry/Exit

Special Education Needs

Please enter a general description of your SEN provision here here

Condition	Provision for in school
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Aspergers	Y
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders	Y
CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia
Dyscalculia
Dysgraphia
Dyslexia
Dyspraxia
English as an additional language (EAL)
Genetic
Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory
Has SEN unit or class	Y
HI - Hearing Impairment
Hospital School
Mental health
MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment
Natspec Specialist Colleges
OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
PD - Physical Disability
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
Special facilities for Visually Impaired
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
VI - Visual Impairment

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Who came from where

School	Year	Places	Scholarships	Description
Mount Kelly Prep	2019			Majority to senior school (90%)

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