Basic Information & Location
DLD College London is located in the heart of London overlooking Westminster, Big Ben and the Thames River. The school was founded in 1931. It has changed its educational offering from providing tutoring for Oxbridge and Colonial Service entrance exams to specializing in A-Level and GCSE teaching. From joining the group of Abbey College in the 1980s and 1990s, to becoming a part of Alpus Plus Group, the school has built up its own success in assisting the academic development of students. Nowadays, the college is having two other sister schools in Cambridge and Manchester.
Academic Development
DLD College aims to maintain a ‘gold standard’ of education quality. The class size is small to enable students and teachers to communicate better, in order to bring better learning experience. According to the ISI inspection in 2011, DLD has many strengths and no major weaknesses. Over the last decade, the school have placed over 600 students at Russell Group universities, over 50 students at Oxbridge. In 2017, 99% of students passes A-Level, with 41% students scored an A*-A grade and 70% scored an A*-B grade.
Similar to its sister schools, DLD College London is offering various programmes for its 511 students . For GCSE students, there are programmes from one to two years. The former is an intensive one, focusing on a selection of traditional subjects that equip students for A-Level programme. The latter is focusing on bringing up overall standards of students first, preparing them to be successful at GCSE level. To whom is preparing for A-Level, there are 31 courses for them to choose. The courses are normally taught over two years; there are opportunities to study courses like Mathematics, Economics and Chemistry over 18 months.
Students that pursuing an alternative to A-Level can choose to take the BTEC programme. It is a work-related qualification that provides more practical approach to learning alongside a key theoretical background. Plus, it is the most widely-recognized qualification for admission to higher education. In 2015, 95% of universities and colleges accepted students with BTEC qualifications, including those from the Russell Group. At the college, students can choose among Business Studies, Music Technology and Digital Media Production. For the duration of course, it depends on every individual’s own level and need.
Students aged 17 or over can also consider the one-year intensive International Foundation Programmes. The college is offering six pathways, including Engineering, Humanities and Fashion Management. All programmes have a common Key Components strand which comprises of Essential Mathematics, Personal Development and Academic Skills and research, which aim to equip students with necessary skills required for undergraduate study.
Students can consider to join the EPQ (Extended Project Qualification), which gives the opportunity to write an extended dissertation and deliver a presentation on a subject that is of particular interest to them. It also helps with the earning of UCAS points which enhances university application. Universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and UCL recognize that this programme will provide students chances to develop research and academic skills for successfully study at universities.
Pastoral Care & Boarding
The college is the only boarding school in Central London with boarding on site. The 15-floor building is located right above the college, offering 250 en-suite bedrooms. The house is also home to their five Resident Houseparents, the Director of Boarding and his wife. The house is split into different groups that med “Huddles’, separating boys and girls on different floors. There are small number of twin rooms which allow students to share a room with another boarder of the same gender and similar age. Single rooms have four varieties and are priced by size. All students must return by the appropriate curfew, Compulsory School Age students (under 16s) must sign out in groups, and they must sign back into the house in the same groups.
Extracurricular & personal development
Enrichment is also a valued criterion. Year 12 and 13 students can participate in the newly devised DLD Diploma, by completing a compulsory component one, which is the written element and choose two options from component two. Each student would be set individual targets. For component 2, students can choose from various choices, from sports, language, art to computer.
The college is offering a unique programme, the Alpha Scholar Programme to develop students into leaders. Aside from the dedicated A-Level lessons, there are tailored co-curricular activities that foster their independent and collaborative learning. The programme runs for two years, offering ten places every year. Scholarships are a non means-tested fee remission; the maximum can be 50% reduction of tuition fees. The enrichment programme includes seminars, charity projects, educational visits and so on.