“A well-judged range of teaching strategies is used by teachers. These enhance pupils’ engagement and develop their critical thinking skills.”
ISI, April 2025
Academic
Inspired to achieve their best
Thames pupils enjoy academic challenges every day and are inspired to achieve their best. Staff are passionate about their subjects, bringing academic rigour to their teaching. Underlying our philosophy of teaching is the importance of valuing every individual. Small classes enable teachers to build rapport with each pupil and nurture their gifts and talents. As pupils grow in confidence and encourage each other in the classroom, we find their appetite for academic study increases.
It is not either/or at Thames
The highly flexible option blocking at GCSE and A level means that our pupils pursue subject combinations which will open doors to their future career choices. This may mean taking a wide range of subjects at GCSE including separate sciences, visual and performing arts, languages and humanities allowing for plenty of cross over. Equally other pupils are able focus on achieving excellence in a smaller range of choices.
Our pupils achieve highly at both GCSE and A Level. In 2025 a third of pupils achieved at least five 9-7 grades at GCSE with many achieving a grade or more higher than their baseline predictions. At A Level 39% of grades were A*/A and 85% A*/C.
Since starting their journey at Thames, a significant number have achieved first class honour degrees and many have gone on to enjoy a wide range of careers including law, engineering, architecture and medicine as well as in the creative arts.
“Teachers build highly positive relationships with pupils across all year groups, fostering a collaborative and purposeful learning environment where pupils take increasing leadership of their learning.”
ISI, April 2025
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Texts are carefully chosen to provide diverse and exciting challenges. Lively debate is encouraged in class as is experimentation in a wide range of writing styles. Pupils take both English Language and English Literature GCSEs and many go on to study English Literature at A level.
Pupils participate in national competitions such as the Orwell Youth Prize, Poetry by Heart and the Independent Schools Association creative writing competitions and debating contests.
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Pupils follow a curriculum that draws on the best teaching techniques worldwide. The Year 7 curriculum adopts a variety of methods including visual processes so that younger pupils develop an excellent grasp of Number which lays the foundation for algebra, geometry and data handling.
In addition to Mathematics IGCSE, our most able pupils may take Further Maths in Year 11 as a preparation for A level. Enrichment opportunities are also offered to all our pupils who participate in national competitions including the UKMT Maths Challenge.
Maths is the most popular A level subject at Thames.
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Pupils study one, two or three of Biology, Chemistry and Physics at GCSE and a significant number go on to study at least one science at A level and beyond.
Pupils take part in dissections club, Bronze and Silver Crest Awards and national competitions run by the Royal Societies of Biology, Chemistry and Physics respectively.
Pupils have enjoyed Science/Geography trips to Iceland to learn about the glacial landscape and to the Bay of Naples to learn about the volcanic landscape.
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Pupils learn about our heritage and culture as well as significant people who and events that have shaped our nation and our world.
Key Stage 3 classes study the Romans, the Middle Ages, the Tudors and Stuarts, the British Empire, the slave trade and the Twentieth Century. The GCSE course includes units on Migration to Britain, Elizabethan England, Germany, 1918-1939 and Superpower Relations and the Cold War.
History is used to reinforce literacy skills and pupils learn how to structure and write extended essays, developing the ability to evaluate sources, think critically and analyse events.
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Geography stimulates an interest in and a sense of wonder about places, helping young people make sense of a complex and dynamically changing world. It explains how places and landscapes are formed, how people and their environment interact, and how a diverse range of economies, societies and environments are interconnected. Pupils develop a broad range of skills and we aim to ensure they complete at least one fieldwork investigation in each school year.
The Cambridge IGCSE Geography course gives pupils a solid grounding in all traditional topics in Geography, as well as the chance to demonstrate their understanding of map reading and completing a geographical investigation.
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At Thames pupils are taught to engage positively with other people. Learning to listen, seeking to understand, and respecting others’ faiths and worldviews is essential. The Key Stage 3 curriculum prepares pupils for adult life by teaching them about the major world religions.
Religious Studies GCSE is taken in Year 10 and focuses on Christianity, Judaism and Christian ethics.
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Business Studies IGCSE is a popular option that helps pupils understand all elements of business activity, including types of business ownership and objectives, employment and human resources, marketing, the practicalities of operating and expanding a business, basic financial literacy and ways in which businesses can be affected by government decisions. It provides a base from which pupils can pursue Business Studies or Economics at A level as well as applying their knowledge to self-employment and business leadership in the future.
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At Thames we value languages and believe they are important to education in the modern world. We teach Spanish and French with a high percentage of pupils achieving 9-7 grades. We offer the chance to take the HSK Levels Mandarin (Chinese proficiency test) which can open the path to later study or work in China.
Bilingual pupils may take GCSEs in their second language in Year 8, 9 or 10, including in Russian, Modern Greek, Mandarin and Japanese.
Overseas trips give pupils the opportunity to practise using their language skills and broaden their cultural understanding. Past language trips include Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Paris and Lille.
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The Year 7 and 8 curriculum focuses on hardware, software, the Internet, AI, e-safety, digital art, and coding in Scratch and Python. Pupils who choose the subject in Year 9 dig deeper into Python programming and begin to learn the fundamentals of Boolean logic, data representation, computer architecture and cyber security. This serves as a foundation to the IGCSE in Computer Science, which is offered in Years 10 and 11. Students are encouraged to think deeply about ethical issues and to develop career-ready skills through projects such as up-cycling used chromebooks, exploring the limits of AI, or developing advanced programming projects for entry into coding competitions.
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Pupils who display high ability, a specific talent or are gifted in a particular area are noticed and nurtured at Thames. Pupils are inspired to aim as high as possible and not to limit themselves. Challenges involve application of higher order thinking skills and an expectation to identify deeper layers of meaning.
Our co-curricular programme enables able, gifted and talented pupils to expand their repertoire of skills and explore and apply individual areas of gifting. This is through internal and external competitions, clubs, societies and the many opportunities within London.
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We have provision for a small number of pupils with mild Specific Learning Difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or dyscalculia. Our excellent strategies for these pupils is recognised by the Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic Pupils (CReSTeD) whose consultant described Thames as a ‘blueprint’ for all schools aiming to meet the needs of mainstream pupils alongside some with additional learning needs.
Pupils with mild Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) are often highly creative and take full advantage of the exceptionally high standard of our creative and performing arts departments, often opting to complete two Art GCSEs, take part in performances or become key members of our sports teams. Others may be gifted in specific areas and take advantage of the extension opportunities offered in subjects like Maths, Science, History and English. By providing the correct strategies, many pupils with SpLD achieve highly and inspire others.
Specialist one-to-one tuition can be provided which is in addition to the school fees.
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In 2025 the percentage of grades at 9-7 was 43% and 9-4 was 88%. 34% of pupils achieved at least five 9-7 grades, 44% at least three 9-7 grades. Many achieved over a grade ahead of their baseline predictions across all their subjects.
A high percentage of 9-7 grades was achieved in subjects including: Music 80% 9-7; Further Maths 75% 9-7; Art 73% 9-7; French 71%, 9-7; Spanish 67% 9-7; Physics 60% 9-7; 3D Design 58% 9-7; History 53% 9-7; Religious Studies 47% 9-7; Biology 46% 9-7; Chemistry 46% 9-7; Computer Science 40% 9-7; Maths 39% 9-7; Geography 38% 9-7; English Literature 26% 9-7 and English Language 24% 9-7
Focused teaching, individual attention and personal encouragement enable pupils to reach and in most cases exceed their potential. Based on standardised predictors most of our pupils consistently achieve grades that are significantly above their ability.