MCS is a co-educational Independence Day school, which provides education for students aged 7 to 18.
Magdalen College School (MCS for short) was founded in 1480 by William Waynflete, the founder of Magdalen College in Oxford University. As a British independent school with a long history, MCS's initial mission is to train outstanding academic talents for Oxford University. After hundreds of years of development, the school has gradually evolved into an independent educational institution, but it still maintains close ties with Oxford University.
MCS is a co-educational Independence Day school, which provides education for students aged 7 to 18. At the age of 7-16, the school only accepts boys, while at the age of 16-18, it accepts girls at the same time. The school is divided into three departments: junior middle school (7-11 years old), senior middle school (11-16 years old) and Sixth Form(16-18 years old). Each department has its own unique education mode and support system to ensure that students get an education that meets their age and development needs. At present, the number of students in the school is about 900, and the proportion of boys and girls in the Sixth Form stage tends to be balanced.
MCS adheres to the diversified educational philosophy and is committed to providing an inclusive, inspiring and supportive learning environment for each student, helping them to achieve excellent results in academic and extracurricular activities. Through rich campus life and various community activities, students can not only improve their communication and cooperation ability, but also cultivate interdisciplinary thinking mode.
MCS (Oxford Boys' School), located in the center of Oxford, England, is located on the picturesque Cherwell River, near the famous Oxford University Botanical Garden. The environment here is elegant and quiet, and the campus is full of trees and flowers, which has the unique charm of history and modernity and provides an ideal environment for students to study and grow up. The campus of MCS is surrounded by the buildings of Oxford University. Students studying in this atmosphere can not only feel the strong academic atmosphere, but also stimulate their thirst for knowledge and exploration spirit.
The school has an excellent geographical location, only a few minutes' walk from the main transportation hub of Oxford city center, which is convenient for parents and visitors to travel. Whether by public transport or on foot, students and parents can easily reach the major cultural and historical attractions in the urban area. As a world-famous academic and cultural center, Oxford is rich in museums, libraries and art venues, providing students with a wide range of cultural resources and practical opportunities.
In addition, the academic resources and activities of Oxford University also provide MCS students with unique advantages. Students can participate in various lectures, seminars and academic activities and get close contact with world-class academic ideas and research results. This environment not only broadens students' horizons, but also lays a solid foundation for their personal development and career planning.
Achievements in 2024
1. Overview of A-level results
In the A-level examination in 2024, the students of Magdalen College (MCS) made remarkable achievements, which fully demonstrated the school's outstanding performance in the academic field. The specific data shows that MCS's overall A-level pass rate and excellent performance ratio are significantly higher than the British national average. In 2024, 95% of the subjects in the school achieved A*-B, 81% achieved A*-A, and 42% achieved A*. It is worth mentioning that more than a quarter of the students got the highest grade of A* in at least three subjects. These data not only reflect the efforts and talents of the students, but also reflect the high-quality educational environment and support system of the school. The school's teaching methods and personalized counseling have undoubtedly played an important role in helping students achieve their academic goals.
2. General situation of GCSE results
In addition to the excellent performance of A-level, the GCSE performance of Magdalen College is equally impressive. In 2024, the school's GCSE test scores reached a new peak and became the highlight of students' academic performance. According to official statistics, 53% of GCSE scores are 9 (equivalent to A*), 78% are 9-8, 92% are 9-7, and 98% are 9-6. These data show that the school has performed quite well in all disciplines, especially in mathematics, where all students scored 9-7 points, showing the strong strength of the school in mathematics education. This achievement not only reflects students' academic ability, but also shows the success of the school in curriculum and teacher training, which can effectively stimulate students' learning potential.
3, the specific subject strengths
In the 2024 exam, the students of Magdalen College performed well in many disciplines, especially in mathematics and science subjects (such as biology, chemistry and physics). All the students got high scores of 9-7 in mathematics subjects, reflecting the advantages of the school in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). In addition, in humanities subjects such as English literature and history, the students performed equally well, and many students got 9-8 points in these subjects, showing their profound knowledge in literature and analytical subjects.
These outstanding achievements not only prove the educational quality and faculty of Magdalen College, but also lay a solid foundation for students' future academic and professional development. The success of the school lies not only in academic achievements, but also in cultivating students' critical thinking and creativity and helping them stand out in the ever-changing world. In the future, the school will continue to strive to provide excellent educational experience and help students make greater achievements in their respective fields.
Regular curriculum setting
1. Core courses
The curriculum system of Magdalen College is based on extensive and in-depth core courses, so as to lay a solid academic foundation for students. The core courses cover many fields, including English, mathematics, science (including biology, chemistry and physics), humanities (such as history, geography and religious studies) and modern foreign languages (French, German, Spanish and Chinese).
The school attaches great importance to the cultivation of language and literature, and the content of English courses is substantial. It not only requires students to understand and analyze literary works, but also enhances students' ability of expression and logic through writing and debate. Mathematics and science courses focus on strict academic standards and experimental teaching, encouraging students to accumulate knowledge in scientific exploration and experimental operation. These core courses not only conform to the British national curriculum standards, but also are carefully optimized according to the school's own teaching philosophy, which creates a solid knowledge condition for students' further study, and also lays a good foundation for cultivating students' critical thinking and problem-solving ability.
2. Elective courses
In addition to the core courses, Magdalen College also offers a variety of elective courses to meet the needs of students' personal interests and potential development. Elective courses include art, music, drama, computer science, economics and psychology.
The art and music course has prepared various learning contents such as creation, performance and historical analysis for interested students, and the school has a special art studio and music center to facilitate students to create and display works. In drama course, students can participate in the whole process from script creation to performance, which helps to cultivate their performance ability and teamwork spirit. Computer science course covers cutting-edge contents such as programming, algorithm and data analysis, which can help students build basic knowledge in modern science and technology. The setting of these elective courses not only gives students the opportunity to explore their own interests in different fields, but also broadens their future academic choices, increases their advantages and promotes the all-round development of students.
3. Sixth Form course
Magdalen College offers extensive and challenging courses for the Sixth Form(16-18 years old), laying a solid foundation for students' college application and career development. In the Sixth Form stage, students can choose A-level courses. The A-level courses provided by the school cover traditional disciplines and emerging fields, such as mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, history, geography, psychology, economics and computer science. These courses are taught by experienced teachers and accompanied by strict academic guidance to ensure that each student can achieve excellent results in the A-level exam. In addition, Magdalen College has also launched a unique "Waynflete Studies" project, which is a kind of course similar to research projects. Under the guidance of tutors, students can choose their own topics of interest for in-depth exploration. Through this project, students can not only cultivate their research ability and autonomous learning habits, but also experience the academic research process in advance, which is of great benefit to their independent study and scientific research development in universities in the future. This comprehensive curriculum not only improves students' academic ability, but also provides strong support for their personal growth and career planning.
Characteristic extracurricular activities
1. Clubs and societies
Magdalen College School (MCS) has created a variety of clubs and community activities for students. There are more than 40 clubs here, which are distributed in many fields such as academics, arts, sports and community services.
Academic clubs, such as debate clubs, math clubs and science clubs, exist to enable students to further deepen their understanding of subject knowledge in their spare time, and at the same time improve their critical thinking ability and expression ability. Art clubs, such as photography clubs, film production clubs and literary creation clubs, are designed to stimulate students to display their talents in the creative field. Sports clubs include football, rugby and cricket, which provide students with a platform to show their skills and exercise their physical fitness. In addition, MCS also has community service clubs, such as volunteer service teams, whose purpose is to encourage students to participate in charity and community activities, thus cultivating their sense of social responsibility. These activities not only expand students' extracurricular knowledge, but also promote the development of teamwork and leadership.
2. Drama and music activities
Drama and music are two key parts of MCS extracurricular activities, and the school actively guides students to participate in these two fields and show their own style.
In terms of drama, the school organizes many performances every year, which are rich in content, ranging from Shakespeare's classic plays to modern plays. Students here not only have the opportunity to perform, but also try behind-the-scenes work such as script creation, stage design and lighting and sound management. The school is equipped with advanced theater facilities, creating a professional performance environment for students. In the field of music, the school has a variety of music teams such as orchestra, choir and jazz band to meet the needs of students with different musical interests. Students can show their talents in music competitions and concerts inside and outside the school. Music Festival and Drama Festival held every year are important cultural activities of MCS, which attract extensive attention and become a key platform to show the achievements of school art education.
3, outdoor adventure and sports events
MCS attaches great importance to the development of students' physical fitness and team spirit, and exercises students' comprehensive quality through various outdoor adventure activities and sports events.
Outdoor adventure activities include hiking, rock climbing and canoeing, which gives students the opportunity to go out of the classroom, challenge themselves and strengthen their physical strength. The school organizes large-scale adventure activities such as "Scottish Wilderness Expedition" every year, so that students can accept the test of physical strength and willpower in the natural environment. At the same time, the school actively participates in various inter-school sports events, among which team events such as rugby, cricket and hockey are deeply loved by students. By participating in sports events, students can not only improve their sports skills, but also cultivate a firm spirit of cooperation and sportsmanship in the competition. MCS provides professional coaching guidance and support for outstanding athletes to help them achieve higher achievements in the field of sports. These outdoor adventures and sports events provide diverse choices for students' growth, which is conducive to cultivating their independence, leadership and teamwork ability.
In the long years, MCS has cultivated countless outstanding graduates in many fields such as academics, arts and sports. Among its alumni groups, well-known scholars, scientists, writers and Olympic athletes come forth in large numbers. Waynflete's school-running philosophy puts rigorous academic training and all-round quality training in an important position, and this concept has become the educational purpose that MCS has always adhered to. Every year, the school will carry out activities to commemorate the founding of the school, in which the educational ideals and outstanding achievements left by the founders will be revisited, so as to further deepen the sense of identity between teachers and students on the history of the school and to better inherit and continue the spirit and culture of the school.