Sporting Mindset

One of the finest sporting schools globally, it’s little wonder that Reston School achieves the highest performance accolades, as James Matthews discovers

Repton School in Derbyshire doesn’t just believe that top-flight sporting commitments and excellent academics can be combined; the school knows that they can. In fact, Repton would go as far to say that sporting and academic outcomes can be mutually reinforcing and they are proud to support that ethos.

For years, Repton has been among the best sports schools globally, with world-class coaches, facilities and programmes. Repton’s alumni include more than 150 first-class cricketers, Premier League footballers and hockey players who have represented GB and other nations in the last four Olympic Games.

The University of Cambridge’s 2019 study, the Academic Performance Report, looked at 4000 results of undergraduates.

Their findings showed that those who represented the university in sport were more likely to perform well, with 5%more achieving 1st class degrees and 11% more achieving 2:1swhen compared to undergraduates as a whole.

Academic outcomes for Repton’s scholar-athletes at A-Level outstripped the average A-Level outcomes. Last year’s Head of School, a GB U21 hockey player, received four A*sat A Level. Their swim Captain, another with international honours, also left Repton with a straight run of top grades. Three of their elite hockey players won entry to Cornell, Dartmouth and Princeton – the most competitive Ivy League universities in the States.

100% of Repton pupils do three sessions of sport, week in, week out. 80% of Repton pupils regularly compete for the school. The full-boarding ethos at the school and the fact that Repton accommodates its teaching staff so they can be constantly on hand, also extends the time available to pupils; not only to work and to train, but – and this is vitally important - to be regular teenagers with time to themselves.