Academic Curriculum
Combining high-quality teaching with a deep understanding and modern facilities
At Berkhamsted Boys we combine high-quality teaching and modern facilities with a deep understanding of our pupils and their needs.
While we have a strong focus on academic achievement, we also believe that opportunities beyond the curriculum are just as important to our pupils’ development.
We create a warm and welcoming environment where your son will thrive as he is given the attention and support that he needs to flourish – one of the many benefits of a small class size and nurturing staff.
This combination will not only guide and support your son through his school years, it will also serve him in good stead for fulfilling his true potential and achieving success in his life beyond Berkhamsted.
We seek to inspire and encourage our pupils to enliven their interests, cultivating their appetite for learning.
We teach boys at Berkhamsted to be ambitious yet compassionate, courteous and honourable. Our aim at Berkhamsted Boys is to nurture our pupils, developing them into remarkable people with the motivation to succeed in the future.
“The school’s decision to develop the use of ICT by leaders, teachers and pupils has been successful. The use of ICT in teaching and learning is a significant strength of the school.”
– Senior and Sixth ISI Report 2025
Academic Gala
At Berkhamsted, we nurture academic curiosity and encourage pupils to Aim High with Integrity and pursue their interests beyond the classroom.
A metacognitive approach
At Berkhamsted we use the latest research in cognitive science, behavioural psychology and neuroscience to inform our teaching and to ensure that our pupils are best supported in their learning. We have also been influenced by the work of Professor Guy Claxton and his learning powered approach. Metacognition encourages pupils to think about their own learning and teaches them specific strategies for planning, monitoring and evaluating how they learn. The Education Endowment Foundation (a leading educational research body) has found it to be the most successful intervention schools can make to improve pupil progress.
The academic research is clear that the brain is like a muscle inasmuch as its intelligence grows with exercise: in short, learning is learnable. Berkhamsted boys don’t just learn the content they need for exams, they learn how to best learn this content and have the chance to develop key learning skills which will serve them both in Higher Education and in the workplace. Furthermore, the language we use when talking about learning is significant, and at Berkhamsted we have a rich but common vocabulary for talking about what learners do, thus allowing pupils to make links between different topics and indeed the things they learn, within and beyond the classroom.
The labour market is becoming more dynamic and most of today’s teenagers will have 10-15 different jobs by the time they are 40. People are also living longer and are likely to be working for a longer period of their lives. Our approach encourages teachers to place as much emphasis on how we learn, as what we learn. Establishing the concept of learnable intelligence, and helping pupils to understand how they learn, will stimulate independent learning, which in turn will allow pupils to develop their resilience and flexibility when confronted with difficulty. This is something that will serve them well as they move through the school and beyond, to Higher Education and the workplace
At Berkhamsted Boys, teachers help pupils to understand the importance of these dispositions and how they can aid learning. As pupils move through the school, we start to make links between these dispositions and cognitive science. In the classroom teachers explain why pupils are completing work in a particular way and the cognitive science research is explained to them. We encourage pupils to reflect on their strengths and develop targets and interventions to develop them further. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on how they work to determine which strategies work best of them. In learning how to learn our pupils also gain confidence, regulating their thinking and emotions around learning.
Our metacognitive approach to learning is also evident in our reporting systems. School reports are addressed to the pupils themselves and focus on learning skills rather than on content. Once reports have been read our pupils write their own reflections and set their own targets for improvement. Likewise at our Learning Consultations pupils lead by reflecting on their relative strengths and weaknesses and suggesting what the way forward should look like for them.
GCSE Options
At Berkhamsted Boys the curriculum provides a broad and balanced education. From September 2021 Berkhamsted made some innovative changes to the Key Stage 4 Curriculum. As part of these changes, pupils now take three core GCSE subjects (English Literature, English Language and Maths) and alongside this have the option to choose six further subjects (one of which must be a Science). In order to keep breadth in their academic portfolio, pupils are encouraged to choose at least one language, one humanity subject and one creative subject as part of their option choices.
For some pupils there will, in addition, be the opportunity to join an Ad Science group that will undertake all three Sciences but only use two GCSE option choices. Furthermore, the most able Mathematicians will be invited to take Ad Maths GCSE. These additional options mean that some pupils will take up to 11 GCSE option choices.
Alongside their GCSE subjects, pupils will take part in the Learning Pathway Programme – an in-house curriculum designed to allow pupils to develop key skills in preparation for A level study and beyond. Some pupils will also be invited to complete an HPQ project (equivalent of ½ a GCSE).
Further details of the pathways and the subject choices can be found in the GCSE Information Booklet.
We fully support and encourage every pupil throughout the exam process, making sure that the boys’ wellbeing is a priority.
The boys are taught how to be resilient – to prepare for their exams mentally as well as academically. Our staff are always on hand to discuss any worries or concerns your sons may have.
We are proud that our pupils achieve excellent exam results with the School’s full support and encouragement.
One of the Schools’ values is to ‘aim high’ and this approach promotes a growth mindset. We seek to equip pupils with the ability to understand their own capacity for success if they work hard. In this way, our boys are motivated to take an extra step academically, challenging themselves to exceed their own expectations.
Pupils at Berkhamsted Boys are also taught to see that hard work together with a positive mindset can achieve exceptional results both inside and outside the classroom, whether on the sports pitch, the stage or in co-curricular subjects. This well-rounded approach to education sets our pupils apart in an Oxbridge interview.
During the GCSE years, we encourage our pupils to continue to take part in a wide range of extra-curricular activities as these additional achievements and commitments not only provide an all-round education, but they also help to minimise GCSE exam stress and promote good mental health.
Learning Pathways
Learning Pathways seeks to address the need to develop real world skills and experiences that are beyond the normal exam-based curriculum. Watch the video below to hear from our Head of Learning Pathways and Research, Sophie Brand
Digital Device Provision
Our core mission is to prepare young people for the world in which they will live, study and work. Educational research shows that putting pupils at the heart of their own learning helps develop strong metacognition, and digital tools enhance enquiry, collaboration, organisation and self-direction. Pupils value the opportunity to develop these skills, and will benefit in their future lives from a strong blend of digital and analogue literacies.
At Berkhamsted, we believe that digital devices have an important part to play in creating engaging lessons in the classroom. We also aim for pupils’ learning beyond the physical classroom to be as rich and intellectually stimulating as possible; capitalising on the interactivity and immediacy of our suite of tools. Pupil devices allow for a seamless learning experience between School and home, and the best possible resilience against disruption to education.
Watch the video to hear from our Group Director of EdTech, Jo Hughes, on how we use technology to enhance learning at Berkhamsted Schools Group.
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Why Berkhamsted?
The school delivers on its motto of ‘Developing Remarkable People’ – students are notably engaging and enjoy taking part in everything the school has to offer.
Oversubscribed at both major entry points (11+ and 13+), with places sought after by bright and talented pupils from far and wide, looking for more breadth than the local grammars can offer, without the hothouse feel of some schools closer to London.
