March, the beginning of Spring, is a crucial point in the academic year for British schools like ours. It signals the completion of the taught elements of the A-level and IGCSE curriculum with pupils now looking ahead to a period of private revision over the forthcoming holiday before the examinations begin in earnest at the very end of April and continue through to the middle of May.
These exams are the culmination of many months of dedication to our pupils’ chosen qualifications. Aside from a clear sense of personal ambition and drive within our pupils, there is a very real feeling of excitement amongst our first cohort of Year 13s who have an additional reason to consider the significance of the next few months: they are soon to be taking their next steps on from Rugby School Japan into future study across a variety of countries, universities and subject specialisms.
A Small but Ambitious Year 13 Cohort
This year’s RSJ graduates, a small (just 10-strong) yet influential founding Sixth Form cohort, were hand-picked to join the School because of the academic and personal qualities they demonstrate. They are now preparing to sit examinations in three or four (and in some exceptional circumstances, five) A-level qualifications, some with an Extended Project Qualification on top.
This academic profile, along with the focus on their ‘whole person’ development through all the co-curricular opportunities they have taken up while at RSJ, has placed them in an incredibly strong position for acceptance onto very competitive and well-regarded courses, including: Business, Computing, East Asian Studies, English Literature, Economics, and Screen Acting.
University Acceptances So Far
Some are still awaiting responses from one of two universities in the UK, Japan and the US, and for two pupils their applications to Australia and New Zealand will come after the A-levels results are published in August. However, as of March 2025, we are very pleased to be celebrating our pupils holding offers from countries across the globe (Asia, Europe, North America, and the UK), including those from:
- Peking University, China (13th in Worldwide University Rankings 2025*)
- King’s College, London, UK (36th in Worldwide University Rankings 2025)
- University of British Columbia, Canada (41st in Worldwide University Rankings 2025)
- McGill University, Canada (45th in Worldwide University Rankings 2025)
- The University of Bristol, UK (78th in Worldwide University Rankings 2025)
- The University of Glasgow, UK (89th in Worldwide University Rankings 2025)
- The University of Sheffield, UK (98th in Worldwide University Rankings 2025)
- Bocconi University, Italy
- MetFilm School, UK
- Sophia University, Japan
*Times Higher Education World University Rankings
Some individual success stories to highlight for this cohort include:
- One pupil being awarded a One Year Entrance Scholarship from McGill University, Canada
- One pupil receiving the full complement of all five of his UK university offers by the start of December
- Two offers held by one pupil for screen acting courses, following a competitive online audition process
While this list is certainly impressive, it is only one way of measuring the uniqueness of the RSJ Sixth Form experience, but it should give a snapshot of what a bright future lies ahead for the graduates of RSJ.
The Sixth Form Experience at RSJ
In the Sixth Form, we pride ourselves on treating each pupil as an individual and, through the guidance of their subject teachers, the Sixth Form team and with the support from their HMs and tutors. This support team gives our pupils the encouragement to fan into flame their own intellectual curiosity and explore how to turn their aspirations into a reality. There is, of course, an essential practical element to this success which involves plenty of partnership and information sharing with our pupil and parent community.
How Our Sixth Formers Discovered the Best University Pathways for Them
This term, our Year 12 pupils have had weekly taught sessions from our university counsellor about the various global higher education pathways available after graduating from RSJ, including 1:1 exploratory conversations. They have had the chance to attend a Japanese universities fair, and RSJ hosted its own UK Universities Fair (with 29 universities represented) and parent information session this week. Next term will see the appointment of key mentors to work with our pupils on a regular basis to facilitate particularly competitive or niche applications with different entry or application processes, such as the creative arts, applications to Oxford and Cambridge, to drama school, for medicine-related courses, and support for applications requiring additional admission tests such as the SAT or IELTS.
We are proud of what our founding Sixth Form cohort has achieved in such a short space of time, and we know that they will do all they can to secure success in their examinations next term. We look forward to celebrating their success and future destinations come the summer.
