'Results in 2003 were significantly higher than national averages. In 2002 two-thirds of students taking the examination gained A or B grade.'

'The teaching of physics is competent and challenging'

'Teachers have excellent specialist knowledge'

Department description: One of the beauties of Physics is the realisation that as your understanding of it grows, so does your perception of the world about you. Besides acquiring a greater understanding of principles and accumulating a body of knowledge, each Physics course will help you function more effectively by developing your problem analysis, logical thinking, mathematical and practical skills.

In the lower school, Physics is studied in conjunction with Biology and Chemistry as part of the Key Stage 3 Science curriculum. The department offers Year 7 and 8 pupils the opportunity to receive science mentoring with high achieving Year 12 and 13 students.

At GCSE level, we consider the application of Physics in the home, in transport, medicine, research, industry, energy production, meteorology, communications and cosmology. Coursework forms an integral part of GCSEs now, and the staff are experienced and knowledgeable and, as such, we achieve impressive results every year.

At A level, the syllabus covers the fundamentals of mechanics, radioactivity, electricity and thermal physics, before work on an optional topic such as astrophysics or particle physics and their applications. In Year 13, the ideas learnt at GCSE and AS level are further expanded, and theories on quantum phenomena, and fields and forces are used and demonstrated quantitatively.