All prospective students attend an interview and should bring with them their most recent school report.

Places are held open for six weeks from the date of the offer letter apart from during the August post-results recruitment period when places are honoured on a first come first served basis.

Joining Lower Sixth

As well as a satisfactory reference from the applicant's school, the entrance requirements to study academic A Levels at DLD are six C grades at GCSE, one of which must be in English Language or Mathematics. Students normally take four AS subjects in Lower Sixth, one of which will be dropped after AS exams.

Joining Upper Sixth

An increasing number of students join us at the start of Upper Sixth. They may have become disenchanted with their schools, or have been studying A Level subjects which they now regret taking. Others will have done less well in their AS exams than expected and it is felt that an intensive year preparing for A2 is needed to ensure the best possible A Level results.

Some of these students will be recommended to follow a one year intensive A Level course if they have not satisfactorily mastered the content of the AS syllabus. Others will continue at A2 level in the normal way, and can retake AS modules if marks were disappointing. Where students have studied a syllabus on a different examining board, permission is usually granted by the receiving examining board to allow the AS result to be transferred to the A2 exam board.

The new system is much more flexible for students moving schools in the middle of the Sixth Form than previously. In sum, it is better for students to transfer at the beginning of Upper Sixth than to risk disappointing A Level grades a year later, and then be faced with re-takes.

Make an Enquiry to begin your application