The Minster School

For a school that claims to be Christian, the leadership team and Governors have put academic pride and the ability to boast good results above pastoral care. There are no second chances here. Considering pupils from poorer backgrounds without private tuition are the ones who are more likely to fail, it's difficult to square this with the CoE Christian ethos.

If you're one of the six pupils in every class of 30 not passing GCSE maths and English with a grade 4, prepare to get cast out because the sixth form is primarily interested in boasting about how wonderful it is for university entrants and so there is no opportunity for pupils to resit multiple failed GCSEs. Results day is a brutal day of rejection for any pupils who don't get their grades. No tissues at the ready or kind words that this isn't the end. Just kids covered in a shroud of failure and tears, ushered into the reject room. Some pupils don't have parents with them due to work commitments. The worry here is how badly some pupils take this harsh news and its delivery, before being discarded.

Likewise, if you don't get the grades you need at A-level, tough luck. No chance to resit here in the following academic year. This also creates elevated levels of anxiety, upset and pressure in other students, who see their peers being cast out.

That said, this is a great school if you're academic and even better if your parents can top up your learning with private tuition as top marks are embraced here above all else and there is opportunity for the brightest select few with financial support.

Disgusting school
Deceiving, staff are absolutely awful to the kids
Pastoral and mental health support is next to none
Children and frequently shouted at when in need of help
Majority of staff seem oblivious they are working with actual growing blossoming teenagers
It may seem good from the outside but even after a few months of going you really see how blunt, uncaring and inhumane situations and the children are handled.
Don’t think about contacting the school for help with issues as a parent either, the response (if you get one) will be I assure you completely useless.

From the outside the school seems like a good place to send your children, with a good recommendation but after spending 4 years at the place I can confidently say that it has been one of the worst experiences of my life! The food is often undercooked, there are rules that insanely restrict everything a student can do, the punishment system is absurd and inhumane (isolation's a common punishment) and whilst most teachers are well trained and good at their jobs I have found that upper management staff are poor at completing tasks required by their jobs and show no respect to the students for they refuse to listen to any of their complaints, even dire and serious ones.