NCS Liberal Arts School
The NCS Liberal Arts school is designed to prepare students for applications to Humanities and Arts pathways at top universities. Students will be equipped to pursue the answers to life and humanity’s great questions and challenges. It delivers an overview of the broad sweep of human thought, a training in how to think dialectically and logically, and a platform to master the art of rhetoric.
Together, these comprise the famous “Trivium” which classically prepared students for successful liberal academic study.
The Socratic Method is key in how I would like to approach my future studies. You’re never resolute with one idea, but rather you’re always trying to look for more and endeavour to gain this thirst for knowledge.
Mia – NCS Student
As part of the NCS Liberal Arts School, students will receive and participate in:
- An overview of 'the best of what has been thought and said' - knowledge and cultural capital well beyond what is learnt in the classroom.
- A grounding in classical ideas and their importance.
- Workshops on critical thinking.
- Conceptual understanding that cuts across humanities subject boundaries.
- Practice in the art of Socratic questioning and logic.
- Experience of researching and presenting an academic project followed by participation in a research conference.
- Training in the techniques and art of rhetoric (public speaking), leading to presenting a talk at an NCS TED event.
- Visits to top Universities to visit Liberal Arts departments.
- Lectures from academics active in the Liberal Arts.
What can you do with a Liberal Arts education?
The Liberal Arts School will prepare students for subject-specific courses such as History, Geography, Theology, English Literature, Classics but also courses which cut across or transcend A-Level boundaries such as PPE, HSPS, Human Sciences, Anthropology, as well as Liberal Arts itself, which is offered by Kings College London, in addition to Ivy League Universities.
By undertaking the Liberal Arts School and completing a grounding in Trivium, students will have an edge on the competition in four major ways by having:
- A wider understanding of the broad sweep of human thought which can anchor their own interests and spark their own research questions.
- Practice in the skills of critical thinking, dialectic, logic, and practice in carrying out critical research.
- Experience in presenting ideas persuasively and convincingly.
- Through the combination of these three strands, the ability to thrive and succeed in academic environments, and demonstrate this in personal statements and interviews.
The Student’s View On NCS Liberal Arts School
The Liberal Arts School is really useful with UCAS applications, because it shows that you’re able to have this independent line of inquiry.
A lot of Liberal Arts is about how to make an argument that is refined and synthezised well enough to get across to other people. Thats very useful in writing essay based subjects.
NCS Liberal Arts School Alumnus
Zereena joined The NCS in its founding year, setting a precedent for the many students who followed.
From feeling unsure of her path at 16, she then became our first student to study at Oxford and is now advising MPs in Parliament. Her journey embodies the ambition and self-belief that define our students and The NCS vision.
“I’m just really glad that I was able to go to a 6th form that is raising the standards in Newham and is helping students achieve their dreams, even dreams they didn’t know they had.”
Zereena – NCS Liberal Arts School Alumnus
What are the media saying about NCS Liberal Arts School?
“The social mobility that the NCS offers – that ticket out of poverty – leads its students to value a schooling that in the past has seemed like the preserve of the rich”
“Pupils at a leading state sixth-form college in one of London’s most deprived boroughs are to be offered a classical education like the ancient Greeks to help them win scholarships to Ivy League universities and into top jobs.”