GSI Pathway – Growing Success and Inspiration

Our GSI (Gramma School Intake) Pathway is designed to stretch, challenge, and inspire high‑achieving students from Year 7 through to Key Stage 4. Across English, Maths and Science, students access a rich programme of extended learning, competitions, specialist projects and early‑entry opportunities. The pathway ensures that our most academically able learners are supported to achieve exceptional outcomes while developing independence, curiosity and academic resilience.

Key Stage 3

Year 7

• Maths: Stretched curriculum with opportunities to take part in the UKMT Junior Mathematical Challenge. Weekly UKMT clubs offer additional challenges.
• Science: Students complete at‑home investigations, research projects and STEM challenges that develop scientific thinking.
• English: Enriched curriculum including the study of Lord of the Flies and cultural capital projects. Teachers tailor poetry choices to stretch students’ analytical skills.

Year 8

• Maths: Continued focus on UKMT challenges, including the Junior Mathematical Challenge and the Team Maths Challenge
• Science: CREST Award challenges build enquiry, creativity and scientific confidence.
• English: Students participate in RBG debates, spelling bees, and extended project work to begin preparing for future academic pathways.

Year 9

• Maths: Engagement with the UKMT Intermediate Mathematical Challenge and early GCSE preparation through weekly intervention.
• Science: Further stretch through investigations and CREST Award opportunities.
• English: Entry into the AQA Level 1 Project Qualification for EPQ, developing research and extended writing skills.

Key Stage 4

Years 10 & 11

• Maths: Early entry for GCSE Maths, and where possible, Further Maths. High‑achieving students may attend A‑level lessons to maintain challenge and progression.
• Science: Pathways towards GCSE Astronomy, Biology EPQ preparation, and independent research questions in Chemistry and Physics (e.g., catalysts, CRISPR, black holes).
• English: Completion of the Level 1 Extended Project and groundwork for a future EPQ.

Scholarships:

Building on the outstanding achievements of our students - including the successful admission of two pupils to the prestigious Orwell Scholarship at Eton College, two full sports scholarships awarded at Bradfield College, and full‑scholarship offers from Wellington College — we are deepening our commitment to developing a comprehensive and ambitious scholarship pathway. To ensure that even more of our young people can access these exceptional opportunities, we have strengthened our partnerships with leading organisations such as Royal SpringBoard. Through this collaboration, we aim to broaden our reach, remove barriers to elite educational experiences, and support a greater number of students in securing transformative scholarship placements.

The Access Project  

Woolwich Polytechnic began working with The Access Project in 2018. The Access Project is a charity that combines tuition and in-school mentoring to support gifted students from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve the highest possible grades and compete – successfully – for a place on some of the most competitive university courses in the country.

Students selected to join The Access Project's 4-year programme from year 10 onwards are paired with a volunteer tutor from a wide range of professions to receive free 1:1 subject tuition for an hour a week throughout the year. In addition, Access Project students benefit from a dedicated member of The Access Project team, who works at Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys two days a week to offer expert advice on A-Level choices, university applications and academic development.

Access Project students attend regular workshops arranged around their timetable and enjoy visits from speakers and outings to top universities. In addition, all Access Project students are given exclusive access to work experience and super-curricular opportunities, as well as a free subscription to Uplearn and AITutor. Students not chosen to be part of the Access Project's programme can still benefit from support with applications, admissions tests and interviews through The Access Project's Medicine and Oxbridge societies.

Across all the 35 schools currently working with the Access Project, students on the programme are more than twice as likely to end up at a top university than those of similar ability who were not on the programme. In a 2022 survey of Access Project students, almost all participants feel that the initiative has helped them become more confident (97%), more independent (98%) and more positive about their future (95%).

For the students at Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys, those enrolled on the Access Project typically apply to and receive offers from at least one top university and eight out of ten students will meet the grades needed to secure a place at one of these selective institutions.

ETONX

Etonx: courses go beyond the curriculum – Etonx helps students gain the skills they need to achieve their goals. From critical thinking to LNAT preparation, this online platform is free to all students on the scholarship programme.

Cambridge Outreach: this link is used to facilitate students’ familiarity with the learning environment at Cambridge and includes a university visit for 12 students.

Top Achievers’ Programme 

In parallel with the Access Project, Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys runs a dedicated Top Achievers’ Programme (TAP) to support the most academically able students from years 10 to 13. In years 10 and 11, our TAP coordinator will meet with students to understand their ambitions, to discuss what A-Levels they should consider and prepare them for the university application process. As much as possible, these students will be included in all the opportunities that are available to those in the sixth-form.  

In the sixth form, the most ambitious students – those applying to Oxford or Cambridge or on track to meet the grades necessary for a super-selective course in medicine, dentistry or veterinary science – will be paired up with Dr Derin Balogun, a Cambridge graduate with expertise in the university application process. She provides personalised support for our selected TAP scholars, helping them to hone university applications, practice for interviews and prepare for any additional admissions tests their universities require (such as the University Clinical Aptitude Test or UCAT). Dr Balogun has helped many of our students achieve their potential, with several students every year now securing places at Oxford or Cambridge and at medical and dental schools around the country.