AN INDEPENDENT all-girls school on the outskirts of Oswestry has been shortlisted as a finalist for ‘Senior School of the Year 2020’.

Adcote School is hoping to join its prep school in winning a national award, and it marks the fifth time in three years that it has been shortlisted for a major national award.

Last year Adcote was the winner of the national award for ‘Academic Excellence and Innovation’ in the Prep/Junior School category at the Independent Schools Association (ISA) annual awards.

Now it hopes to secure a win for its Senior School in this year’s ISA Awards in recognition of far reaching changes it has implemented over the last three years.

These include the introduction of greater personalised learning, which has led to improved academic standards and exam results, and an enhanced programme of personal development that seeks to nurture individual talent and equip students with the skills they need to lead happy and successful lives.

Headmistress Diane Browne said: “This is the third year in a row that Adcote's excellence has been recognised at a national level.

“To be a finalist for ‘Senior School of the Year’ is an amazing achievement and we are so proud that our transformational journey over recent years has culminated in this incredible honour.”

Adcote, which welcomes students of all abilities between the ages of seven and 18, has seen exam results improve significantly over recent years.

Published Government performance tables for secondary schools, measuring the academic progress of individual students between GCSEs and A-level, put Adcote at the top of the table of schools in Shropshire and in the top 50 independent schools in England.

Throughout lockdown Adcote students continued their normal timetable of lessons through virtual classes led by teachers online.

Adcote is one of the first schools in Shropshire to become a Google For Education School, giving students and teachers access to innovative digital teaching and learning support tools.