CCSS is one of Britain's largest independent residential Sixth-Form colleges. Most students join at sixteen and stay for two years, taking A and A/S levels in a range of subjects (with no restriction on subject combinations) which includes the main Science, Arts and Social Science options and 'newer' subjects such as Textiles, Theatre Studies, Psychology and Media Studies. Others join after a year in the Sixth form elsewhere or to follow specialist one-year, re-take or revision courses. The College also offers a full two-year GCSE course and a more intensive three-term programme.
CCSS achieves excellent results, especially measured in value-added terms, from an intake which includes some who met the minimum requirement of 4 C grades at GCSE and others who go on to Oxford and Cambridge. Its success can be attributed to a highly qualified and committed teaching staff, the combination of small group sizes (maximum 8) and one-to-one tuition and the attention given to student welfare and support. It also owes a great deal to students' excellent response to the opportunities offered to take on greater responsibility for themselves and their work and to the very close links established with parents. Outside the classroom CCSS staff provide an extensive programme of sporting, social and cultural activities. Approximately two-thirds of students are residential and are accommodated in the College's own, fully supervised houses where the aim is to provide a comfortable, secure domestic environment for study and relaxation.
