Most school open days follow a familiar script. A polished tour, a prepared talk, carefully chosen students offering rehearsed answers to questions you have not quite worked out how to ask yet. You leave with a brochure, a tote bag, and roughly the same level of uncertainty you arrived with.
Collingham does not run an open day. It runs an Open House – and the difference is deliberate.
What actually happens at a Collingham Open House
The Open House takes place at Collingham’s Sixth Form site at 23 Collingham Gardens, SW5, and runs from 9.30am to 5.30pm. It is a normal working day. Real lessons are happening. Real students are there – not because they have been asked to perform, but because that is where they would be on any ordinary day.
You are invited to walk into that and see what it actually looks like.
That means subject discussions with specialist tutors who have spent years – in many cases decades – teaching their discipline. It means honest conversations with current students who are not delivering a pitch. It means meeting Principal James Allder in person and asking him anything you want about how the college works, what it expects of its students, and what students can expect from it.
Why an Open House and not an Open Day
The honest answer is that a large open day is designed to impress, not to inform. When a school opens its doors to hundreds of families simultaneously, the experience is necessarily managed. What you see is a curated version of the place, not the place itself.
Collingham is a small college – around 150 students across both sites – and the Open House reflects that. It is a smaller, more personalised experience. You get time with the people who matter, in a space that looks exactly as it does on any ordinary day. That is a more useful basis for a decision than a polished showcase.
Who the Open House is for
Families considering A Level study at Collingham – whether that is a standard two-year course starting in Year 12, a one-year retake programme, or a course that needs to fit around specific personal circumstances.
If you are thinking about sixth form options for the coming year or beyond, the Open House is the right moment to come and see what Collingham actually is. Not what the website says it is. Not what the brochure suggests. The real thing, on a real day.
What to expect when you arrive
You will be welcomed by the admissions team and introduced to relevant tutors based on the subjects you are interested in. Current students will show you around and talk honestly about their experience. You will have time with James Allder. There is no rigid itinerary – the visit is shaped around you and what you need to know.
Spaces are limited by design. Registering in advance means the team can make sure your visit is properly looked after from the moment you arrive.
How to find us
The Sixth Form is based at 23 Collingham Gardens, London SW5 0HL. The nearest stations are Gloucester Road (District, Circle and Piccadilly lines) and Earls Court (District and Piccadilly lines), both a short walk away. If you are driving, parking is available on surrounding streets.
A college built differently
Collingham has been in Kensington since 1975. The Sixth Form sits in a historic Arts and Crafts townhouse that has belonged to education for over a century. Classes are capped at nine students, with an average of five. Teachers go by first names. There is no uniform. Students are treated as adults from the moment they arrive.
The philosophy has not changed in fifty years: students learn best when they are trusted to think for themselves. Small classes, discussion-based lessons, specialist teachers who are genuinely expert in their subject. Independent minds, since 1975.
The Open House is your chance to see whether that is the right environment for your child.
Check upcoming Open House dates and register your place. Spaces are limited. Prefer to talk first? Call Admissions on 020 7244 1860.