The Enrichment programme is designed to raise the aspirations, achievement and cultural experience of pupils by extending study beyond the confines of the curriculum, and by co-ordinating initiatives between subject disciplines.
Pupils are encouraged to learn skills that would not normally be acquired in the classroom, to develop new interests (or existing passions), and gain a stronger sense of how their academic study has a wider relevance.
The enrichment programme for the Shell (Year 9) gives new pupils a sense of place. They are encouraged to consider the school in its cultural and historical context, both within the setting of Marlborough town and the Wiltshire landscape.
In their first term, all Shell pupils walk across the Downs from Avebury back to the College, starting at the great stone circle and following the 'Herepath', the Saxon military road over the chalk farmland.
A sense of time and place may be developed by field trips to Salisbury Cathedral, to the Roman villa at Chedworth in the Cotswolds, to the Empire Museum in Bristol, as well as by further walks in the countryside and woods around Marlborough.
The creative arts are well served by the curriculum at Marlborough, but the enrichment programme allows pupils to build on a particular passion. There will be the opportunity for Remove (Year 10) pupils, for example, to take part in a film-making project over two terms (a joint venture with St John's School in Marlborough).
There are also the College publications to which pupils may contribute: the Heretick magazine, which takes an alternative look at current affairs and preoccupations, and Piccalilli, the magazine showcasing creative writing and artwork.
For the Sixth Form, there is a cycle of seminars on cultural history - from the ancient world to the twentieth century - given by teachers sharing their passions, or by the students themselves.
All this aims to introduce pupils to new experiences and ideas, to broaden their horizons, and to raise expectations.
There is already a busy schedule of visiting speakers and performers organised by particular departments.
The Enrichment programme supports events which might fall outside the brief of a particular subject discipline, such as concerts of contemporary music, collaborations between musicians and writers, visits by dance companies and lectures on topical concerns such as global warming.
Recent visitors have included the singer, Amy Wadge, the fingerstyle guitarist, Preston Reed, and the award-winning Motionhouse company.