Hampshire
Headmaster: Karl Guest
Takes: boys and girls, aged 1-18
Alton School is a day school in an old manor house on a 19-acre site on the outskirts of Alton. It was established in 1938 by the Sisters of Our Lady of Providence. Parents note how well pupils were looked after when schools closed during Covid. Excellent exam results achieved in the past two years are testament to this, with 100 per cent of students having been accepted to their first choice universities. The school also offers a breadth of sport, music, drama, art and several co-curricular activities.
Day fees: £3,855 to £4,995 per term
North Yorks
Headmaster: Robin Dyer
Takes: boys and girls, aged 13-18
Originally founded for 70 boys by the Benedictine monks at Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire in 1802, Ampleforth has around 500 pupils today, of which 70 percent are Catholic. Long known as the “Catholic Eton”, its alumni include Julian Fellowes, Basil Hume, actors James Norton and Rupert Everett, sculptor Antony Gormley, and John Micklethwait (editor in chief of Bloomberg). Pupils come from all over the UK, some from as far as Dundee and Plymouth. Day pupils remain under 20 per cent.
The school remains popular with Brits who live abroad and international students, attracting children from Malta, Austria, Germany, Spain, and France including notable Catholic families who return generation after generation.
Ampleforth struggled with its historical identity and for a time its future was in peril after the 2018 IICSA report (Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse) which brought back into focus historical cases of abuse that had taken place mainly in the now-closed prep school in the 1960s and 1980s.
In response, the school brought in independent safeguarding experts and has been going through a major transformation of its safeguarding practices, culture and training under headmaster Robin Dyer. Ofsted claimed the school had failed to meet standards during an inspection in September 2021, but in an almost unprecedented retraction was recently forced to admit that three of its four findings were based on falsehoods. The future now looks much brighter for the school after working with DfE and Ofsted to agree a new action plan.
It is not clear that any of this has had any detrimental effect on the current school experience – indeed the Ofsted parental survey of December 2021 reported that 100 per cent felt their child was safe and happy at the school. Applications have also gone up in the past 2 years.
Although the monastery is no longer involved with school governance, the Benedictine ethos remains as strong as ever. School facilities have been much enhanced by a multi-million pound facility to improve business and science teaching donated by JCB chairman and old boy Lord Bamford.
Girls have been fully integrated into the school for a generation (20 years), making up 47 per cent of pupils. According to one former pupil, Cicely Craston, who delivered a petition to Downing Street to save the school, Ampleforth “provides a strong sense of community and recognition that we are made better people by each other”.
Ampleforth creates an atmosphere which encourages “fruitful friendships, regardless of gender, and ones that support each other wholeheartedly”, Craston notes. Living in a boarding house of 65 girls led her to experience “the values are naturally ingrained in girls and boys of the school so, by the time we leave, we really have received a ‘Compass for Life’ that will guide us just like the Benedictine Rule has done for generations before.”
Boarding fees: £13,300 per term
Day fees: £9,250 per term
Carlisle
Headmaster: Matt Harris
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-18
Founded by the Augustinian Friars in 1951, Austin Friars is part of a global network of Augustinian schools and welcomes pupils of all denominations. Pupils from Cumbria and south west Scotland attend. The school is justifiably proud of its reputation for high academic standards.
Day fees: £2,980 to £5,600 per term
Tunbridge Wells
Headmaster: Justin Foster-Gandey
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-18
Situated on a 23-acre campus in Tunbridge Wells, Beechwood School comprises a nursery, preparatory school and senior school, with weekly and full boarding available for children aged 11 to 18. Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1915, Beechwood retains its founders’ traditions but today welcomes pupils of all faiths.
Boarding fees: £9,175 to £10,200 per term
Day fees: £2,895 to £5,940 per term
Bromley
Headmaster: Mr Mark Wallace
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-18
Based in the town of Shortlands in Bromley, which is a 20-minute train ride from Victoria station, and a short bus journey from Croydon and Crystal Palace, the school attracts students from Kent and greater and central London. The school has its own chaplain and chapel as well as strong links with St Edmund’s, the local parish. A major plus is the small class sizes, with some A-level classes having as few as three students.
Day fees: £3,470 to £4,960 per term
Guernsey
Headmaster: Robert O’Brien
Takes: boys and girls, aged 2½-18
Blanchelande College was established in 1902 and is the only fully mixed independent school in Guernsey. The school offers a rural setting where children can roam free in safety, and where their talents can be nurtured in a relaxed atmosphere. In its most recent ISI report, the college was rated “excellent” in all categories, including pupil achievement and personal development.
Day fees: £3,950 per term
Lancashire
Headmistress: Helen Farrow
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
Bury Catholic Prep School was founded in 1943 and has a reputation as a thriving family school. Academic standards are high, and there is also much on offer outside the classroom. Extracurricular options range from STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) clubs and sports to music and drama.
Day fees: £1,323 to £7,318 per annum
Liverpool
Headmistress: Sandy Coleman
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
Carleton House is an inclusive Catholic school welcoming all denominations. It was ranked as the 10th top performing independent preparatory school in the Sunday Times Parent Power 2021 guide.
Day fees: £8,500 per annum
Oxfordshire
Headmaster: Damian Ettinger
Takes: boys and girls, aged 4-18
Cokethorpe School is a day school of about 660 pupils in Hardwick, founded in 1957 by Francis Brown. At the heart of the school is an early-18th-century Grade II Queen Anne-style country house on a 150-acre site. There is also a chapel in the grounds. The school has a reputation for its sporting excellence with pupils representing England in rugby and hockey in recent years.
Day fees: £4,560 to £6,950 per term
Warwickshire
Headmaster: Robert Duigan
Takes: boys and girls, aged 4-11
Crackley Hall is a coeducational day school in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, with some 240 pupils. The school has its own on-site day nursery, Little Crackers, which takes children from two years old. The school succeeds at making learning fun with a wide and varied curriculum designed to help all pupils get the very best of starts on their individual educational journey.
Crackley Hall has been described as the “next best place to home” by its pupils. Central to the school is its strong Christian ethos, high standard of care and a feeling of community, as both staff and parents work together for the good of all the children. “We place Christ at the centre of our lives, sharing core values that instil dignity and respect,” they say.
Crackley Hall benefits from sharing the Christian ethos, resources and approach to learning of its nearby senior school, Princethorpe College, where many pupils move to later.
Originally a girls’ Catholic school, St Joseph’s Convent, run by the Sisters of Mercy, the school merged with Princethorpe College, a boys’ Catholic school between Leamington and Rugby, in 2001, to provide continuous education for children from nursery through to sixth form. The senior pupils moved across to Princethorpe and the school became a mixed junior school and was renamed Crackley Hall.
In September 2010 Crackley merged with Abbotsford School in Kenilworth with the aim of providing the best primary education in the area. The school and nursery, along with Princethorpe College and the Crescent School in Bilton, Rugby, now form the Princethorpe Foundation, a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. Most pupils enter at nursery, and then progress through to reception. Some pupils also join at reception and are welcome at any age dependent on a place being available, although places in other years are limited and in years where there is no place available the school operates waiting groups.
Prospective parents and pupils are encouraged to visit both formally and informally to get a true flavour of the school. Open events are held throughout the year, including a specific nursery, reception and Year 3 open evening. A meeting with the headmaster is also a key part of the admissions process.
Fees: £3,586 to £3,991 per term
Wimbledon
Headmaster: Philip Barr
Takes: boys, aged 4-11
Donhead is an all-boys Roman Catholic preparatory day school located in Wimbledon, London.
The school is under the governance of the Jesuits. In September 2018, the school’s ten-year £8m facilities development plan was completed. The school had a new chapel built that has capacity for 50 pupils.
Day fees: £4,275 to £4,440 per term
Hampshire
Headmaster: Fr Simon Everson
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-13
Farleigh School, founded in 1953, is a Catholic preparatory day and boarding school in a rural village outside Andover. Surrounded by 70 acres of park and woodland, the main school building is a Georgian house, with capacity for over 460 pupils. The old ballroom has been converted to a chapel. The school has over 100 boarders and 50 flexi-boarders. Headmaster Fr Simon Everson is a former Anglican who converted to Catholicism and is adored by parents and children alike. Parents describe Farleigh as a “magical” school which “lets children be children”.
Boarding fees: £8,525 to £10,025 per term
Day fees: £4,155 to £7,565 per term
Hampshire
Headmistress: Alexandra Neil
Takes: girls, aged 11-18
Farnborough Hill was bought in 1927 by the Sisters of the Religious of Christian Education, an existing convent school in Farnborough established in 1889. The chapel was added in the 1930s. A 25-minute train ride from Clapham Junction, the school is proud to teach “proper” subjects like Latin and Greek, with not too many new-fangled “studies” on the curriculum. The school is proud of its very own radio station, F’Hill, which is run by the Year 11 pupils and staff.
Day fees: £16,698 per annum
Kingston-upon-Thames
Headmistress: Sarah Hair
Takes: girls, aged 4-11
Holy Cross Preparatory School is a small academic and sporting school founded by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, an international teaching order since 1844. Head Sarah Hair is much admired, described as “serious but not austere, caring but not cuddly”, and “formal, professional and cheerful”. The school has recently acquired a new sports development including floodlit hockey pitch, all-weather playing field, cross country track and new sports pavilion, as well as a new pre-school for 3 and 4 year old girls opened in September 2021.
Day fees: £2,407 to £5,037 per term
Perth
Headmistress: Tanya Davie
Takes: boys, aged 5-12 and girls, aged 5-18
Kilgraston School is a boarding and day school offering primary school education for boys and girls, and secondary education for girls only. The school is centred around a mansion set in 72 acres of parkland, three miles south of Perth.
It is the only Catholic boarding secondary school in Scotland. Kilgraston has a thriving music and arts departments, hockey, tennis and swimming academies, and is Scotland’s only school with an on-site equestrian centre. In 2015, Kilgraston was named as the Sunday Times’ top performing independent school for Highers and Advanced Highers.
Boarding fees: £9,910 to £14,015 per term
Day fees: £4,470 to £7,595 per term
Purley
Headmistress: Karen Barry Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
Laleham Lea achieves high academic standards and was classified as “excellent” in its most recent ISI inspection in 2022. The school is a feeder for top public schools, but parents note that it is a caring environment not a “hot house” obsessed by statistics and results. The majority of pupils are Catholic.
Day fees: £6,966 to £9,855 per annum
Dorset
Headmaster: John Paget-Tomlinson
Takes: boys and girls, aged 1-18
Leweston School is a day and boarding school near Sherborne, half an hour from the Jurassic coast. It was originally founded as a girls’ boarding school by Belgian nuns in 1891. It moved to the beautiful Leweston Manor estate in 1948 and has since grown to comprise a nursery, prep school, senior school and sixth form. The school is not a hot-house, but more of a relaxed environment where pupils are encouraged to find their “thing”, says a parent. It is a Catholic foundation but welcomes pupils of all denominations and none, with a strong focus on the development of the spiritual life.
Mass takes place every Wednesday and Sunday evening for boarders in the school chapel of St Antony. Catholic actress Kristin Scott Thomas is an alumna.
Boarding fees: £6,288 to £10,540 per term
Day fees: £2,195 to £5,665 per term
Altrincham, Cheshire
Headmistress: Anne Roberts
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
Loreto Preparatory School was established in 1909 and continues under the trusteeship of the Loreto Sisters, a worldwide network with five schools in England and over 150 worldwide. Facilities are modest and parents say the school is more “nurturing” than academic. There is stiff competition from nearby prep and primary schools for places at the next door school Loreto Grammar.
Day fees: £2,750 per term
Leicestershire
Headmaster: Julian Murphy
Takes: boys and girls, aged 1-18
Loughborough Amherst School was founded in 1841 on traditional Christian principles and was run by the Rosminian order until 2015. A small school with small class sizes, it is not academically selective but has been growing in popularity in recent years and now operating a waiting list for certain year groups.
Day fees: £3,740 to £4,880 per term
Essex
Headmistress: Kirsty Anthony
Takes: boys, aged 3-11
Loyola Preparatory School is a Catholic School for boys aged three to 11 in Buckhurst Hill, Essex. It has been educating boys for more than a century. Parents praise the kindness and professionalism of the staff.
The school has an excellent multi-sports programme. The boys can participate in a comprehensive range of physical education activities. In addition to the onsite all-weather sports pitch, facilities include a dedicated library, computer suite, art room and science room.
Day fees: £3,870 per term
Kingston upon Thames
Headmistress: Margaret Giblin
Takes: girls, aged 11-18
Around 12 miles from central London, Marymount International School is a small school of 240 girls, a third of whom are boarders. Students, who come from around 35 different nationalities (46 per cent are British), are drawn to the school by its well-established IB programme, which has been running for over 40 years. Another attraction is the small class sizes of around 12 pupils.
Founded in 1955 by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM), the school is part of the RSHM global network of Catholic schools. Mass is celebrated weekly, and prayer life includes assemblies, daily reflections in class, and the celebration of important feast days and festivals. Around 25 per cent of students are Catholic but all participate. Marymount is a top performing IB school. In 2020, the school’s average IB score was 38 and, in 2019 (the last year that students sat exams) it was 37. 41 per cent of students achieved a Bilingual Diploma in 2019. University destinations include Durham, UCL, Manchester, Warwick, Edinburgh, St. Andrews, King’s College London, and UCLA and Emory in the USA, as well as top universities in Japan, Europe, South Korea and Canada. Marymount accepts applications throughout the school year, which is helpful to families relocating mid-academic year. The admissions process is not as strict or selective as many schools in the London area, but includes English and maths tests, and crucially an interview with the headteacher to establish if the child is a good fit for the school and the IB programme.
Marymount offers five day, seven day, and flexi-boarding options. There are around 50 international students who full-board and sleep in rooms of two or three. The school is proud to encourage independent living with students doing their own laundry, for example.
There are plenty of activities at weekends to keep boarders busy. The school describes itself as “a garden campus”, where beautiful grounds surround a combination of modern classrooms and older buildings including a chapel. Facilities include a STEAM Hub, science labs, art studios, a dance studio, auditorium, sports hall, tennis court and sports pitch, and chalet-style garden rooms.
Day fees: £27,250 per annum
Knightsbridge
Headmistress: Faith Hagerty
Takes: girls, aged 11-18
More House School promotes core Catholic values of commitment, integrity and compassion which are evident in the students’ academic and co-curricular achievements. Its central London location provides a launchpad for access to London’s best sporting venues, galleries, museums and theatres.
It was founded in 1952, by a group of parents seeking a better Catholic education for girls in London. The school boasts its own chapel where regular services are held. The music department shares music and liturgy all over the world from small local churches to Notre Dame and the Vatican. “Its secret is the warm relationship between pupils and staff,” says a parent.
Day fees: £7,750 per term
Derbyshire
Headmaster: Dan Wright
Takes: girls and boys, aged 3-18
Mount St Mary’s College, which includes prep school Balborough Hill School, is a Jesuit school in the countryside near Sheffield with about 600 pupils. It has a reputation for high academic performance.
Boarding fees: £6,740 to £10,815 per term
Day fees: £4,290 to £4,930 per term
Sheffield
Headmistress: Hannah Cunningham
Takes: boys and girls, aged 4-11
Mylnhurst is the highest-ranking prep school in the south Yorkshire and Derbyshire region, placed 22nd in the Sunday Times Parent Power Top 100 prep schools in the UK. Situated within a private and secluded campus, it has a swimming pool, forest school, sports centre, games field, library and dance studio all on-site.
Day fees: £11,250 per annum
Cobham, Surrey
Headmistresses: Anna King and Amélie Morgan
Takes: girls, aged 2-18, boys, aged 2-7
Notre Dame School is a Catholic girls day school which also takes boys from age two to seven. The school is one of more than 300 schools, educational foundations and projects (and the only one in the UK) associated with the Company of Mary Our Lady, an educational order founded in Bordeaux to educate girls in 1607. The school was recognised as “excellent” across the board in the latest ISI inspection report.
Day fees: £1,520 to £6,323 per term
Lancashire
Headmistress: Jane Buttery
Takes: boys and girls, aged 0-16
Oakhill School is a small school in rural Lancashire which excels academically partly because it can offer small class sizes. It also has over 50 sports and activities helped by a county-standard sports hall and leisure facility with a fully equipped Technogym fitness suite and spin studio, a new 3G sports pitch and extensive playing fields.
Day fees: £1,140 to £7,126 per term
Croydon
Headmaster: Ciro Candia
Takes: girls and boys, aged 3-11
Oakwood is an independent co-educational day school with a Catholic ethos, founded on a belief that parents are the first educators of their children. Founded in 1996, it is part of the PACT group of school whose ethos is inspired by Opus Dei.
Fees: up to £3,480 per term
Reading
Headmaster: Joe Smith
Takes: boys and girls, aged 13-18
Founded in 1859 by Saint John Henry Newman, The Oratory has been providing pupils with a Catholic education for over 160 years.
The school says the move to co-education in 2020 has been a great success, both in terms of girl numbers and the experience for both sexes in the new environment. In the academic year 2021-22, The Oratory received the highest grade of excellent in the Independent Schools Inspectorate for both categories of “pupils’ academic and other achievements” and “pupils’ personal development”.
Inspectors described Oratory pupils as showing high levels of understanding for their age. “They show self-confidence in many areas of school life, are resilient and adapt well to new situations. They are self-reflective and have a strong awareness of their strengths and weaknesses.” Inspectors also commented on how the founder’s motto, which is also the school’s motto, “Cor ad Cor Loquitur – Heart Speaks to Heart” is “enacted daily”.
The Good Schools Guide also re-visited the school for the first time since it became co-educational, describing The Oratory as “an active choice for families looking for a nurturing environment” and commenting on the “excellent leadership”. The school has once again secured its place in the Good Schools Guide’s best boarding schools 2022: “Parents love the ability to ‘dip in and out of boarding’ – truly flexible.” Day, weekly and flexi-boarding is available. The Catholic faith and two chapels are central to the school’s life, ethos and identity. Mass is offered regularly for those who wish to attend. Most days of the week, the school also holds a second, different act of worship from the Church’s wide traditions. On Sundays and Days of Obligation, Mass is celebrated in the main chapel with the whole school community present, with pupils serving as sacristans, servers and readers. Oratory pupils come from a wide range of backgrounds: Catholic families, families from other Christian denominations, families from other world faiths, and families with no religious background. The majority of pupils gain entry to their first choice of university, including many Russell Group universities.
Day fees: £9,185 per term
Boarding fees: £13,368 per term
Oxfordshire
Headmaster: Daniel Gibbons
Takes: girls and boys, aged 7-18
Headmaster Daniel Gibbons has just completed his first year, having joined the school from Downside where he was previously deputy head and helped develop boarding provision. Gibbons is said to have improved academic performance at all his prior schools, specialising in maximising “value-added”.
He has already been praised for having brought in a new academic leadership structure to OLA, with clearly defined middle-level heads of faculty to complement the pastoral heads of section. The school was founded in 1866 for pupils in the area but also as a boarding school by Sister Clare Moore of the Sisters of Mercy at Our Lady’s Convent.
The Catholic faith continues to be an important part of school life, with Mass and feast days attended and celebrated by pupils, parents and visitors. The school, which is eight miles from Oxford, is within the parish of Our Lady and St Edmund and is regularly visited by the parish priest, who is also on the board of governors. The school accepts children of all faiths who are sympathetic to its ethos.
Our Lady’s Abingdon does well academically. In 2020, 75 per cent of students achieve A* to B grades at A-level, while 99 per cent passed. Although the school has only been co-ed since 2013, there is now a 50/50 split of boys and girls. The school prides itself on remaining small and maintaining small class sizes so that pupils are known by staff and therefore get all the attention they need. There is an entrance exam and interview for prospective pupils. The school is especially proud of its “value-added” achievements, which assess what pupils achieve against baseline expectations. The Department for Education ranked OLA in the top five per cent of the country for value-added – “an exceptional achievement”.
Day fees: £11,505 to £17,145 per annum
Crowthorne, Berkshire
Headmaster: Michael Stone
Takes: boys and girls, aged 0-11
Our Lady’s was founded in 1961 by Father Daniel Boyle, priest of Crowthorne. It is a small school with only 240 pupils, with a family atmosphere and a highly rated nursery department. The school was rated “satisfactory” in its most recent inspection.
Day fees: £8,376 per annum
Worthing
Headteacher: Steven Jeffery
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-18
Our Lady of Sion is a co-educational school in the centre of Worthing near local sports and leisure facilities, which the school uses. Fees are reasonable compared to other independents in the area and the school is not obsessed with building new facilities and multi-million pound athletics tracks. Co-curricular activities include helping out at the next door nursing home. It is described as a “personality-filled school” with a flexible curriculum which encourages pupils to think for themselves. Pupils do well in exams and go on to top universities including Oxbridge.
Day fees: £3,055 to £4,800 per term
Rugby
Headmaster: Ed Hester
Takes: boys and girls, aged 11-18
Princethorpe College, which has around 930 pupils, is renowned for the way in which it looks after its pupils and is characterised by its strong Christian ethos, which underpins all aspects of school life. The atmosphere is warm, open and friendly, but the traditional values of courtesy, discipline, organisation and mutual respect are expected from all. “We aim to encourage a lifelong love of learning and an understanding of moral values, and to put young people on the road to happy and fulfilled lives,” says the school.
Princethorpe was established in 1966 by the Catholic missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC), who moved their expanding boys’ boarding and day school, St Bede’s, from Leamington Spa to Princethorpe, taking over the former St Mary’s Priory, previously home to an order of Benedictine nuns.
The school draws inspiration for its ethos from the MSC’s founder, Jules Chevalier, and the college motto “Christus regnet”.
Princethorpe College has recently received the highest possible ratings across all criteria from the Independent Schools Inspectorate following an inspection in April 2022.
The report, which has just been published, consists of two elements, a focused compliance inspection, encompassing statutory standards, and an educational quality inspection evaluating the achievements of pupils, including academic performance and their personal development.
During the inspection, the ISI observed that “pupils have very positive attitudes towards their work and are highly focused in lessons”, that they “achieve a high level of results, exceeding predictions at every level” and they “benefit significantly from an atmosphere in school which is positive and one where learning and trying one’s best are celebrated”.
Referencing the extensive co-curricular programme, the inspectors commented that “pupils embrace wholeheartedly the many opportunities to participate in a myriad of activities and many enjoy substantial success” and are able to “find their own unique passions and relish taking part in them, broadening their perspective on life”.
The ISI inspectors also noted feedback from parents that ”commented positively on the strength of the children’s learning and how this reflected the commitment of the teaching and the direction provided by the school’s leaders and trustees”.
The majority of children join Princethorpe College in Year 7, but children are welcome to join in other year groups as space allows. Children who want to come to Princethorpe sit an entrance examination in the November of the year before they are due to start in September.
The school encourages prospective pupils and their parents to visit both formally and informally to get a true flavour of the school.
Day fees: £4,912 per term
Bath
Headmaster: Ben Horan
Takes: boys and girls, aged 11-18
Originally run by Clifton Diocese and then the Christian Brothers, the school has been under lay management since 1980 but remains strongly bound to its Catholic values. Set in 57 acres and overlooking the city of Bath, Prior Park is listed by the Oxford Royale Academy as one of the most beautiful boarding schools in the UK.
Alongside the day houses, there are two boarding houses, each with a dedicated live-in house parent and team of residential tutors, who work hard to create a home-from-home environment. Prior Park has excellent on-site facilities, including a state-of-the-art sports centre complete with fitness suite, and an indoor swimming pool. The visual arts department has recently seen the addition of a sixth-form D&T workshop complete with industry-standard equipment. The school has its own theatre, dance studio, music practice rooms and music studio. The College Chapel, built in the 1870s, where pupils gather for Mass, concerts and assemblies, is very much the heart of the school.
Prior Park is a kind school rather than an academic hot-house where “children learn from exceptional teachers in a community where learning is prized, and curiosity welcomed,” says the head. At Prior Park every child is known, valued and cared for.
“Faith is more than just gathering for Mass at Prior Park, it is intertwined into the work of the student charities committee, the music department, its sixth-form personal development programmes, and the students’ everyday school lives,’ Horan adds.
The lay chaplain, Theresa Gibson, helps to prepare pupils for Confirmation and arranges optional retreats; boarders and teachers attend Sunday Mass. There is a whole-school Mass for all holy days of obligation. Non-Catholics are welcome. As part of its pastoral care programme, the school has a scheme which offers younger pupils access to encouragement, advice and information from 40 upper-sixth formers who train as “peer mentors”. They complete a seven-week course which trains them in listening skills, body language, safeguarding and work with the Samaritans.
Full boarding fees: £12,250 per term
Day fees: £6,160 per term
Leicestershire
Headmaster: Jon Reddin
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-18
A co-ed day and boarding school based in Leicestershire, Ratcliffe College was founded in 1847 by the Rosminian Fathers, who still live within the campus grounds and gave the school its motto, Legis plenitudo charitas – “charity is the fulfilment of the law”.
The Father President, rector of the college, celebrates Mass daily in the college chapel, which also hosts senior school assemblies twice a week.
Students enjoy a range of state-of-the-art facilities including a £1.3 million industry-standard fitness suite, and an additional £2.3 million sports hall near the preparatory school, with a new English block due to be completed at the start of this autumn term.
Ratcliffe is steeped in history and tradition, and surrounded by 200 acres of beautiful grounds situated in Leicestershire. The school teaches children aged three to 18, and is proud of its strong Catholic values and ethos. Ratcliffe is inclusive of all, with a real sense of community, offering exceptional teaching and outstanding pastoral care with small class sizes.
Students aged 11 and above can choose from full, weekly, flexi and casual boarding and become part of a diverse boarding community, which includes many individuals from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Our close-knit, family-orientated community is something the school is very proud of and many of its students regard the school as a home-from-home. Ratcliffe College has always encouraged big ideas, helping young people to achieve their greatest potential, both inside and outside the classroom.
Boarding fees: £7,785 to £11,697 per term
Day fees: £3,500 to £6,074 per term
Guildford
Headmistress: Sarah Norville
Takes: boys, aged 3-7, and girls, aged 3-11
Rydes Hill is a non-selective Catholic school educating girls from three to 11 and boys from three to seven. It welcomes families of all faiths and beliefs. The school is consistently awarded the top-rated “excellent” by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. It prides itself on the breadth of education offered and the array of academic, sporting, performing arts and art scholarships achieved by its leavers.
Day fees: £3,256 to £4,987 per term
Oxford
Headmistress: Joanne Croft
Takes: girls and boys, aged 3-18
Just a mile from the centre of Oxford, Rye St Antony offers students all the perks that come with being so close to this university city full of world-class libraries, museums, galleries and theatres. The school takes boys until the age of 11 and girls, who may board from the age of nine, through to 18. The school is home to St Teresa’s chapel, where Mass is held for pupils once a week. Rye (as it is known) is unusual for a Catholic school in that it was founded by two women rather than a religious order, and is named after the church of St Antony in Rye, East Sussex.
Full boarding fees: £8,200 per term
Day fees: up to £4,525
Wadhurst, East Sussex
Headmistress: Johanna Collyer
Takes: boys and girls, aged 2-11
Sacred Heart School was established in 1938 by the Sisters of the Order of Notre Dame. It is a small community of only 100 pupils so each child gets maximum attention. Fees are affordable as the school is owned by the local diocese. Parents praise the school for its high academic standard.
Day fees: £3,045 to £3,095 per term
Farnborough
Headmaster: Gerard Owens
Takes: boys, aged 11-18, and girls in sixth form
The Salesian tradition follows the example and guidance of St John Bosco. Before Covid, each Easter boys and girls from lower-sixth form would go on pilgrimage to Lourdes.
They are acclaimed for their high levels of academic, cultural, spiritual and physical achievements, student behaviour and their caring ethos. It boasts a 100 per cent pass rate at GCSE and A-level and has also broken into the top 25 schools for sport in the UK.
Day fees: £13,614 per annum
Glasgow
Headmaster: Matthew Bartlett
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-18
The school was founded in 1859 by the Jesuits who previously staffed the college. It is Scotland’s only Jesuit school and has a good reputation among locals who know it as an all-round nurturing school with good transport links around Glasgow. An £8 million state-of-the-art sports facility opened in 2017. They regularly send pupils to Oxbridge though most go on to Scottish universities.
Day fees: £8,397 to £14,976 per annum
Cheshire
Headmistress: Sinead Aldridge
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
St Ambrose Preparatory School is a top independent, Catholic co-educational school in Altrincham in the Cheshire countryside, with a high academic standard. The most recent ISI report rated the pupils’ academics as “excellent” and their understanding of spiritual life as “outstanding”. The school is a modern building, with extensive grounds and impressive facilities including a large playing field, AstroTurf pitches and a swimming pool.
Day fees: £5,925 to £7,950 per annum
Hampstead, London
Headmaster: Richard Berlie
Takes: boys, aged 4-13
St Anthony’s School opened in 1952. Today, nearly 300 boys are educated here before moving on to top independent schools. There is an associated nursery. The music department is particularly impressive, offering digital music composition, a jazz band and numerous orchestras and choirs. Coding, chess, arts and crafts, theatre, swimming, and many sporting activities are also on offer.
Day fees: £7,055 to £7,285 per term
Golders Green, London
Headmaster: Donal Brennan
Takes: girls, aged 4-11
St Anthony’s School for Girls opened in 2016 as the sister school to highly esteemed St Anthony’s Boys in Hampstead. With only 85 girls, it offers small class sizes. It has a co-educational nursery on-site feeding into the girls’ and boys’ schools.
Day fees: £6,315 per term
Manchester
Headmistress: Sandra Pike
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-18
Founded in 1875 by the then Bishop of Salford, Cardinal Herbert Vaughan, St Bede’s College performs well across the board.
The main building, called the Vaughan building, is the former Manchester aquarium, with additions. Today it is decorated with ceramic mouldings by George Tinworth and leads into an imposing corridor adorned with mosaics and marble. The college motto Numquam otio torpebat – “Never rest in idleness” – derives from the prayer of St Bede. The esteemed pianist Stephen Hough is an alumnus.
Day fees: £8,640 to £13,311 per annum
Ealing
Headmaster: Andrew Johnson
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-18
Opened in 1902, St Benedict’s Ealing caters for a wide range of abilities but has become more academic since the arrival of headmaster Andrew Johnson in 2016. Following the discovery of historic abuse scandals at the school, St Benedict’s has taken huge steps to turn its reputation around completely and is now known for its excellent pastoral care (the school is not under lay management). Alumni include the journalist and author Douglas Murray, historian Peter Hennessy, writer Peter Ackroyd and Lord Patten.
Day fees: £3,605 to £6,525 per term
Berkshire
Headmistress: Asha Verma
Takes: boys and girls, aged 2½-11
St Bernard’s was ranked the seventh best prep school of 2022 in the Sunday Times Parent Power list. A recent inspection described it as “an outstanding Catholic school in every respect” where pupils “radiate the joy and confidence which emanate from learning in an environment where each one feels welcomed and valued”. Pupils go on to top grammar schools and public schools.
Day fees: £3,415 to £4,070 per term
Twickenham
Headmistress: Johneen McPherson
Takes: girls, aged 3-18
St Catherine’s is the only independent Catholic girls’ school in the Richmond area, located on the River Thames. It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1914. Visitors often comment on the friendly atmosphere at the school which prides itself on its welcoming Christian ethos.
Day fees: £3,880 to £5,095 per term
North London
Headmaster: Alastair Gloag
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3 to 11
St Christina’s school in St John’s Wood, London, was founded in 1949 by the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. While the co-ed school stresses the importance of developing the whole person, academic standards are also excellent. Classes are small, between 12 and 21 pupils, most of whom go on to top London day schools. There is a strong focus on STEM subjects and popular extracurricular activities include robotics, judo and chess. Sixty per cent of pupils are Catholic and children of all faiths take part in the religious life of the school, which includes Mass every Friday in the convent chapel adjoining the school. Catholic children in Year 3 are prepared for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist which also happen on-site. Nuns from the adjoining convent are involved in school life.
Fees: £5,350 per term
St Albans
Headmaster: David Buxton
Takes: boys and girls, aged 4-18
St Columba’s was founded in 1939 and since 1955 it has been a member of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart’s global community of schools. It is unique in being the only such school in the UK. The self-defined goal of the college is to provide a moral and religious education based on the charism of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, teaching pupils the Columban values of courage, courtesy, and compassion “to enable them to become confident and well-rounded individuals who aim to leave people and places better than they find them”.
In 2021, girls joined each year group in lower prep (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) and the lower sixth form (Year 12). From September, girls will be welcomed into Form 1/Year 7. This will be followed by a phased transition, which will eventually see St Columba’s being open to both boys and girls from ages four to 18.
“At St Columba’s, we pride ourselves on providing an education of the head and heart, placing academic success, happiness, and confidence at the centre of our mission,” they say. “Throughout each phase of education, prep, senior and sixth form, the curriculum is ambitious and varied, rooted in a long tradition of academic excellence. Through small classes, our passionate and inspirational teachers provide students with high-quality learning opportunities.” There is also a broad range of extracurricular activities and service opportunities on offer: “it is equally important in our overall aim of preparing young people to ‘not just to make a living but to make a life’,” says the school.
The school runs a distinctive so-called “SHAPE” programme in the senior school and the sixth form, which includes service activities such as student ministry and fundraising for charities such as CAFOD, homeless shelters and foodbank; house activities such as inter-house music, sport and public speaking competitions; academic clubs such as lunchtime and after-school subject sessions and specialist exam groups workshops. It also includes practical activities such as college sport, drama, and music.
Extracurricular activities include all the clubs in the school, such as mindfulness, scrabble and chess club, as well as CCF and the Duke of Edinburgh awards.
Day fees: £11,883 to £17,949 per annum
Stone, Staffordshire
Headmistress: Rebecca Harrison
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3 to 16
Officially opened in 1934 by the English Dominican Sisters, the school shares its site in Stone with the convent. A recent inspection praised the pastoral care and was impressed by the pupils’ moral development. Academic achievement and quality of teaching were also described as excellent. The new senior-school building, which opened in 2020, houses new science laboratories, performing arts studios and peripatetic music rooms alongside high-tech classrooms.
Day fees: £7,560 to £11,439 per annum
Ware
Headmaster: Matthew Mostyn
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3 to 18
St Edmund’s College, founded in 1568 as a seminary, is the oldest continuously operating and oldest post-Reformation Catholic school in the country. It is located in 400 acres of Hertfordshire countryside and is often over-subscribed so parents are encouraged to get applications in early. The school takes pupils with a real mix of abilities and nurtures their talents. It is not super academic, but pupils still do well with 61 per cent of the 2021 cohort achieving A*-A grades A Level. Music is important and the school’s Schola Cantorum regularly performs in Britain’s most splendid sacred buildings, including the cathedrals of Canterbury and Westminster. The school has a vibrant boarding community.
Boarding fees: £8,459 to £11,762 per term
Day fees: £3,528 to £6,647 per term
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Headmaster: Matthew Burke
Takes: boys and girls, aged 1-18
St Edward’s School offers a kindergarten, prep and senior school for children aged from one to 18. The school site, Charlton Park, was a hunting lodge that belonged to Edward the Confessor (1003-1066), the only English monarch to have been canonised. Parents praise the school for its small class sizes and “beautiful private setting”.
Day fees: £7,980 to £18,915 per annum
Windsor
Headmaster: Giles Delaney
Takes: boys, aged 3-13
St John’s Beaumont is a day and boarding Jesuit preparatory school founded by the Society of Jesus in 1888. It is situated between Englefield Green and Old Windsor on Priest Hill, with the school building in Surrey and the sports fields in Berkshire. The oldest purpose-built preparatory school in the UK, it is now owned by Stonyhurst College, where many boys progress. Eton and Radley are also popular destinations.
Boarding fees: £6,045 to £10,415 per term
Day fees: £3,540 to £6,820 per term
Burnley
Headmistress: Maria Whitehead
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
St Joseph’s Park Hill is owned by the Institute of Our Lady of Mercy. Learning opportunities at Park Hill are broad, balanced and exciting as it promotes academic success but also believes in the education of the whole child.
Following the example of both their foundress Catherine McAuley and also St Joseph, they place importance on the need for tolerance and understanding and concern for others.
Day fees: £7,038 per annum
Stoke-on-Trent
Headmaster: Daniel Hood
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
St Joseph’s Preparatory School is built on the tradition of its founders, the Christian Brothers, who own the school. A recent inspection report comments on the happiness and confidence of the pupils, and on how they pray calmly during assemblies.
Day fees: £3,080 to £3,250 per term
Reading
Headmistress: Laura Stotesbury
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-18
St Joseph’s was founded in 1894 by the Sisters of St Marie-Madeleine Postel. Parents comment on the nurturing and detailed attention received by their children in a wholesome community environment. It won the TES Independent School of the Year award in November 2015. A wide range of clubs are open to all pupils, including string and brass groups, wind bands, choir, theatre studies, science club and a variety of sports.
Day fees: £7,737 to £13,230 per annum
Crosby, Liverpool
Headmaster: Michael Kennedy
Takes: boys and girls, aged 0-18
St Mary’s College is a co-educational school with a Christian ethos. The college was established in 1919 by the Christian Brothers, a clerical order founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. It provides high-quality education, encouraging achievement in many fields via its rich programme of extracurricular activities. The college has its own multi-gym and sports hall. There are seven laboratories, two workshops and a library. Twenty acres of playing fields are sited nearby on Little Crosby Road.
Day fees: £8,496 to £12,396 per annum
Romford
Headmaster: Ludovic Bernard
Takes: boys and girls, aged 2½-11
St Mary’s Hare Park was established to provide education for Catholic children, but will consider applications from any family who is willing to support the ethos of the school. The school was rated “good” overall by Ofsted in 2018, with pupils’ behaviour deemed “outstanding”.
Day fees: £2,800 to £3,000 per term
Cambridge
Headmistress: Charlotte Avery
Takes: girl, aged 3-18
Based in central Cambridge, St Mary’s is a Mary Ward school for around 650 boarders and day girls aged from three to 18. In July 2021, it was shortlisted in the Independent Girls’ School of the Year category at the Independent Schools of the Year awards, and students often win awards in international art competitions.
Academic results are strong; girls can opt to take classical Greek and additional maths at GCSE on top of the core curriculum. In modern foreign languages pupils can choose from Mandarin Chinese, German, Spanish and French. Worship is an important part of daily life at the school. Every girl is expected to take religious education at GCSE and there is an optional Mass every Wednesday morning. There is daily prayer during Advent and year group assemblies take place in the Chapel.
Day fees: £6,093 per term
Full boarding: £12,629 per term
Hampstead
Headmistress: Harriet Connor-Earl
Takes: girls, aged 2-11
St Mary’s was established in 1871 in the heart of Hampstead as a Catholic convent boarding school for girls. The school has its own chapel with beautiful stained-glass windows, where Mass and weekly “Praying Together” sessions take place. St Mary’s is proud of its chapel choir which performs annually at the Albert Hall. Girls are high-achievers and facilities are excellent.
The school has recently opened its Global Learning Centre which includes an engineering and robotics lab, virtual-reality launch pad, art and design studio as well as a green room.
Day fees: £3,110 to £5,750 per term
South Kensington
Headmaster: Alexander Thomas
Takes: boys, aged 11-18
A school for only 110 boys, St Philip’s offers a “traditional, Catholic, liberal education that combines the very best of the world in the pursuit of timeless excellence”, according to headmaster Thomas, who is also keen on good manners and tidy uniforms.
Parents are delighted with the school which, though small, caters for individuals with distinctive interests (the boys recently set up an ornithology club).
Although based in central London, boys have access to several acres of sports fields where they play football, rugby, hockey and cricket. In 2020, half of the leavers went on to either Eton or City of London. Other regular destinations are Harrow, the London Oratory, Ampleforth and Worth.
Day fees: £6,050 per term
Frinton, Essex
Headmistress: Philippa Mathews
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
St Philomena’s is the only independent school in Tendring. It is a small and nurturing school with high academic standards. It was established by the Sisters of Mercy in September 1926. As a Catholic school, it promotes a Christian ethos, but children of all faiths are welcomed. It is a worshipping community, valuing prayer and praise, which enjoys close links with the parish of the Sacred Heart and St Francis in Frinton.
Day fees: £1,110 to £2,800 per term
Lancashire
Headmaster: Patrick Gush
Takes: boys and girls, aged 2-11
St Pius X Catholic Preparatory School was founded in 1955 by a group of forward-looking Preston businessmen to provide local Catholic families with the best in private education. Academic standards are high with many pupils winning places at grammar schools and scholarships to top secondary schools.
Day fees: £8,288 to £8,898 per annum
Effingham
Headmistress: Claire McShane
Takes: girls, aged 7-18
St Teresa’s school in Effingham, established in 1928, is set in 48 acres in a designated area of outstanding beauty in the North Downs in Surrey. The school is gradually accepting boys with the co-ed Sixth form due to open in 2025. Pupils are well-mannered and enjoy music and drama and the school is average academically compared to others in the area.
Facilities include horse stables and a swimming pool complex as well as a multimillion-pound, 750-seat technologically-equipped performing arts theatre hall, with music and drama suites.
Boarding fees: £9,995 to £11,325 per term
Day fees: £4,850 to £6,695 per term
Shrewsbury
Headmistress: Elizabeth Devey
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
St Winefride’s is a small convent school for boys and girls aged three to 11, next to Pugin’s Shrewsbury Cathedral. The school was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1868 and always had a nun as headmistress. Despite being previously recognised by the Sunday Times as a leading independent prep school there have been parents’ concerns over spiritual values and leadership since a lay headmistress – from the state sector – took over.
There are few sports facilities, frustrating parking and parental concerns over the school’s SENDCO dept. The curriculum includes French and Spanish from kindergarten and children can learn Mandarin in the older years. The 1960’s facilities are reflected in the reasonable fees.
Day fees: up to £1,742 per term
Croydon
Headmaster: Robert Teague
Takes: boys, aged 11-18
On its founding in 2013, The Cedars was the first senior school in the country to be based on the ethos of Opus Dei, which does not directly run the school but supported its opening and has links with the trust. It is part of the PACT group of schools and shares its site and ethos with its sister school The Laurels (below).
Day fees: up to £5,460 per term
Croydon
Headmistress: Linda Sanders
Takes: girls, aged 11-18
The all-girls secondary school is the newest of the PACT (Parents, Children and Teachers in Partnership) schools in London, whose ethos of “character first” is inspired by Opus Dei. They unashamedly do things their own way here. A prayer is said at the beginning of every lesson and alongside the mainstream academic curriculum, girls listen to talks on motherhood and family love. The school was ranked the sixth best independent school with a small sixth form in 2020.
Day fees: up to £5,460 per term
Ascot
Headmistress: Joanne Smith
Takes: girls, aged 2-18
The Marist School has been in the top one per cent nationally for A-level results for the last three years, with 86 per cent of pupils gaining A* and A grades. It is situated within 55 acres of woodland and the site includes a science block, drama studio, an indoor swimming pool, a music block, a recording studio, large playing fields, a pond, netball courts, an AstroTurf pitch and a multi-purpose sports hall.
Founded in 1870 by the Marist sisters, the school has just been bought by the Concept Education group after a decline in vocations led the Marist trust to sell.
Day fees: £3,700 to £5,505 per term
Edgbaston
Headmaster: Jonathan Cramb
Takes: boys and girls, aged 4-18
The Priory School Edgbaston was founded in 1936 on the Catholic values of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus to provide a Catholic education for young women. Now taking boys and girls all the way through, the school was rated “outstanding” by Ofsted for its early-years education provision.
Day fees: £3,500 to £5,285 per term
Milton Keynes
Headmistress: Val Holmes
Takes: girls, aged 3-18
Thornton College Catholic day and boarding school for girls, located between Milton Keynes and Buckingham, is set in 25 acres of beautiful grounds. The main school building is a manor house dating back to the 14th century and it became a school in 1917, founded by the Sisters of Jesus and Mary.
The school is very proud of its rich history, exceptional pastoral care for the individual and its strong emphasis on core Christian values, though it is also proud of the fact that it is a forward-looking school, with exciting opportunities both in and outside the classroom, and where girls of all faiths and none are equally welcome and valued. Thornton College is part of an international family of J&M schools in 28 countries around the world. This means students can participate in international partnership programmes, celebrations, projects and exchanges, giving them a global outlook and cultural intelligence. Boarding is “upstairs” in the main manor house, offering a home-from-home experience. The boarding bedrooms and common areas are bright and spacious. Thornton offers flexi, weekly and termly boarding for domestic and international students, with a packed programme of exciting evening activities and weekend trips.
Thornton College is a one-site school ensuring, that there is smooth transition for students throughout pre-prep, prep, senior and sixth form, and lots of leadership and role-modelling opportunities. Academic results are comparable with high-achieving competitive schools while having a varied ability intake, and Thornton consistently ranks as one of the top non-selective schools in the UK.
Woodland walks, cookery, ballet, French, music and movement, library time and a host of other weekly activities are on offer. As a Forest School, Thornton allows girls to excel inside and outside the classroom with prep school children enjoying an outdoor classroom in the woodlands and exploring and pond-dipping in the eco-habitat park. Thornton College is leading the introduction of robotics into its prep school curriculum and won the Independent Schools of the Year award 2020 for its student careers programme; it was a finalist school in the ISA awards 2020 for outstanding STEM provision. Students in senior and sixth form enjoy overseas sporting tours, World Challenges, Duke of Edinburgh (with sixth-formers achieving their gold awards), EPQs, UCAS and careers events and debating. The sixth form, which opened in 2016, offers a wide subject choice, small class sizes and individual attention with future pathway support. In 2020 and 2021, 100 per cent of sixth form students achieved their first-choice universities.
Full boarding fees: £10,195 per term
Day fees: £5,945 per term
Devon
Headmaster: Lawrence Coen
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-18
Trinity is a small day and boarding school praised for its excellent pastoral care. It is the best non-selective school in Devon according to the Sunday Times Top Independent Schools list, with 50 per cent A*/A at A-level (or equivalent), and a 98.5 per cent pass rate at GCSE. It was founded in 1979 as a joint Roman Catholic and Anglican school.
Boarding fees: £7,340 to £10,615 per term
Day fees: £2,975 to £4,695 per term
Ilford
Headmistress: Lorraine Pereira
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
Part of the international network of Ursuline schools, the Ursuline Prep School in Ilford stands out for its high academic standards. The school was recently ranked the 29th best primary school in England by the Times. Masses for pupils take place throughout the year, as well as special celebrations on the feast days of St Angela (the order’s founder) and St Ursula (its patron). Extracurricular activities are on offer such as irish dancing, STEM and Mandarin.
Day fees: £10,530 per annum (£5,508 to £8,019 per annum for nursery)
Brentwood, Essex
Headmistress: Pauline Wilson
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
The Ursuline Preparatory School is an independent, co-educational Catholic day school, described by the Diocese of Brentwood Inspectorate in 2022 as “an outstanding Catholic school at all levels”. It has an excellent quality of both academic and co-curricular achievements, teaching a broad curriculum.
Day fees: £2,370 to £4,415 per term
Wimbledon
Headmistress: Caroline Molina
Takes: girls, aged 4-11 (co-ed nursery)
The Ursuline Preparatory School was founded in 1892 by the Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union. In recent years the school has invested in dedicated facilities for art and music, together with a library. To support their extensive sporting provision the school uses off-site facilities in addition to their floodlit AstroTurf sports surface.
Day fees: £2,625 to £4,275 per term
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