Hampshire
Headmaster: Andrew Reeve
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 are testament to this, with 100 per cent of students having been accepted to their first choice universities. New headmaster Andrew Reeve, who has also taught Economics and Business Studies, will take up his role in September 2023.
Day fees: £3,855 to £4,995 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.
Day fees: from £3,250 (infants) to £6,300 (6th form) 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: £10,710 per term
Day fees: up to £6,237 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: from £3,644 (infants) to £5,208 (seniors) per term
Guernsey
Headmaster: Robert O’Brien
Takes: boys and girls, aged 2½-18
Blanchelande College was established in 1902 by an order of French nuns and is the only fully mixed independent school in Guernsey. With 460 pupils in attendance, 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: £4,250 per term
Liverpool
Headmistress: Sandy Coleman
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-11
Carleton House is an inclusive Catholic school welcoming all denominations. Their most recent external ISI Educational Quality inspection judged both the achievement of their pupils, including their academic development and the personal development of the pupils to be “excellent”.
Day fees: £9,660 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: £4,835 to £7,365 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 2 years old. 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, which many pupils move to later.
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 Wim-bledon, London. The school is under the governance of the Jesuits. In September 2018, the school’s 10-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 £10,875 per term
Day fees: £4,510 to £8,210 per term
Hampshire
Headmistress: Zoe Ireland
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: £17,985 per annum
Kingston-upon-Thames
Headmistress: Sarah Hair
Takes: girls, aged 3-11
Holy Cross Preparatory School is an independent school for girls aged 3-11 in Kingston with a strong Christian ethos, founded by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, an international teaching order since 1844. The school includes a pre-school, Little Sparks, for girls aged 3-4 and continues with pre-prep and prep all located on eight acres of grounds off Kingston Hill.
Head Sarah Hair is much admired by staff, parents and pupils. “We ignite the spark that shapes the life at Holy Cross Prep, nurturing our girls to develop their curiosity, discover a love of learning and aspire to be the best they can be academically, spiritually, personally and physically so they can be ready to live a fulfilling life in the modern world,” she says.
The school’s two-form entry means class sizes are small, providing a warm, nurturing and stimulating environment for girls. The school promotes a growth mindset in STEAM subjects, empowering girls to be responsible citizens who are confident, independent, well-rounded and prepared to face the challenges of any selective senior school. High academic standards are upheld across every subject, as well as the many specialist subjects, which include sport, music, drama, computing, art and French.
Mrs Hair states: “It is of great importance to me to maintain the balance between the goal-orientated side and the formation of character and development of those life skills that do indeed last a lifetime. We recognise that the signposts for travelling along the journey of life are clearly visible even in early childhood. At Holy Cross Prep we identify strengths and talents from the very start. In short, we ignite a spark; the spark that will shape the life of your daughter.”
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 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’s top performing independent school for Highers and Advanced Highers. In 2023, the school was saved from closure after parents managed to raise £1.2 million in only 48 hours.
Boarding fees: £9,910 to £12,970 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 “excell-ent” 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: £7,244 to £10,245 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 environ-ment 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: £6,728 to £10,930 per term
Day fees: £2,499 to £6,062 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 4-18
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 popul-arity in recent years and now operating a waiting list for certain year groups.
Day fees: £4,040 to £5,270 per term
Essex
Headmistress: Kirsty Anthony
Takes: boys, aged 3-11
Loyola Preparatory School is a Catholic School for boys aged 3 to 11 in Buck-hurst Hill, Essex. It has been educating boys for more than a century. Parents praise the kindness and professionalism of the staff. It has an excellent multi-sports programme. The boys can part- icipate in a wide 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: £4,237 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 national-ities (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 net- work of Catholic schools. Mass is celeb- rated 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. In 2019, 41 per cent of students achieved a Bilingual Diploma. University destinat- ions include Durham, UCL, Manchester, Warwick, Edinburgh, St. Andrews, King’s College London, and UCLA and Emory in the USA, as well as top univer- sities in Japan, Europe, South Korea and Canada. Marymount accepts app-lications 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 head-teacher 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: £28,830 per annum
Boarding fees: £46,740 to £48,810 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: £8,275 per term
Derbyshire
Headmaster: Dan Wright
Takes: boys and girls, 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: £7,650 to £12,270 per term
Day fees: £3,150 to £5,590 per term
Sheffield
Headmaster: Michael Hibbert
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 2 to 7. 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. It was recog-nised as “excellent” across the board in the latest ISI inspection report.
Day fees: £4,336 to £6,702 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: £2,985 to £4,586 per term
Croydon
Head: Linda Sanders
Takes: Boys and girls aged 3-11
In August 2023 Oakwood relocated to its current location in South East London in order to be on the same site as the boys senior school, The Cedars and the girls senior school The Laurels. Families choosing Oakwood can therefore almost be guaranteed an education from 4-18 at the PACT schools on one site.
In its new location the prep school children can now benefit from the facilities on offer to the older students such as modern science laboratories, a large gym, playing fields and an Oratory where parents are welcome to attend Mass with their children. French and Spanish are taught throughout, while Latin is introduced in year 5. There are a number of extra-curricular offerings in sport, performing arts, music, gardening, chess and many more as can meet demand.
As with The Cedars and The Laurels, virtues education is at the heart of Oakwood’s vision. The children have their own personal tutor from year 3, who maintains close links with the parents. The basis of this partnership is a loyal and mutual understanding of each other’s complementary roles.
The most recent ISI report found that the pupils espouse and apply the virtues that are explored within the character development programme, collaborate well and display mutual respect.
Fr George Boronat from the Prelature of Opus Dei regularly comes to the school to provide children with the opportunity to attend Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He also provides talks and other means of spiritual formation for staff and parents.
Fees: Infants £3,600 per term, Juniors £3,900 per term
Reading
Headmaster: Joe Smith
Takes: boys and girls, aged 13-18
Founded in 1859 by St 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.” They also commented on how the founder’s motto and 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 and 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: £7,155 to £9,920 per term
Boarding fees: £9,878 to £14,437 per term
Oxfordshire
Headmaster: Daniel Gibbons
Takes: boys and girls, aged 7-18
Headmaster Daniel Gibbons has just completed his second 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. It 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 achieved 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: £4,145 to £6,175 per term
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: £8,748 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: £3,355 to £5,240 per term
Rugby
Headmaster: Grove du Toit
Takes: boys and girls, aged 11-18
Princethorpe College, which has around 930 pupils, was established in 1966 by the Catholic missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC). The school draws inspiration for its ethos from the MSC’s founder, Jules Chevalier, and the college motto Christus regnet. Princethorpe College received the highest possible ratings across all criteria from the Independent Schools Inspectorate following an inspection in April 2022.
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”.
Day fees: £4,912 per term
Bath
Headmaster: Ben Horan
Takes: boys and girls, aged 11-18
Originally run by Clifton Diocese and then by 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.
The College boasts impressive on-site facilities including a 150-seat theatre, dance studio, Sixth Form Centre, swimming pool, state-of-the-art sports centre and fitness suite, music studio and Sixth Form D&T workshop. The co-curricular programme is extensive, with a wide range of clubs per week, including astronomy, chess, metalwork and yoga. Their Saturday Active programme, optional for day students, is varied and includes sailing, golf, and archery.
The beautiful Our Lady of the Snows Chapel is the focus of the school’s spiritual life. It is the venue for weekly all-school assemblies, musical performances, religious prayer and a peaceful place where anyone can sit and contemplate in the middle of a busy campus. The College also has a Health and Wellbeing Centre, which provides proactive and holistic care for pupils’ physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Many parents enjoy the structure and stability that boarding offers and up to 150 British and international full, weekly and flexi boarders can enjoy the home-from-home environment provided by Prior’s dedicated house parents. Next Open Door Morning takes place on Saturday September 30, 2023, 9:30am-12:30pm. Boarding fees: £9,990 to £12,878 per term
Day fees: £5,874 to £6,483 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 in the autumn term of this academic year.
Ratcliffe is steeped in history and tradition, and surrounded by 200 acres of beautiful grounds situated in Leicestershire. The school teaches children aged 3 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,” they say. “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 3 to 11 and boys from 3 to 7. 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: boys and girls, 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 9, 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.
Boarding fees: £9,435 to £12,000 per term
Day fees: up to £6,750
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: £3,220 to £3,310 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 the lower Sixth Form would go on pilgrimage to Lourdes.
The school is acclaimed for its high levels of academic, cultural, spiritual and physical achievements, student behaviour and its 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: £14,703 per annum
Glasgow
Headmaster: Patrick Doyle
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. It regularly sends pupils to Oxbridge though most go on to Scottish universities.
Day fees: £11,421 to £14,976 per annum
Cheshire
Headmistress: Sara Heron
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: £6,325 to £8,400 per annum
Hampstead, London
Headmaster: Richard Berlie
Takes: boys, aged 2.5-13
St Anthony’s Boys prides itself on academic excellence with boys going on to top schools often with scholarships. Using an educational model which they describe as a “fusion of traditional and modern methods”, the school teaches facts (“memorising facts and rote learning are essential for examination success and as life skills”), but also to “think outside the box” (“presenting topics through the prism of problem solving and asking pupils to think creatively”).
“Encouraging boys to question and challenge is critical in testing the validity of arguments. Boys quickly learn that in the ‘free-market of ideas’ carefully constructed propositions will hold their own while flimsy assertions will sink without a trace,” the school explains.
“With no topics considered ‘off limits’ children acquire a number of key life skills. These include coming prepared to a discussion, literally having done their homework. It also builds resilience and humility because pupils may well have to concede to opposing principles. And perhaps most important of all is the promotion of tolerance and respect towards those who hold dear, different beliefs or principles.”
Founded in 1952, St Anthony’s now has capacity for around 300 boys and 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: £7,555 to £7,795 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: £6,600 per term
Ealing
Headteacher: Sarah Raffray
Takes: girls, aged 3-18 (boys in nursery)
Set in 13 acres, St Augustine’s Priory is a day school for girls aged 3-18, with boys in the nursery. Rated as excellent by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, it is a unique community with superb sports facilities and a working farm. Educating girls since 1634, the school has close ties with Ealing Abbey and welcomes students of all faiths to share their deeply rooted values to prepare for the future. The school hosts a beautiful chapel, with students regularly playing an active role in the celebration of Mass. From nursery to Year 13, St Augustine’s focuses on the whole child with the belief that happy and secure children learn best and achieve their full potential. According to The Good Schools Guide, pupils say their school is “loving”, “caring” and “friendly”. The school’s mission statement – “Our girls will change the world” – is at the heart of school life and students’ academic success. “Pupils are equipped with an outstanding education for the future, alongside a focus on building confidence, collaborative skills, emotional intelligence and self-awareness,” they say. “As a result students embrace all higher education and life after school offers, with girls going to the best universities in the world.” For the diary: Nursery, Pre-Preps and Preps open day is on September 20. Senior School open day is on September 4.
Fees: From £1,797 to £6,042 per term (Nursery to Seniors)
Manchester
Headmistress: Maria Kemp
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: £9,072 to £15,175 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. Alumni include the journalist and author Douglas Murray, historian Peter Hennessy, writer Peter Ackroyd and Lord Patten.
Day fees: £3,850 to £6,969 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, delivered in March 2023, described “Pupils’ spiritual understanding” as “excellent for their age” and explained that “Pupils of all ages achieve high academic standards.” In this last academic year other highlights have included achieving the Live Simply Award and being placed joint first in the National SATIPS Handwriting Competition.
The past few years have seen many innovations including the introduction of a Children’s Leadership Team and a focus on developing a whole school approach to STEM. St Bernard’s reports that it has introduced the Junior Duke Award with 70 children having already achieved their certificates and badges.
“We focus on the holistic development of all the children in our care… to encourage them to become the very best that they can be – acad-emically, spiritually, emotionally and socially,” they say.
Pupils go on to top grammar schools and public schools.
Day fees: £3,690 to £4,395 per term
Twickenham
Headmistress: Johneen McPherson
Takes: girls, aged 5-18
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: £4,670 to £5,970 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 Shannon-Little
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. A phased transition will eventually see St Columba’s being open to both boys and girls from ages 4 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. It runs a distinctive so-called “SHAPE” programme in the senior school and the Sixth Form, which inc- ludes 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 activ- ities include clubs such as mindfulness, scrabble and chess club, as well as CCF and the Duke of Edinburgh awards.
Day fees: £12,714 to £19,338 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 from 2022 stated that “Pupils throughout the school make rapid progress in developing their knowledge, skills and understanding.” It also praised the “self-confidence and a strong awareness of personal growth over time”. 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: £7,938 to £12,012 per annum
Ware, Hertfordshire
Headteacher: Matthew Mostyn
Takes: boys and girls (aged 3-18)
St Edmund’s College, founded by Cardinal William Allen in 1568 as a seminary, is the oldest continuously operating and oldest post-Reformation Catholic school in the country.
Located in 400 acres of Hertfordshire countryside with a chapel in its grounds, it 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, with an equal emphasis placed on academic, pastoral, co-curricular and spiritual growth. Above all, the school strives to mould well-rounded, community-minded individuals.
Pupils do well in exams with 36 per cent of the 2022 cohort achieving A*-A grades A-level and leavers going on to top universities. 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 for pupils aged 11 to 18.
Priding itself on being a “modern, forward-thinking school”, St Edmund’s approach is underpinned by two key pillars: the college’s Catholic ethos and its High Performance Learning (HPL) framework. Employed by many of the world’s leading independent schools, HPL mixes academic confidence and attainment with the development of robust personal values, attitudes and attributes. Lessons at St Edmund’s are taught in small class sizes, with scholarships available in art, music and sports. From a pastoral perspective, life at St Edmund’s revolves around five houses that help support students’ physical, emotional, and spiritual development.
Pupils have an hour timetabled during every day for co-curricular activities from fencing and golf to debating and cooking. There is a thriving music department and a range of sports on offer. St Edmund’s students can also take part in the Combined Cadet Force, the St Edmund’s Award and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
Day fees: £6,164 – £7,245
Boarding fees: (full boarding) £10,255 – £12,821
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: Dr Deneal Smith
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: £7,190 to £11,877 per term
Day fees: £4,200 to £7,877 per term
Cardiff
Headmaster: Shaun Moody
Takes: boys and girls, aged 3-18
Established in 1987, St John’s College is the choir school of Wales’s national Catholic cathedral, Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral. It takes children from nursery upwards, and provides male and female choristers aged from 8 to 18. The core values and Catholic ethos of the school continue to prosper and it prides itself on its outstanding academic results and exemplary pastoral care. In 2022, St John’s was ranked first for academic results in Wales. St John’s College has average class sizes of fewer than 16 pupils, small year groups and a stable, committed staff.
Day fees: £3,575 to £5,295 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: £8,055 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: £3,235 to £3,415 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: £8,335 to £14,289 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: £9,132 to £13,263 per annum
Catholic School and Nursery
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 which is willing to support the ethos of the school. It was rated “good” overall by Ofsted in 2018, with pupils’ behaviour deemed “outstanding”.
Day fees: £3,135 to £3,370 per term
Cambridge
Headmistress: Charlotte Avery
Takes: girls, aged 3-18
Based in central Cambridge, St Mary’s is a Mary Ward school for around 650 boarders and day girls. It was established in 1898 and is guided by the vision of the nun Mary Ward, who championed education for girls and inspired them to “do much” not just academically but also in society.
An accredited World Class High Performance Learning (HPL) school, in 2022, St Mary’s School received the highest grade of “excellent” for their Education Quality inspection and was deemed outstanding in all areas of Catholic Life, Religious Education (RE) and Collective Worship in its most recent Diocesan inspection report (2022). It is the only single-sex school in its county.
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: £4,221 to £6,093 per term
Full boarding: £13,148 to £13,892 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: £3,345 to £6,180 per term
Catholic School
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: £1,200 to £2,940 per term
Preparatory School
Lancashire
Headmaster: Charlie Long 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: £8,269 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 multi-million 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 is described as a “hidden gem” in the area.
Having traditionally had a nun as headmistress (the last, Sister Felicity, retired in 2020 aged in her 90s), St Winefride’s is now for the first time being led by a lay headmistress, Elizabeth Devey, who joined the school from the state sector.
The curriculum includes French and Spanish from kindergarten and children can learn Mandarin in the older years. While the school does not have the most modern facilities, fees are extremely reasonable.
Day fees: up to £1,860 per term
Ascot
Headmistress: Joanne Smith
Takes: girls, aged 2-18
The Marist School is located in 55 acres of woodland on the outskirts of Ascot, providing a spacious learning environment with a variety of modern facilities for girls from nursery age through to A-Levels.
A-level results are consistently in the top 1 per cent of schools nationally and the schools’ Sixth Form education programme consists of three strands: Academic Rigour, Employability and Leadership Skills, and Life Balance.
“Our ethos is rooted in our Catholic heritage where a strong moral compass and a rounded character are as important as the A*s achieved by our students at A-level,” they explain. “Every aspect of school life puts children firmly at its centre and builds meaningful, respectful and authentic relationships between everyone. Happiness and laughter combine with academic rigour; we work hard, and we play hard.”
The school is proud to offer a variety of pedagogy styles to cater for all learning styles, often drawing upon its woodland setting. It is not unusual to see campfires in the woods, for exam-ple, and drama performances in the Walled Garden. Visits, trips, speakers, and special events are built into the curriculum along with an extensive co-curricular programme offering over 100 clubs per week from ice-skating to photography. Blended learning with touch-screen laptops enhance the traditional learning in classrooms.
Fees: from £3,950 to £6,195 per term
Edgbaston
Headmaster: Jonathan Cramb Takes: boys and girls, aged 0-18
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: £3,600 to £5,450 per term
Milton Keynes
Headmistress: Louise Shaw
Takes: girls, aged 3-18
Thornton College Catholic day and boarding school for girls is located between Milton Keynes and Buckingham with 25 acres of 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 part of an international family of J&M schools in 28 countries around the world meaning students can participate in international partnership programmes, celebrations, projects and exchanges. Boarding is “upstairs” in the main manor house and the school offers flexi, weekly and termly boarding for domestic and international students.
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.
Full boarding fees: £9,025 to £11,190 per term
Day fees: £4,050 to £6,450 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. They have gained six Good School Guide Awards for performance in A-levels, and GCSE and Prep pupils’ performance considerably exceeds expectations at KS1 and KS2. ISI rated all aspects of their early years provision as Outstanding in their most recent integrated inspection.
It was founded in 1979 as a joint Roman Catholic and Anglican school.
Boarding fees: £7,710 to £11,150 per term
Day fees: £3,125 to £4,930 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: £11,004 per annum (£5,418 to £8,211 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: £2,525 to £4,705 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: £2,865 to £4,660 per term
London
Headmaster: Neil McLaughlan
Takes: boys, aged 4-13
WCCS is an academically selective boys prep school in Victoria, London. Boys, of whom there are around 265 aged 4 to 13, go on to some of Britain’s best schools, including Eton, Winchester, Worth and St Paul’s, often with scholarships. The school has 20 weekly boarding choristers who join in Year 4, all of whom must be baptised and practising Catholics.
Under headmaster Neil McLaughlan the school has developed its own modern liberal arts education, based upon the “three Cs” of curriculum, canon and character. Boys are taught Classics from Year 4 and the school has an outstanding English department; pupils are asked to memorise poetry by Shakespeare, Milton, Eliot and Keats as part of their studies.
Day fees: up to £7,564 per term; Choristers (boarders) £3,600 per term
Surrey
Headmaster: Dr James Whitehead
Takes: girls, aged 11-18
The country’s first Sacred Heart School, Woldingham has for decades been one of the go-to girls’ schools for wealthy and well-connected Catholics. It has not always had the reputation it had in the 1960s, but today reviews of the pastoral care are very positive.
Pupils seem well-adjusted and praise the school’s beautiful and tranquil setting. The school is not too pushy academically, but nevertheless girls do well enough for Woldingham to make it into the league tables for exams. It was awarded “excellent” in all areas by the Independent Schools Inspectorate.
Woldingham’s new headmaster, and its first male head, Dr James Whitehead, is into his third year. A former headmaster of both Rugby and Downside and an alumnus of Stonyhurst, he has been criticised by some parents and pupils for making the school “too Catholic” since his arrival. But the Herald is not concerned on this front as the school needed to be spiritually re-rooted.
Just 25 minutes from London – by train, not car – the school has a railway station in its grounds with a direct line to Clapham Junction, used by around one third of pupils many of whom are day girls (the school has heavily marketed itself in recent years to attract “London girls”). Over 80 extracurricular clubs take place each week. Woldingham typically spends around £1 million per annum on all forms of fee assistance.
Day fees: £8,250 per term
Boarding fees: £13,570 per term
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