Roundhay School, Leeds
‘While we were taught about racism and sexism, there was too little time spent making sure everyone could read and write,’ said Liz Truss of her alma mater three years ago when she was minister for women and equalities. Roundhay School’s record begs to differ – it has been ranked ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted for more than a decade now. In 2020, the same year as Truss’s speech, the school received a World Class Schools Quality Mark. Roundhay is based in Leeds, and educates 2,600 pupils across a gorgeous 22-acre site on the outskirts of the city. Over the past 30 years, it has spawned a primary campus (it’s an ‘all-through school’, meaning it educates children from four to 18), as well as expanding its sports facilities so that it offers football, rugby, netball, cricket, hockey, tennis and climbing. ‘We refuse to ever stand still,’ says headmaster Matthew Partington.
Tonbridge School, Kent
Headmaster James Priory says that Tonbridge School’s mission is to encourage ‘creativity, confidence and compassion’. Established in 1553, Tonbridge has 800 boys – 60 per cent boarders – aged 13 to 18. In December, it was ranked eighth in the Sunday Times’s league table for independent senior schools, up from 34th in 2019. Around 17 per cent of this year’s cohort received Oxbridge offers, with others gaining places at universities in the US and Hong Kong. But the school prides itself on not being an academic hothouse: situated in 150 acres of land, it has two recital halls, an £11 million sports centre and the E.M. Forster theatre (named after a famous alumnus). Pupils are also heavily involved in the community: Tonbridge has partnerships with ten primary schools, and more than 120 boys volunteer each week. Year 9 pupils run a ‘book buddies’ scheme with local primaries to encourage a love of reading.
Sherborne School, Dorset
Sherborne School educates boarding and day boys from 13 to 18 on a site where children have been taught for more than 1,300 years. Founded in 705 by St Aldhelm, the school merged with Sherborne Prep in 2021. It also retains strong links with Sherborne Girls – which, it says, offers the best of both worlds: single-sex education, but with social, extra-curricular and academic co-educational collaboration. Sherborne lies in the Dorset countryside, and is easy to get to from London with a direct train from Waterloo. It is one of five remaining independent boys’ boarding schools in the UK. (The others are Eton, Harrow, Radley and Winchester.) Sherborne has creative and academic pedigree: alumni include Hugh Bonneville, Jeremy Irons, Chris Martin, Alan Turing and John le Carré. It will open a new sports hall later this year.
Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford
There are few settings more inspiring for education than Christ Church Cathedral School’s. Down the road from Christ Church, Oxford, this prep school maintains strong ties with the college. It was founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, and educates boys from three to 13, with a small number of girls attending the nursery. Music is, not surprisingly, strong: many boys learn two instruments to a high level, and bursaries of up to 100 per cent are on offer for choristers. (The school’s boarders are choristers or probationary choristers at Christ Church Cathedral.) But CCCS also has a stellar academic record. More than 65 per cent of boys achieved scholarships to leading secondary schools last year, including Eton, Harrow and Winchester. The ten-acre grounds on Christ Church meadow offer lots of room for football, rugby and cricket, and a new pavilion opens later this year.
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