Abbotsholme School Competitors

Founded in 597AD, The King’s School is reputedly the oldest school in the world. It is also one of the country’s leading coeducational boarding schools located in the idyllic surroundings of the Precincts of Canterbury Cathedral, just one hour from Central London. The School has a strongly academic curriculum that is continually adapting to encompass the ever-changing demands of modern education. We place emphasis on scholarly excellence and our pupils’ progress to further education at leading universities in the UK and abroad. Through regular monitoring of academic progress, the School’s aim is to enable every individual to make the most of their abilities and to fulfil their potential. Art, Drama, Music and Sport play a major part in School life, alongside the Combined Cadet Force and the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. Other activities enjoyed by the pupils range from chocolate making and chess to Social Services and The Linacre Society, our society for future medical students. King’s Week, the School’s own festival of arts which takes place at the end of each summer term, involves hundreds of pupils in a showcase of creativity. Music is a central part of life at the School with a range of disciplines flourishing, from a large Symphony Orchestra, to a 40-voice SATB choir of Cathedral Standard. There are some 60 Music Scholars in the school at any one time.

Shrewsbury School was founded by Edward VI by Royal Charter in 1552, and it was identified as one of the ‘Great’ public schools by the Clarendon Commission 1868. 2024 was a remarkable year for Shrewsbury pupils, with 87% progressing to their first-choice universities and 19 pupils accepted into North American universities, including two at Harvard. In the past five years, Salopians have secured over 50 Oxbridge offers. Our pupils received a further 10 offers in 2024 and Shrewsbury was named among the top 80 UK institutions for Oxford and Cambridge progression by The Spectator. In typical Salopian style, our best-known alumni are famous for their independence of mind and spirit: Charles Darwin; Sir Philip Sidney; Sir Michael Palin; Lord Martin Rees (Astronomer Royal); Lord Heseltine; the founders of Private Eye magazine, Richard Ingrams, Willie Rushton and Paul Foot; mountaineer Sandy Irvine. The School sits on a stunning 110-acre campus perched above the banks of the River Severn, overlooking the historic market town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire. Our school library contains the oldest copy of the rules of football, dating from 1856, when Salopians played a central role in codifying the game. The RSSH (Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt) has the distinction of being the oldest cross-country club in the world and is officially recognised as a World Athletics Heritage site. 11 professional cricketers in 11 years have progressed from the school, including James Taylor, Joe Leach, Ed Barnard and Issy Wong. The Royal Shrewsbury School Boat Club (RSSBC) was founded in 1866 and the School is nationally recognised as one of the leading rowing schools in the country and boasts an impressive 14 Henley Royal Regatta wins to its name. If you are interested in an education at Shrewsbury for your child, please contact the Admissions Office - admissions@shrewsbury.org.uk

Oundle School is situated in the quintessentially English market town of Oundle, about 90 miles north of London. The School’s buildings, dating from the 17th, are dispersed throughout the town, which is, to a large extent, its campus. The School’s history dates back to 1556, when Sir William Laxton, Master of the Worshipful Company of Grocers and Lord Mayor of London, endowed and re-founded the original Oundle Grammar School, of which he was a former pupil. In 1876, the Grocer’s Company divided the School into two parts; Laxton Grammar School, primarily for the inhabitants of the town, and Oundle School, primarily for pupils from further afield. In 2000, the Grocers’ Company reunited the two schools under the common name of Oundle School and retained the name of Laxton for the day House. At the beginning of the 20th century, Oundle was put firmly on the map of leading English public schools by its most famous headmaster, F W Sanderson, who established Oundle’s reputation as one of the great science and engineering schools, a reputation still renowned today. In 2016, the School completed its ambitious SciTec project, uniting Science, Mathematics, Design, Technology and Engineering both physically and philosophically, enabling pupils to move seamlessly from theory to practice and from pure science to the achievement of a workable technology. The development includes the ground-breaking Patrick Engineering Centre, a new Mathematics department and an extension to its sixteen state-of-the-art Science laboratories. In 2020, the Oundle School Sports Centre was opened, which is the flagship of the Sports MasterPlan. It is central to the expansion of the sports programme, and offers pupils a wide range of both sport and leisure-based facilities and activities. There are currently 1,130 pupils on roll at Oundle School, with 820 boarders and 310 day pupils. Also within the Corporation of Oundle School is Laxton Junior School, a day school for children aged 4 to 11.