Berkhamsted School (boys)

Since April 2025, Tom Hockedy, who has been a member of the Berkhamsted community since 2013 including as head of department, sixth form housemaster and (most recently) deputy head of Berkhamsted Girls. He was head boy at Millfield (where he has also

Diamond structure, so prep is co-ed, senior school is single sex (there’s one of each), then it’s back to co-ed for sixth form. In the boys’ senior school, 40-50 newbies join the 40 who move up from the prep at 11+ (no entrance exam for prep pupils

Around 15 per cent leave post GCSEs for all the usual reasons: a change (some have been there since age 3), more vocational subjects (eg criminology), financial reasons, they don’t hit the academic bar etc. Most sixth formers to university, around

In 2025, 75 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 57 per cent A*/A at A level (82 per cent A*-B).

‘An academic school, but not a highly pushy one,’ said one parent, another that, ‘It really pushes the boys but I wouldn’t call it a really academic school.’ Go figure. But that’s the thing about Berko – it’s different things to different people. Top

School talks about the need to cater for a neurodiverse world – music to our ears. Welcomes eg dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, autism and processing needs, albeit at the milder end as ‘boys need to be able to access the curriculum’. One-to-ones (free of

Nobody could argue the school sidelines extracurricular, and for many parents this is the clincher. Dedicated outdoor education lead organises everything from high ropes on site (yes, really!) through to bushcraft, climbing trips in the Peak District

Without a doubt, the jewel in the extracurricular crown. ‘The reason we chose the school,’ we heard time and again. ‘We wanted to keep up our son’s confidence and knew sport would achieve that,’ said one, typically. Winning is in the school’s DNA,

Less a boarding school than a school with boarding, though parents say it’s more integrated than in the past, with some boys having sleepovers with their (day pupil) friends. Pretty even gender split – each gets a large residential house (next door

Well-oiled pastoral system, with vertical house system taking centre stage. ‘The tutors create such great rapport – it’s the pastoral backbone of the school,’ felt one parent. Each house has its own common room (think ping-pong tables, table

Boys are chatty and at ease with adults. They travel in from a 40-minute radius, many via the school’s comprehensive coach system. Families weighted on the affluent side – ‘There’s a lot of money swilling around but they are hardworking, so it’s not

Academic, drama, music and sports scholarships at 11+, 13+ and 16+. School has links with Chiltern Hills Academy and its five schools, taking on 11+ leavers into sixth form on full bursaries every year. Other means-tested bursaries available, but

A work hard, play hard culture in a diamond structured school that’s an integral part of a lovely local community. If local grammars or north London independent hothouses don’t do it for your more well-rounded son, this just might. Innovative