Felsted School A GSG School

Curricula

International Baccalaureate: diploma - the diploma is the familiar A-level equivalent.

School associations

Round Square - a network of 40 schools worldwide that share ideals such as internationalism, adventure and service.

Sports

Polo

Equestrian centre or equestrian team - school has own equestrian centre or an equestrian team.

Shooting

What The Good Schools Guide says

Head

Since 2015, Mr Chris Townsend BA (Oxon). Previously five years here as deputy head. Played first-class cricket for Oxford University (where he read classics). Joined his old school, Dean Close, as head of cricket and quickly became a housemaster (aged just 26), relishing ability to ‘make a difference to peoples’ lives every day.’

A rarity – ambitious for the school but never at the expense of pupils’ interests – he’s measured, kind and ‘definitely not a shouter’. Happiest when he can make a real difference to a child’s life, like getting a university to reconsider a candidate who had just missed offer grades. ‘A really good moment.’ Worst aspect of the job? ‘Having to tell someone they can’t stay.’ Rare (under a handful in the time he’s been here) and ‘would have to be something that was irredeemable and causing others harm’ and only after ‘everything else has failed’.

Parents reach for ‘lovely’ as descriptor of choice. He’s ‘very approachable, calm, comes across as relaxed and not highly strung,’ says one. Pupils were equally positive. ‘Brilliant.’ ‘Very much around – actually see him.’ Touchingly certain, too, that he knows every one of their names. (Mr Townsend demurred slightly – not always face-perfect, especially at start of each new academic year.)

At the school long enough to see several cohorts move up and onwards, including his own children but no sense of flagging. ‘He’s still trying to come up with new ideas,’ says parent. ‘Understands what the children need, how the school is set up and what it stands for,’ thought another. He’s the prime mover behind the seven ‘Foundations for Felsted’, just unveiled before we visited. A distillation of the school’s core strengths, they also read like a covenant to do right by pupils, with neurodiversity as the final foundation. ‘Recognises the value of difference… no longer a weakness… or something to be hidden.’ Enjoys sport – he’s on the board of Essex County Cricket Club. Perhaps to demonstrate that headship really is a marathon, not a sprint, had completed a gruelling 48-hour, fundraising slog just before we visited, running four miles every four hours.

Despite head-of-pin balancing acts required to retain broad intake and pupil numbers (and ideally up sixth form size), he’s positive about the future. With the school in good shape, his goal is to leave Felsted in robust health so it’s around for 500th anniversary celebrations.

Entrance

Most pupils join in year 9 and year 12, families looking locally and towards NE London and considering state schools, some fiercely selective, as well as other independents. Candidates must be able to access the curriculum and ‘show some level of academic independence and maturity,’ says head. Close liaison with learning support team where a child has additional needs. Ask for specialist reports, may speak to and sometimes visit current school. Consider pupils with EHCPs – though only one when we visited – but stress that child must be able to access the curriculum and that they cannot offer one-to-one support in class and no therapists (such as OT or speech and language) on site.

Aim to offer suitable sixth form pathways for almost everyone. ‘We would not want to tell families who are really loyal to the school that their child can’t stay on because they didn’t achieve an eight in maths [GCSE],’ says Mr Townsend. ‘We try to create flexibility so almost any student [can stay] as long as it’s not detrimental to them… some of our most successful former pupils aren’t our most academically successful.’

Exit

Lose around 14 per cent of pupils at the end of year 11. In 2024, about 40 per cent of sixth form leavers to Russell Group universities, 10 to European universities, one to the US (Mount St Mary’s) and 11 to apprenticeships or employment (Mr Townsend a keen proselytiser for these last two). Popular courses include business management, finance and accountancy, sciences and engineering. Three to Oxbridge in 2024 and two medics. Exeter the single most popular destination, also Nottingham and Reading.

Latest results

In 2024, 38 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 32 per cent A*/A at A level (including EPQ grades), 63 per cent A*/B. IB average score 34.5.

Teaching and learning

Good support for different personalities – squashy sofa with quality upholstery rather than rigid office chair. Plenty of schools will tell you that they’ll get the best from your child, say parents, but Felsted ‘looks out for kids’, ‘tries to nurture their individuality’, ‘provides a sense of purpose’. This was borne out in lessons we dropped into – pupils animated and engaged, one keen to explain a revolutionary concept in lower sixth teaching aids: the A4 hard copy. ‘Summarises the whole course in one place,’ they explained kindly, in case we weren’t familiar with this striking innovation.

Last inspection noted that tracking was mostly effective but could be more consistent. New school report format, an x and y axis enthusiast’s dream (school’s training sessions a must-attend for the diagrammatically challenged), parses pupils’ achievements, potential and challenges into visuals that pinpoint issues at an embryonic stage. Inspectors also flagged need to challenge the more able, pupils agreeing that the balance between independence and intervention can be hard to achieve, particularly in the top years. ‘Last year my grades were slipping, should have been working more by myself but I wasn’t,’ says pupil. Others welcomed the extra responsibility. ‘Hard but at university… I will be much better prepared when it comes to fending for myself.’

If there is a trade-off that comes with avoiding ‘exam conveyor belt’ mentality and soaking up high levels of happiness, it is largely felt to be worthwhile. As one pupil pointed out, school’s more moderate approach means teachers ‘won’t necessarily push you toward a top grade if it’s unlikely [you’ll achieve it]’. Similarly, the exceptionally proactive careers department was praised for tempering ‘you will go to the ball’ aspiration with realism. ‘Avoids shattered dreams along the way,’ says senior pupil.

Reflected in number of GCSEs taken. Norm is nine or 10, some take up to 12, others as few as seven, sometimes dropping English literature. Good range of optional subjects including languages (German still hanging on in there with a dozen or so takers each year), and classics. ‘Able to pick all my favourites,’ says pupil.

Sixth form courses have blossomed with the IB diploma taken by around 30 pupils (school hoping to increase), 80 or so studying A levels (plus Extended Project Qualification). BTECs (business and sport) also offered. Good ‘try before you buy’ system with short taster sessions in different subjects at the end of year 11 and opportunity to swap higher and standard level IB subjects at the start of year 12.

Clear water between most popular A level subjects – business, psychology, maths and economics – and the rest. While smallish numbers take traditional sciences, top grades are common and efforts crowned with success – year 13 pupil won local science and engineering award for her ‘redesigned engine trolley project work’. Would-be vets and medics supported at every turn – packed noticeboards advertise an abundance of application-enhancing work experience.

Helped by stable staff team, most easy to contact and respected. Once here, tend to stay on (many have own children at the school). ‘Either a phenomenal place or a complete lack of imagination on our part,’ confirmed one, tongue firmly in cheek.

Learning support and SEN

School wants neurodiversity to be talked about so ‘you force students to confront their possible prejudice,’ says Mr Townsend. ‘Education has been poor at this, now we’re having to make a dramatic shift.’ Prep and senior school SENCos much praised. ‘Sensational, cannot fault them,’ says parent. ‘Have allowed child to be themselves, would thoroughly recommend.’ They prepare a detailed Individual Education Plan outlining child’s strengths and challenges. Dyslexia the most common area of need, followed by autism and ADHD. Growing numbers with anxiety including emotionally based school avoidance. Some success with planning staged return to school. Unusually, feel that structured evening programme makes boarding a good option for some neurodiverse pupils. Teachers are clued up, supporting with subtlety so individuals feel understood without being put in the spotlight. Focus is on adapted teaching ‘for pupils who would benefit, with or without a diagnosis,’ says head of learning support. Might, for example, work on essay structure and reduce anxiety by narrowing options down.

The arts and extracurricular

Arts ‘phenomenal’ say parents and pupils. Amply demonstrated in the accomplished artworks, dotted around the school – one of two figures, one clothed, one naked, stand in uneasy juxtaposition.

As with sport, inclusive multi-cast productions involve the keen as well as the talented. Head of music, popular with all, wants ‘to run a department for everyone’. No need to blow his own trumpet – huge range of ensembles do it for him, from jazz group and three steel bands (two pupil, one parent) to battle of the bands – presented and created by pupils. Popular, noisy and a huge fun, based on the last-minute rehearsals we overheard. Around 30 peripatetic staff deliver 150 individual music lessons each week, beginner to diploma standard. Although not many takers for music A level, they regularly send two or three pupils to conservatoires and have a link with Junior Guildhall in London. Piano, singing and guitar the most popular but ‘no instrument that couldn’t be taught’. Have-a-go approach appeals. ‘Wasn’t good at the piano but still tried,’ said pupil. It’s epitomised by chapel choir. Around 40-strong, it literally hits all the right notes (and gets fair share of prestigious cathedral performances) yet is completely audition-free.

Co-curricular programme ranges from MedSoc to cookery, debating and CCF (popular, possibly the oldest in the country, with 150 uniformed enthusiasts), journalism and good causes. School’s longstanding community links include own alms houses for villagers in need and assorted partnerships, including three with state schools. Charity support, chosen by houses, includes enterprising Fairtrade coffee scheme – grown in Uganda and sold by pupils here, all profits sent back to fund school places.

Sport

Core sports are hockey, cricket and tennis (all co-ed), netball (girls) and rugby (boys), with some elite players getting additional training and coaching. Even rugby boots enjoy a bit of pampering courtesy of dedicated low-level sink in boys’ boarding house. Pitches so numerous that school website describes abundance, succinctly, as ‘many’. Use of the best known and probably the loveliest, the Front, is now equally shared by all cricketers (after a bit of petitioning by girls).

Steady stream of former pupils go on to represent their county or better (include cricketers Jordan Cox, Grace Poole and Emma Jones and rugby international Craig Wright). Similar steps to glory via football, squash and riding. Lower levels of talent and keenness no barrier to inclusion or enjoyment. School will use ‘gentle persuasion’ to kindle a spark – often with surprising success. ‘Don’t have to be brilliant… all they want is to encourage a child to be the best they can be,’ says parent. ‘I am a horror show at hockey but if I want to play, I still can,’ confirmed cheerful sixth former.

Some parents felt that boys’ sport (senior rugby especially) mops up disproportionate levels of attention, from the amount of pre-season training to match attendance (whole school was bussed to Twickenham to share U18s’ National Schools Rugby tournament victory in 2024). Pupils (girls and boys) gave this short shrift. ‘Unfair? I don’t see it,’ said one. Pointed out that boys turn out for ‘Friday night lights’ when floodlights come on for girls’ hockey matches. ‘We support the girls because they support us,’ says rugby player.

Boarders

Just about every day pupil we spoke to would switch to boarding in a heartbeat. So appealing, with long days, enticing evening activities and tangible sense of camaraderie that pupils prefer to celebrate their birthdays here rather than at home. ‘If you asked [a boarder] for their top three memories, they’d laugh halfway through because it’s just so fun,’ says one pupil.

First-class induction programme for new international boarders. Arrive a week early, see the sights, learn the ropes and, most importantly, form friendships that endure. ‘Felt I had my own group,’ says one. Flexibility adds to charms. Choose from three- or five-day or traditional full boarding in eight single-sex houses (each with a maximum of 70), two dedicated to year 13 pupils, six mixed age. Full boarders get pick of the rooms – singles an option in years 12-13. ‘Can watch cricket matches from my window,’ said senior boy boarder.

Houses span gamut of styles and delightful touches. Pet rabbits in the garden? That will be Stocks’s (girls). For something contemporary and colourful, it’s Thorne (girls again). A highlight is Garnetts House, exclusively for final-year girls (mostly boarders but also accommodates very few upper sixth day pupils). Tucked away on the edge of school site – but five-minute commute to lessons felt to be worthwhile exchange for the three beautifully decorated buildings, adjacent but self-contained, especially now water pressure issues resolved. (‘If you flushed the loo, the showers went cold.’) Presided over by approachable staff member with her trained therapy dog in close attendance.

All houses are clean, tidy and fresh-smelling (no doubt helped by three-day cycle for laundry for labelled items, rather longer if not, use of washing machine at houseparents’ discretion). Inviting common rooms, feature welcoming giant sofas – and the occasional piano. Boys’ rooms, as so often, not big on personalisation. ‘Haven’t had time,’ said one (some boarders even bring own fridges). Small niggles are the adherence to house system when allocating rooms on residential trips which can feel a bit rigid. ‘I don’t love it,’ says a parent. Other wishes – for mixed day and boarding houses – may, though, be on the cards.

Life for day pupils is far from second best. They have their own houses with generous spaces for work and socialising, plus kitchens. Can stay on for supper, visit friends in boarding houses, while boys’ day house has bonus of hugely popular rugby coach as housemaster. Can have a nagging sense that ‘there’s stuff going on that isn’t for them,’ says a parent – perhaps inevitable when ‘stuff’ is so plentiful – games nights, trips, quizzes, pupil-led cooking sessions (sixth form girls were fending for themselves with tasty-looking bagels for supper). After all, ‘we do want the boarding to add value because parents are paying a lot for it,’ says the head, with commendable honesty.

Ethos and heritage

Though anything but parochial, the school is intertwined with Felsted village (two public roads run across the campus) – so much so that one local resident who shared a nearly identical phone number was briefly the lucky recipient of numerous calls from parents, ‘always grumbling about the fees’.

Founded in 1564 by Richard Lord Riche, a canny minister and lord chancellor who kept his head through twists and turns of shifting political allegiance when others (like Thomas Cromwell) didn’t. Numbers grew to 100 over the next century. After a brush with closure in the 1840s, a prep school was opened and sciences added (to appeal to ‘The Army Class’). Became fully coeducational in 1993 (first girls joined in 1970) and embraced internationalism with enthusiasm, offering the IB diploma from 2007, becoming a Round Square school three years later.

Its appealing campus ducks look-at-me flashiness. Senior school reception was so unassuming that directions were needed, while only the subtle change in roof tiles betrays the join between the original dining hall (early 1990s) and the matching music block, added 2007. Security, similarly unobtrusive, is extremely efficient, with an electronic fob system for every building. Sweep of (mostly) Victorian red-brick buildings houses head’s living accommodation at one end (his attractive study has two exits, one ‘home’, one ‘school’ – though no Mr Benn-like quick changes between the two), many houses (boarding upstairs, day on the ground floor) in the middle. Recently refurbished Cromwell Centre on the other side is home to a smart coffee shop, a chat with sixth formers punctuated by contributions from the exuberant, multi-decibelled milkshake machine.

Upstairs, the recently refurbished two-storey sixth form centre features a long table stylishly and economically topped with flooring offcuts and accessorised with city slicker-style desk lights. Only early morning occupants during our tour were three boys playing snooker with a hockey stick – not advertising school’s inclusive approach to sport but ‘because we can’t find the cue’. Nothing in the long-term building and refurbishment programme to frighten the horses – low-key, red-brick modernism dominates – but increasingly with at least one eye on sustainability (rewilding is in, single-use cups are out, and ambitious projects, like grey water recycling, are on the cards).

Other highlights include the Marshall Centre for Learning, completed 2022. Rocking a business-lite vibe with low lamps, desk-level sockets and learning pods, its name commemorates eponymous major donor, a former pupil, assorted artefacts including his blazer and school badge touchingly on display by the entrance.

Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline

School has adopted Paul Dix approach to behaviour management, big on understanding, low on sanctions. Teachers broadly on board, parents ditto – as long as they can see that repeat offenders don’t get away with it. School can usually distinguish between banter and bullying. ‘Pupils are reined back in when they go too far,’ said a parent.

All part of school-wide openness about tackling problems head on. Mobile use increasingly restricted up to year 11, teachers expected to avoid overt use, adults urged to avoid complacency and remember that ‘it could happen here’. Freedom to be yourself is a recurrent theme. Involves everyone from tutors and house teams to the chaplain who organises student discussions around topics like ‘how to be the people we want to be’ (hopefully nipping any Darth Vader-ish, dark-side ambitions in the bud). Active LGBTQ+ society and sensitive and sensible changes – head boy/girl are now simply ‘heads of school’, uniform is listed by age range, not gender.

Oldest pupils can train as wellbeing mentors while sixth form computer science whizzes have pioneered Whisper – a reassuring bright blue button on the school app that summons help via text and is completely anonymous. Wellbeing centre, rated by pupils and parents and located in the heart of the school, provides on-the-spot assistance. Turn up and await help in oasis of calm (relaxing lighting, woodland videos). ‘Staff will sort it out with the teacher so they understand why you’re not in class,’ said pupil.

Pupils and parents

While there’s a fair amount of money around, our previous review highlighted just how down-to-earth children are. This still holds true, mostly (occasional exceptions ‘think they are special’, reckoned a local). Both parents working full time to pay the fees increasingly the norm.

Inevitably harder to make connections if children board (20 per cent of pupils are international) or travel independently, but ‘just enough’ school functions (May Ball a highlight) to make it possible to ‘pick and choose your friends’. Felsted Parents’ Group meets termly and has clout (niggle about lack of notice before international trips had been resolved by the next meeting).

Money matters

Scholarships can be topped up with bursaries (up to 100 per cent). Most offered years 7, 9 and 12. Identify children with the greatest need who will also derive the most benefit. Will try to keep this going following imposition of VAT, but ‘I understand that it can feel unfair [to current parents] so it is a threat,’ says Mr Townsend.

The last word

Rural, yes. Backwater, no. Forward-thinking, internationally minded, pupil-shaped education that includes a whole-hearted commitment to neurodiversity and wellbeing as well as solid academics and top-quality sport. Brilliance of boarding puts day pupils at risk of a bad case of FOMO. Otherwise a school that’s exceptionally easy to like.

Special Education Needs

The ambition of the Learning Support Department is to support and to develop pupils' learning so that they can achieve their full potential within the curriculum. This will be achieved mainly through one to one and small group work with some assistance in individual lessons. Pupils' difficulties will vary and so the level and nature of support given will reflect this. Pupils who are dyslexic or have a specific learning difficulty will follow specially devised courses in order to meet their particular needs. Pupils are screened for learning difficulties and a register is kept up to date to ensure that teaching staff are aware of the needs of the pupils they are teaching. Individual Education Plans are produced to assist pupils. When appropriate, assessment occurs so that pupils can qualify for extra time in public exams if deemed necessary. It is hoped that pupils will increasingly take responsibility for their learning and make use of the support this department offers as and when they require it.

Who came from where