Gordon's School

Since 2010, Andrew Moss BA MEd NPQH. Started teaching in 1992 and has worked in a variety of boarding and day schools, including most recently a headship in a Cognita independent school. Before that he was a deputy head in Hampshire, and deputy di

Tough. There are typically 400 applications for the 120 year 7 places on offer (of whom around 32 board) and around half of these are generally swallowed up by siblings. Non-selective, so no entrance exams. Full or weekly boarder places prioritise

Around 30 per cent leave after GCSEs, most wanting a wider breadth of courses. Most sixth formers on to university; over half to Russell Group. Two to Oxbridge in 2024, and six medics. Popular universities include Exeter, Nottingham, Southampton,

In 2024, 51 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 79 per cent 9-4 in English and maths. At A level, 40 per cent A*/A (71 per cent A*-B).

Among the very best state offerings in the country, with an academically rigorous curriculum. It is an all-ability school, for which students are not selected via entrance exams, yet its results are top notch. Value added is also a stand-out point

Lowish requirements for additional support; 16 students have help for EAL and 25 have EHCPs, led by full-time SENCo and delivered in small groups and individually. ‘We don’t have a big learning support department,’ admits head and parents told us

Everyone here burns the candle at both ends and that’s just how they like it – ‘We all know busy people achieve more,’ explains head. After what would be the end of the school day at most state schools, the compulsory extended day here begins with

Masses of sport on offer, with good facilities on site – more than 40 acres of playing fields, and all the usual football, rugby and hockey pitches, to the less usual (for a state school) shooting range, AstroTurf, BMX track and rowing centre. Gor

Although two-thirds of its pupils live at home, the school is structured as a boarding school. Day pupils, known as ‘day boarders’, are organised in the same way as the wholly residential boarders and share an extended school day. So everyone is

Ceremony and discipline are in the DNA of Gordon’s, which was founded in 1885, at the behest of Queen Victoria, as a national memorial to General Gordon who was killed at Khartoum. The reigning monarch has been the school’s patron ever since and e

Houses form the backbone of this school and the fact that they are physical houses helps create a genuine village culture. Very close companionship among students, including across year groups – ‘houses are like a brotherhood,’ one student told us

A clear mobile phone policy is a really important part of modern schooling. This school has provided us with their policy.

Although it’s a state school, most parents have money, certainly parents of boarders who have to cover the boarding fees. Parents of day boarders must be able to afford the £7000+ day boarding fees and will be in a certain socio-economic demograph

The education is free, but parents pay for the boarding and parents of day students must pay for the after-school activities, house staff, Saturday school and meals. Around 10 per cent of places funded by means-tested bursaries and there are 12 si

A very different state offering – more like a private school without the price tag and elitism. Committed to traditional values, high standards, good discipline – doesn’t share its ‘semper fidelis’ motto with the US marine corps for nothing. Those