Leighton Park School

Since September 2025, Luke Walters, previously deputy head at Christ’s Hospital and before that, part of the senior team at Ardingly College, where he was also a housemaster. He has also worked at Marlborough College Malaysia as a housemaster and at

English and maths tests and an interview, primarily for entrance at years 7, 9 and 12, though school will consider occasional place applications in every year group. Oversubscribed, with around three applicants for every place – not ruthlessly

One-third leave after GCSEs to local colleges or bigger settings. Most popular university destinations include Bath, Cardiff, Exeter, King’s College London, Leeds, Reading, Nottingham, Surrey and UCL. Four to Oxbridge and one medic in 2024, but none

In 2025, 59 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 40 per cent A*/A at A level (68 per cent A*-B). IB average score 36.

With A level and IB running in parallel, Leighton Park is now the only school in Reading that offers the choice. IB an area of investment: ‘Our values align like magic with IB and it’s something we are passionate about.’ Numbers skew heavily towards

Parents praise learning support department and with 37 per cent of students on the SEN register, they are busy. Effective, too: those on SEN register outperformed the average A level grades of the cohort last year. That said, targeted intervention

‘Everything the music department does is wonderful,’ a parent tells us; ‘the productions are out of this world.’ With 60 per cent learning an instrument, music is definitely a big thing. Pupils quick to praise their peers – ‘My friend is so good at

Fun fact: early Quakers were fans of hockey, seeing it as less brutal than other sports and one which both genders could fairly access. No surprise, then, that Leighton Park plays lots of it, alongside football and netball. Rugby, too, for the boys

Fryer House for years 7 to 9, then girls in Reckitt House and boys in School House. Flexi boarding available in Fryer, where an alarmed corridor separates boys and girls. Students do prep downstairs here in a cosy, kitchen-table-style setup. Senior

A small, calm environment in which to learn and play – we saw no rambunctiousness at all. ‘I don’t think you’d ever get bullying issues at the school, it’s a bit different,’ says one parent. ‘Even the tone of staff communication is woven with the

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

A great place for a child, or family, who are not keen on the big-classes-and-big-teams culture elsewhere. ‘My daughter was always the quiet one in the middle of a big class, and now she’s found her voice in a smaller setting.’ ‘It’s a school where

Two bursary funds – main fund and Ian Austin Award – provide means-tested support. ‘The school were so helpful,’ said one parent praising the bursary application process. Scholarships are worth up to 30 per cent.

‘Unjudgy’ and ‘not snotty’, according to parents; instead, we found grounded, grateful teenagers, respectful of the opportunities that the school has given them. Quaker values run through Leighton Park’s calm atmosphere, giving pupils and their