Rugby School

Since 2023, Gareth Parker-Jones MA and PGCE (Oxon). Prior to this, he was deputy head (academic) here. Educated at Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital School in Bristol where he was a boarder and head boy; thence to Pembroke College, Oxford where he read

No more 11+ admissions. From 2024 onwards, children in year 6 can apply for a 13+ boarding or day place for September 2027 and beyond, with a day of age-appropriate tests, short interview and collaborative activities. Offers made for boarding and day

Between five and 10 per cent leave after GCSEs – entry to sixth form not automatic and a few pupils don’t make the grades. Vast majority of sixth formers to Russell Group universities most years – Durham, Bristol, Newcastle, UCL, Exeter, Edinburgh,

In 2025, 78 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 59 per cent A*/A at A level (87 per cent A*-B); average IB point score 36.

GCSEs, A levels (29 subjects, including PE), EPQ – which was developed at Rugby – and now the IB, which attracted 30 takers in its inaugural year (2021). Both heads referred to an upward push on the academic front and pupils and parents we spoke to

Learning development department of five supports pupils in small groups or individually. Head says that there is now much more integration between learning development and other academic departments. ‘Mild to moderate’ dyslexia, dyscalculia etc

One professional-standard theatre, three studio performance spaces and a dance studio staffed by professional actors and dancers. LAMDA offered up to diploma level. Myriad opportunities to tread the boards – whole-school productions plus house and

Brace yourself! Just talking to the school’s super-charged female director of sport was enough to make us feel like a little lie down. It’s timetabled activity all the way, including sixth form, plus co-curricular, a huge fixture list and whole

Proper full boarding, no flexi/weekly. Eleven boarding and two co-ed day houses (one boys, one girls, next to each other), all run on the same lines. Those we saw were kitted out to an impressively high spec – new beds and desks, specially designed

High praise for all aspects of school’s pastoral care. ‘Absolutely brilliant, proactive and responsive,’ said a parent. ‘There are so many different people you can speak to in your house or outside’, ‘Someone’s there to help, whatever the problem,’

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

Pupils struck us as less glossy and more grounded than might be expected – no particular Rugby ‘look’ or type. Parents endorse this: ‘We really like the fact it’s diverse – international pupils and pupils from all parts the UK, it’s not London

Approximately 41 per cent of pupils receive some form of fee assistance and at any one time up to 40 Arnold Foundation pupils attend on fully funded bursary places. Scholarships (fee concession of five per cent) abound, academic, sport, music, art,

A thriving, confident school; open-minded, innovative and with a strong sense of purpose and genuine commitment to social responsibility. Rugby honours its past and celebrates its traditions but keeps its face to the future. So much more than a