Yehudi Menuhin School

Since January 2024, Robin Harskin. After reading modern languages at the University of Oxford he continued his studies at University College London, spending a year teaching at the Sorbonne in Paris and attaining his PhD in French poetry in

Pupils need to fit into what the school describes as a ‘community of like-minded musicians who practise all the time’. Talent and potential essential – school can work on technique (applies particularly to double bass players, brimming with potential

Almost everyone to conservatoires and music colleges. The UK remains popular, with substantial numbers also to German conservatoires and a few to the US (eg Juilliard). The occasional pupil will opt for an academic course at university (sometimes at

In 2025, 71 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 63 per cent A*/A at A level (86 per cent A*-B).

School’s manual for parents’ starts with a quote from Yehudi Menuhin. ‘The teacher's ultimate aim is for the student to become independent - to become a master rather than a pupil… the teacher must be both.’

Pupils have two individual

Pupils will need the social skills and organisational skills to thrive here - so must, for example, be able to put in the hours of practice without supervision, as well as being able to access the curriculum. No pupil has an EHCP and currently just

Art, a non-examined subject (others include dance and drama), is very popular (memorable work dotted round the school includes an outsize ceramic hand clenched round a fish with blue, impassive eyes). It’s taught in pleasantly messy room, wooden

School’s determination to ‘let pupils have a proper life’ extends to sport, heavily curtailed at some other specialist schools because of the perceived risks of injury. Again, it’s all about injecting some much-needed normality into school life -

Long school day starts at 8am with an hour’s practice and ends with a post-supper hour of supervised homework for younger pupils during the week. No surprise that the vast majority of pupils opt to board - though some felt that their parents can find

‘Every term is always the busiest I’ve ever had,’ says one pupil. Life here is intense, combining ‘the burning heat of a passionate interest [with] a keen eye for the smallest things in life,’ as one pupil put it - and of being understood. ‘One is

Inspections praise the sense of community and maturity here. Music making across different age groups also means that ‘you’ll see a 12 and 17-year-old walking and talking in a way that just doesn’t happen in other schools,’ says the school. No

Has special status as a centre of excellence for performing arts – and gets government support. Ensures that no child who should be here, ‘based on talent, potential and passion for music’, is denied a place so admissions process can be truly needs

An intense, all-encompassing musical education for outstanding young performers whose exceptional talent is matched by sky-high levels of dedication and self-motivation. Savvy leadership is also helping to ensure that when they leave the Menuhin