Private school Ellesmere College

Explore the Ellesmere Difference UK

Ellesmere College was opened in 1884 and offers coeducation for 600 students.

The school is located near the city of Ellesmere in western England. Located on an area of ​​146 acres. The school has fantastic equipment. A stage art program is held at the theatre, which seats 200 people, and the school also has music classes, rehearsal rooms and recording studios.

The school has 550 students.

DIRECTOR (stand 2026)

Vicky Pritt-Roberts, education - University of Wales, Master's degree in education.

FAMOUS SCHOOL GRADUATES

• Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster, the richest British billionaire
• Martin Aitchison, illustrator
• Bill Behman, rugby player
• Ralph Benjamin, a scientist
• John Brant, Military, Winner of the Military Cross and the highest military order in the UK Victoria Cross
• Sir Paul Dean, politician, MP
• Robert Godwin, writer
• Frederick Harvey, rugby player, holder of the highest military order in the UK Victoria Cross
• Chris Hawkins, DJ, TV and Radio Announcer, Reporter
• Peter Jones, screenwriter, actor (TV series “Purely English Killings”, film “Chariots of Fire”)
• Marty Natalegawa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia
• Chris Moncriff, journalist

KEY FACTORS

• Ellesmere college pays great attention to the development and education of individual students.
• Each student has their own mentor who monitors their successes and maintains constant contact with their parents.
• Teacher-student ratio: 1: 8.
• Pupils go to their chosen university, many go to Oxford, Cambridge and the Russell Group universities.
• During inspections, the school received high marks for the well-being of its students, the innovative and dynamic approach used in teaching.

EQUIPMENT

The school has exceptional sports equipment. Recently built a sports hall for 1.3 million pounds. The school has a national sports reputation for having academies of rugby, cricket, football, golf, shooting and tennis. Activities in the surrounding area include climbing, canoeing, sailing and hiking.

The school has:

• Gym with free weights and modern cardiovascular equipment
• Gym and fitness centres
• 2 squash fields
• 6 floodlit tennis courts for playing in any weather
• 9 indoor tennis courts with artificial turf
• 25-meter indoor pool
• Hockey field
• Golf course
• 2 bowling machines
• 7 rugby fields
• A huge soccer field and a smaller field for training juniors
• Lake and sailing club
• Equipment for archery indoors and outdoors

PROGRAM

GCSE

A two-year General Certificate of Secondary Education programme. There are 10 subjects: 7 compulsory and 3 optional subjects.
What is the difference between IGCSE and GCSE programmes?

A-level

A two-year programme to prepare you for university. You study 4 subjects in the first year (AS) and 3-4 subjects in the second year (A2).
In addition to these subjects, pupils can take courses in Critical Thinking, Young Entrepreneurs, and conduct their own in-depth academic research.
Find out more about A-level program

BTEC

An alternative to the A-level programme: a pre-university course with maximum emphasis on developing practical skills, applying theoretical knowledge to real life. BTEC qualifications are available in the specialism of sports coaching.
Find out more about BTEC program

International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB)

Pupils choose to study six subjects: 3 at Advanced Level and 3 at Standard Level. In addition to this, students write an extended essay, take a Theory of Knowledge (Practical Philosophy) course and spend half a day once a week on a CAS (Creativity, Action and Support) project.
Find out more about IB program

What is the difference between A-level and IB

Pre-sixth course

A one-year course aimed at preparing non-resident students for exams in the secondary school program (including A-level and international baccalaureate - IB). The objective of the course is to improve knowledge of spoken and written English, as well as the successful passing of exams for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in key subjects.

The course helps students to successfully complete their studies in high school and at the same time gives them the experience of studying in a boarding school. When students at the Pre-Sixth course switch to the Sixth Form, they can be fully confident that they will be able to complete the Sixth Form course (either A-level or the International Baccalaureate Diploma) and thereby fully join the school from the day they arrive in Ellesmere

To enter this course requires basic knowledge of the English language. The student must read simple texts, understand speech and express his thoughts. Pre-Sixth Higher requires an average knowledge of English. You need to understand the meaning of the conversation and express your thoughts in detail.

Pre-Sixth students follow a rigorous academic program, at the end of which the GSCE or IGCSE exams are taken at the end of the year and students receive the appropriate certificates.

This course prepares students for successful completion of IB and A-level programs. All Pre-Sixth students take mandatory language courses, which are an important preparation process. The level of knowledge of the language is determined during the first week of study, all week students’ study together. During this time, students must get comfortable in school and show themselves in class. At the end of the week, students pass a written and oral exam.

Regardless of the level of knowledge of the language, all students undergo training. Students with an advanced level of language proficiency have at least 6 English lessons per week. Students with an average knowledge of the language have a minimum of 15 lessons per week.

ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD

In the residence of the school. In the lower grades, students mostly live in standard rooms for 3-4 people. At the Sixth Form program, students live in double rooms, standard and with a private bathroom. Residences have small kitchens. The school itself has a cafeteria where students have breakfast, lunch and dinner.

A very favourable fact is that quite a lot of students live in a boarding school, this is very important for the speedy adaptation of a foreign student in the school environment.

Students eat in the school cafeteria. This is an elegant building that can accommodate up to 800 people at a time. Teenagers eat three times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner), additional snacks are organized during various events. The dining room menu is composed considering all the nutritional requirements of adolescents, the diet is varied and balanced. At each meal, several dishes are offered to choose from, there is always fresh fruit.

SPORT

Students at Ellesmere are actively involved in various sports: table tennis, badminton, golf, canoeing, hiking, squash, swimming, seasonal sailing, shooting. Children also play football, hockey, basketball, rugby and cricket. The Rugby Academy at this school is considered one of the best in the country. Children constantly compete nationally and globally.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

In recent years, the Ellesmere school has gained wide acclaim as an elite sports academy. The training program for swimmers is especially notable - some of the best athletes in England and Europe study at the school. However, sports activities are not limited to swimming - the school has a rugby, tennis, and cricket section. There is also a scholarship program for gifted and talented young people.

In college, special attention is paid to music. More than 30% of students learn to play musical instruments, which bears fruit - at the last Oswestry music festival, students won in nine categories. And it is in Ellesmere that the two best bodies in the country are located.

Students of the school actively participate in the activities of drama groups and theatrical studio - theatrical student troupe tours America every two years.

School video

COST, 2026-2027

£16,368 per semester (depending on age).
There are 3 semesters in the school year.

Extra paid

• Registration fee - £120
• Guarantee Deposit - £200
• Refundable deposit - £9,000
• EAL Fee - £655 per term (2 lessons per week)
• Music Lessons - £391 per term (10 private lessons)
• One-to-one tuition - £618 per term (1 lesson per week)
• Flights
• Transfers to / from the airport
• Visa
• Services of the company "Paradise"
• Guardianship (as required by British law)

Our services and fees

Our expert's impressions of the school visit

Once again, I was convinced that the atmosphere of the school can only be felt while inside. As if the picture comes to life. Today there was such an experience. And I saw the school through the eyes of students. But first things first.

Northern England, green hills, space and not far from the city there is the Ellesmere college school. The vast territory (60 hectares), sports equipment, which you can envy, modern laboratories for the natural sciences, its own theatre, art centre, a huge chapel. All in the same style: red brick and vaulted wooden ceilings. And many, many guys who go from building to building, always say hello, smile, fool around. Here you can be yourself.

There are 600 students in the school (about 250 live in the school all the time, on a full board basis), and the warmth of relations between adults and children and the respect of the younger to the older are felt.

The most important thing here is to give everyone the opportunity to find themselves, to be the best not only in one thing (study or sport), but to combine, be able to find balance. This is indicated by administrators, teachers, and children themselves.

Angel from China (this is her seventh year at school) had the opportunity to transfer to the Sevenoaks school (a to rated school), but she stayed because the community and people inside are more important. My favourite sport is shooting. By the way, she is submitting documents to enter Cambridge.

Barney (future graduate, prefect, head of boys this year) lives half an hour from the school, but has been staying here for a week on a hostel basis, also because of his surroundings. He wants to become a forensic scientist, believes that this is more interesting than being a doctor.

Alice from Malaysia will be a designer, she has already come up with her own clothing line. Almost everyone with whom I spoke came here in Year 9 and stayed until the graduation class.

Here you can get a scholarship for achievements in sports, studies, art, learn how to fly an airplane as part of a cadet corps program, you can stage a performance and get a national award for it, you can try yourself in poetry or choreography, or you can become a European swimming champion (as a school student did this summer).

Music is at its best and so is drama department, sports are just excellent! Learning outcomes are highly dependent on the initial level of training, and everyone is supported! And all this without some tremendous tension and walking in formation.

I'm amazed! A cool school!