Private school Fettes College

Fettes College

Fettes College is one of the most famous guesthouses for boys and girls in Scotland. Those who choose to study in Scotland should pay attention to it. Founded in 1870, the college is 1 mile from the centre of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Fettes College is proud of the high academic results of its graduates, a warm attitude towards students and good guardianship.

The school has about 750 students.

DIRECTOR (stand 2026)

Helen Harrison, education - Cambridge University.

FAMOUS COLLEGE GRADUATES

• Tony Blair, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1997 to 2007.
• Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton, electrical engineer, inventor of the technology that became the basis of television
• Tilda Swinton, actress, winner of the Oscar (films "The Chronicles of Narnia", "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")
• David Ogilvy, advertiser
• Tommy Armour, golfer
• August Asher, rugby player
• Frank Barnwell, Aviation Engineer
• Yang Hai, writer
• Norman Cameron, poet
• Angus Dayton, economist, professor and president of the American Economic Association
• Jan Donald, doctor, founder of the ultrasonic diagnostic method in medicine
• Sandy Glen, Arctic Explorer
• William Theodore Heard, Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
• Frank Hunter, athlete
• Richard Lambert, former editor of the Financial Times, rector of the University of Warwick
• William Lorimer, linguist, New Testament translator into Scottish, publisher of the Scottish Language Dictionary
• George Morton, politician
• Robert Alexander Rankin, mathematician
• Michael Tippett, composer
• Rutven Todd, poet and writer
• David Reid, businessman, former president of Tesco

KEY FACTORS

• The school is strong in teaching such subjects as physics, chemistry, history, geography, mathematics, and English.
• Good opportunities for practicing various sports. The school is proud of its rugby and hockey teams, as well as the women's school teams in Lacrosse, Hockey and Netball.
• The school pays great attention to the musical component of the educational process: musical groups, orchestras, three choir members, and popular concerts twice a year.
• The school is strong in theatrical art: children participate in the famous theatre festival Edinburgh Festival, taking prizes.
• Fettes College is Edinburgh's most academically strong school. This is a traditional British school - up to 90% of British students. 10% of students are children from 40 different countries of the world: Russia, China, Japan, America, Ukraine, Bulgaria, etc.

EQUIPMENT

The central complex of the school covers a library, several classrooms, language laboratories, a computer centre, a chapel, a medical centre and 2 buildings for living. In addition, the school has a canteen, a music and art school, a concert hall, a scientific and technological centre, a sports centre, squash courts, various sports grounds, and an indoor swimming pool. On Saturdays, in the evening, concerts, dances, discos, and student meetings are regularly held. Drama festivals are held every year.

PROGRAM

GCSE

The program for obtaining a certificate of general secondary education. 5 compulsory subjects and 4 elective subjects are studied.
What is the difference between IGCSE and GCSE programmes?

A-level

A two-year preparation program for admission to the selected university. Pupils study 3 or 4 subjects in depth.
Find out more about A-level program

IB (International Baccalaureate)
6 subjects are being studied. The program allows you to gain deep comprehensive knowledge in the selected field. In addition, an important part of the program is 3 key components: the theory of knowledge, the course “Creativity, Activities and Services” and an extended essay (individual scientific project).
Find out more about IB program

ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD

Accommodation in the residence of the school, in one of 9 houses. All houses have their own name, and each is designed for an average of 70 people, and rooms - for 1-8. Each house has a relaxation room, a small library, WI-FI. Together with the students, several teachers live in each house.

Food is varied and balanced, with individual diets (vegetarian, religious). In the dining room you can also always buy fresh vegetables and fruits, and in the kitchen in the residence you can prepare light snacks.

SPORT AND ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

From the first days, much attention is paid to sports under the guidance of experienced trainers. Sports at school: athletics, basketball, badminton, canoeing, cricket, football, golf, hockey, rugby, sailing, shooting, squash, swimming, tennis, volleyball, archery, dancing.

You can take part in the following interest clubs: chess, choir, oratory, theatre, photography, horse riding.

Ample opportunities for music. You can take part in an orchestra, chamber and church choir, and many ensembles. School groups constantly perform outside the school and record at a professional university studio!

Pupils play in the school theatre, the local troupe successfully participates in the prestigious Edinburgh Theatre Festival.

The school has a United Cadet detachment, which has units in various military specialties (classes include driving training not only for cars, but also for light aircraft, yachts, as well as climbing, skiing, scuba diving). The cadet detachment is led by 11 school staff officers. Since 1912, there has been a brass band at Fettes College, consisting of 40 trumpeters and 40 drummers, actively participating in school life.

COST, 2026-2027

£12,900 - £18,850 per semester (depending on age).
There are 3 semesters in the school year.

Included in cost

• Teaching
• Accommodation and meals

Extra paid

• Flights
• Transfers to / from the airport
• Visa
• Services of the company "Paradise"
• Guardianship (as required by British law)

Our services and fees

Impressions from a school visit

Natasha Strein
Founder of ‘’Paradise’’

I'm swearing as I try to walk across the gravel in my Chanel suede shoes. What kind of a fool would fill a huge car park with gravel? What if some poor soul in stilettos arrives? Their armpit and bare feet? I spit on this dirty business and put on slippers uggi, good, lying in the car. Pompous Fettes college, the solemn appearance of me in full parade will not happen, but it's your own fault!

My indignation melts away as soon as I look up: Fettes really looks like Harry Potter's Hogwarts! A fairy tale come true. Nestled in the centre of Edinburgh, the 40-hectare campus is home to 759 academically strong students.

A stunning girls' house - NEW! I'm ready to move in now. Once a term there is a rotation. All the girls move into other Rooms, making a mad mess: just dumping belongings out into the corridor and dragging them around! Madness! Why create this chaos? There's an important reason: in a boarding school, children must learn to LADY WITH EVERYONE. With any character, with any nation. To get out of their comfort zone. To come out of their shell and face the world.

The Boys' Home is 135 years old, and it shows. No gadgets are taken away here: ‘If you take away the phone, he gets the tablet, if you take away the tablet, he gets the laptop,’ laments the hausemaster. ‘We teach kids how to use GADGETS, not just take them away! At night, I do a NIGHT SURVEILLANCE: I look out whose window has a blue light on! And I go straight to him. Hello, hello, hello,’ laughs the boy's mentor.

Over the years, the boarding house residents have more and more DUTIES: just like in life.
The 16-year-olds clean their own showers and baths - they're taught to do that. They're taught to iron, do laundry. A lot of lads over the years, it becomes important how their SHIRTS are washed, and they prefer to do it themselves.’

‘It's important to us that our boys fight for the interests of their home,’ reports the hausemaster. ‘This is how we foster a sense of camaraderie and PATRIOTISM: standing up for our own.’ A house is a residence where an average of 60 children and their ‘Parents’ live.

‘It doesn't matter how good you are at something, what matters is that you DO it! What matters is your contribution to your home, and therefore to the community!’ the hausemaster continues to explain.

One boy almost drowned, but he was the only one who volunteered to take part in the swimming competition on behalf of his house, which earned him tremendous respect! Being part of a team is when you don't care.

A school in the centre of a big city is a COLLUSION threat to vulnerable children's souls. Under 16s are only allowed out into the city in pairs. If kids claim a trip to the cinema, must show tickets to the hausemaster, and have a long conversation with him about the film. Trust but verify

Fettes is a SCHOOL for SENSIBLE kids. Mature enough to appreciate the consequences of undesirable behaviour.

DENIAL FOR NARCOTICS is instant and non-refundable. Even on the eve of final exams.