Private school Oundle School

Oundle School: Autonomy | Spirit of Oundle School | Life at Oundle

Oundle School is a coeducational school that offers both full-time and full board for boys and girls aged 11 to 18 years. This is a school with a brilliant reputation, one of the three largest English boarding schools.

Oundle School is conveniently located in the beautiful trading town of the same name, Oundle in the heart of England. School buildings, many of which have a rich history, are scattered throughout the city, we can say that the entire territory of the city serves as a school campus. On the streets you can always see students heading for classes or games, children are not isolated from local society.

Oundle School is not just a school, but a special community that brings together children, parents, teachers, the administration and residents of the city. Along with a high level of teaching academic disciplines, the school provides comfortable conditions for sports, games and recreation. Every student is supported and appreciated here.

The school was lucky with the location, it is located in a typical English trading city, the name of which it received. School buildings, which were built since the 17th century, are scattered throughout the city and are its campuses. As a result, students, while they go to classes, electives, etc., walk along city streets, and it turns out that they are not in any way isolated from society.

The school has about 1,110 students.

DIRECTOR (stand 2026)

Sarah Kerr-Dineen, Education - Steyning Grammar School; Trinity College, University of Cambridge, Master of Arts.

Famous school graduates

• Christopher Alexander, architect, academician, writer
• Al Alvarez, poet
• John Davis Beresdorf, writer
• Lucy Brown, actress (film "Jim with Piccadilly", the series "Purely English Killings")
• George Blagden, actor (film "Les Misérables")
• Jim Clark, editor-editor and director (BAFTA and Oscar winner)
• Bruce Dickinson, singer in the band Iron Maiden
• David Edgar, playwright
• Frederick Nott, playwright
• Sir Peter Scott, artist, environmentalist
• Judge Smith, musician (Van der Graaf Generator band)
• Ivo Watts-Russell, music producer, president of 4AD Records
• Sir Bertram William-Ellis, Architect
• Sir Alan Budd, economist
• David Fleming, economist and writer on the topic of ecology
• Andrew Lane, founder of the Loch Fyne restaurant chain
• Sir Howard Stringer, President and CEO of Sony Corporation
• Cecile Lewis, co-founder of BBC
• Charles Wintour, newspaper editor
• Baron Richard Allan, politician
• David Redway, diplomat
• Kenneth Robinson, politician, former UK Health Secretary
• Prince of Yugoslavia Tomislav
• John Harman, former chairman of the British National Pharmacological Guide
• Richard Keynes, psychologist
• Sir Cyril Clark, doctor
• Michael Ashby, neurologist
• Richard Beasley, rower, gold medallist at the Olympics
• David Jenance, rower, Olympic winner
• Peter Morley, president of Crystal Palace Football Club
• Tom Stallard, rower, Olympic winner
• David Walder, athlete

EQUIPMENT

The school includes fourteen spacious classes, equipped for fine arts, science and music, a huge library, as well as specially designated rooms for many of our talented young musicians. Children really enjoy spacious, well-equipped play areas.

PROGRAM

GCSE

The program for obtaining a certificate of general secondary education. Required subjects: 7 subjects and 4 optional subjects.

A-level

A two-year university preparatory program. Pupils choose 4 or 5 subjects. Each subject is studied 5 hours a week.

ACCOMMODATION

In each of the Oundle school residences, and there are a total of 14, approximately 60 people live. The school has 8 houses for boys and 5 houses for girls. The directors of residences and their families live in residences with students.

Residences are very different from each other by customs and traditions, and a spirit of healthy rivalry is maintained between them. Each house has its own library, computer room, lounge, dining room, kitchens, bathrooms and locker rooms. Some of the houses, on the site of which were previously private estates and shops, are located close to the main streets. The rest of the residences are in the distance among the sports fields and school grounds.

SPORT

The sports facilities at Oundle School are excellent, and the school has a fitness room. The sports centre includes two fully equipped gymnasiums, one with an 8-meter climbing wall. The school offers: swimming, tennis, athletics, cross-country, football, netball, rounders and cricket, as well as chess, music, etc.

In addition to traditional sports, the school can offer opportunities for kayaking and shooting practice.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

Any student can join the 46 clubs existing in the school: an astronomy club, a chess club, a croquet club, a political science club, writers and many others.

More than 60% of students learn to play various musical instruments, study in the choir, play in the orchestra or hone their vocal skills. Members of groups and choirs travel to other countries.

More than half of the students are engaged in dancing, acting or other areas of art (design, pottery, photography, sculpture and others)

COST, 2026-2027

£15,840 - £20,745 per semester (depending on age).
There are 3 semesters in the academic year.

Extra paid

• Registration fee – £300
• Acceptance Fee - £1,200
• Deposit – £20,000
• Flights
• Transfers to / from the airport
• Visa
• Services of the company "Paradise"
• Guardianship (as required by British law)

Our services and fees

Impressions of our experts on school visits

The school left the most wonderful impressions, the only thing is that few of our children will be able to enter it, alas. Oundle is for outstanding students, with excellent knowledge of English and subjects. Close to London, convenient location in a small safe town with the same name.

The inspection lasted about 3 hours, the staff is incredibly proud of the school, their involvement in it. The school has connections with the London School of Art. The visual arts are amazing, the children are focused on their work, pleasant, serious. The music department was amazing: more than 900 individual music lessons a week! Many orchestras, each with more than 60 people. During theatrical performances, the orchestra, consisting of schoolchildren, plays in the orchestra pit. The children prepare the productions entirely themselves, inviting local residents. They are gorgeous here.

It was touching that each house for 65 people has its own small library. We saw many younger students both in class and in the corridor, they are admirable! The usual class size is 11 students.

A very cool library, you take books and return them using an electronic card index (using your fingerprint!). The main library has classical literature, where books in Latin and ancient Greek are kept. The children publish a city newspaper, sell advertising in it, the money goes to charity. There is also a radio station, parents abroad can listen to it. Absolutely all students take part in its work, there is also advertising, the money also goes to charity.

The school is an innovative one, for example, rainwater is collected in a lake, which undergoes special purification and goes to the shower. The science department: a super-powerful microscope, a wind tunnel for studying dynamics, professors from universities come to help students with scientific projects. Such a scientific project is necessary for the pre-U program. And there are also several chameleons living in the school, incredibly cute :)

Many study-related trips. We have been to the Aston Martin plant twice, a trip to the Jaguar plant is planned.

Fantastic department for studying foreign languages: in addition to classroom lessons, they use the 1:1 or 1:2 method, when the teacher invites one or two children and works with them in a separate room during the lesson (this is how conversational speech is tested). 2 excellent language labs. At the beginning of the course, you can study French, Spanish, German and Chinese. Later - Russian, Italian, Arabic. Their own small cinema, where children watch films in the language they are studying, including Russian :) They do student exchanges with France, Spain and Germany on weekends.

2 astroturf fields, by the summer of 2016 there will be 2 more, they are also planning to update the swimming pool, although this one is quite decent. A year of innovation! A very good gym.

We looked at the school in the rain, the wind - in not the most wonderful weather, and the children moved calmly between the buildings in the rain, only a few used umbrellas. Wet children returned from sports.

Order, discipline, traditional rules and customs, and absolute innovation in teaching.

The school is old, with traditions, the buildings are scattered around the city. Very large. The architecture is majestic, uplifting, sets you up for seriousness. The school has something to be proud of.

The students publish a newspaper. I read it - professionally!

Great conditions for music lessons. I watched a piano lesson. I listened with rapt attention: something classical in a jazz arrangement. I repeat - very professionally. Every day in the music center is tightly scheduled. The theater is at a professional level, the students give performances for the city residents.

The sports are wonderful: a huge swimming pool, the opportunity to practice not only common sports, but also rare English ones. For example, the game "Five", the existence of which I did not even suspect.

The girls have an unusual and at the same time very comfortable uniform. The trousers are wide flared, like a long skirt. Strict and elegant.

The teachers keep their distance. And at the same time, the school is without pathos. You are haunted by the feeling that you are in a noble society. I think this is also explained by the fact that I often heard the word "charity" from the lips of our school tour guide.

And now I have no doubt that the students of this school, together with a feeling of gratitude to their teachers and mentors, will go out into life with a desire to make it better, giving this world their energy, intelligence and love.