Reed's School

Tom Hardy learned his craft here; Tim Henman and Jack Draper learned their forehands. Reed's School, an independent day and boarding school on a large campus at Cobham in Surrey, has an unusually strong claim on both the stage and the tennis court, and the academic record now matches the reputation. Around 840 students aged 11 to 18 are on roll, Church of England by foundation but broadly inclusive in practice. The school traces its origins to 1813, when the Rev Dr Andrew Reed founded it as the London Orphan Asylum, and that founding purpose still funds bursary places today. Headmaster Mark Hoskins leads a school in the middle of a phased move to full co-education. GCSE results sit in the top 4% in England, and entry is by pre-test and interview.

Reed's is a school with a genuine social conscience written into its constitution. It began in 1813 as the London Orphan Asylum, established by the philanthropist and Congregational minister Andrew Reed to educate children who had lost their parents. Two centuries on, the Andrew Reed Foundation still supports Foundation pupils on means-tested places, and the school frames its identity around six stated principles: integrity, compassion, curiosity, resilience, responsibility and independence. That heritage gives the place a slightly different texture from the average Surrey independent: less gloss, more purpose.

The day-to-day feel is busy and outdoorsy. Set on an expansive site off Sandy Lane, the school runs long days packed with sport, music and activities, and the boarding houses keep the campus alive into the evening and at weekends. Students behave well, respect one another and take visible pride in the school, an atmosphere reinforced through assemblies, chapel services and a strong pastoral structure.

Crucially, the Foundation intake is not treated as a bolt-on. Foundation pupils are fully integrated into school life, and the same house system, chapel and PSHE programme build a shared culture across a socially mixed cohort. The Church of England foundation shapes the tone without dominating it: worship in chapel and Christian values such as compassion and service run through the week, but the school reads as inclusive rather than devotional, and families of other faiths and none sit comfortably within it.

The big structural change to understand is co-education. Reed's has long taught boys from Year 7 with a co-educational sixth form, where girls are already fully integrated into daily life. From September 2027 girls will join the First Form (Year 7), extending upward year by year so that the whole school becomes co-educational by 2029. Families should read the current gender profile against that timetable when they plan an entry point.

The headline numbers are strong and consistent. Reed's ranks 151st of 3,895 schools in England for GCSE results, placing it in the top 3.9% (ranked against all schools in England with published secondary results, state and independent). On our overall measure, which blends results with the FindMySchool inspection score, it ranks 121st of 3,887, and it is the top-ranked secondary school in Cobham. These are proprietary FindMySchool rankings built from official data.

Behind the rank, the grade profile is genuinely selective. Half of all GCSE entries were awarded grade 9 or 8, and three-quarters reached grade 7 or above. For a school that is academically ambitious without operating a hard-edged 11-plus grammar filter, that spread of top grades reflects both careful admission and effective teaching across the middle years. Because the intake is broad and includes bursary-supported Foundation pupils, the value added along the way is real rather than a product of skimming only the highest scorers at 11.

At A-level the picture is similarly strong. Reed's ranks 280th of 2,562 in England for A-level results, the top 10.9%, and 238th of 2,561 on the blended overall measure, again first in Cobham. Nearly 47% of A-level entries earned an A* or A, and around 83% reached at least a B. Set against England averages of roughly 24% at A*/A and 47% at A* to B, sixth-formers here perform at close to double the typical rate at the top grades. The value that inspectors attached to the sixth-form feedback process, discussed below, shows up directly in these outcomes.

Teaching at Reed's is structured around individual feedback rather than volume of content. Lessons are pitched to be engaging, and the marking culture is deliberate: students receive detailed, personalised comments and are pushed to self-reflect and set their own improvement targets. At its January 2025 ISI inspection the school met every required standard, and inspectors singled out the personalised feedback given to sixth-form students as a significant strength, crediting it with sustained improvement in examination results across all groups, including Foundation pupils.

The curriculum is broad and adapted to individual need. Year 9 students, for example, follow FutureTech, a cross-curricular programme that folds mathematics into robotics, computer-aided design, nanotechnology and aeronautics, housed in a dedicated building of the same name. Classical subjects survive too, with Latin and Classical Civilisation offered through to A-level alongside the sciences, English, modern languages and creative subjects. The overall effect is a curriculum that stretches the most able while keeping practical, applied learning firmly in the mix.

That breadth continues into the sixth form, where the A-level menu runs from the sciences and mathematics through history, geography and religious studies to art, drama, music, design and technology, physical education and languages including French, Spanish and Latin. Alongside their three or four A-levels, students take an elective, and the range is unusually broad: an Extended Project Qualification for those who want a piece of independent research, plus options such as Engineering, Creative Writing, Photography, SportsScape, Language for Business and a BTEC in Entrepreneurialism. It is a structure designed to give university and apprenticeship applicants something distinctive to write about.

Most leavers head to university: in the most recent tracked cohort, around 70% progressed to higher education, with smaller numbers moving into employment or apprenticeships. Destinations lean heavily towards the Russell Group, with recent leavers taking up places at Exeter, Durham, Bath, Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester, Southampton and Nottingham, and a steady flow towards competitive courses including medicine.

Oxbridge success is real but hard-won. In the most recent tracked cycle, students made 24 applications to Oxford and Cambridge, of which one converted into a place, at Cambridge. As at any school, the year-to-year figure moves with the strength and subject mix of the cohort, but the sixth form clearly prepares students to compete for the most selective courses. The Extended Project Qualification and the named electives give applicants the independent-research profile that admissions tutors look for, and the personalised feedback culture is aimed squarely at converting strong GCSE candidates into strong A-level results and, from there, competitive offers.

For families thinking about outcomes, the useful comparison is not just the raw destination list but how the sixth form supports different routes, whether that is medicine and engineering, the creative industries that alumni such as Tom Hardy and Simon Keenlyside represent, or elite sport of the kind Tim Henman and Jack Draper pursued. The school's careers and higher-education guidance is built to serve that spread rather than push everyone down a single track.

Reed's is academically selective, with main entry points at 11+, 13+ and into the sixth form at 16+. Assessment at 11+ and 13+ is built around the ISEB Common Pre-Tests, a suite of online, age-standardised papers in English, mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning taken in the autumn, followed by interview and group activities in January. For 2027 entry into the First Form, the application deadline falls in mid-October 2026, with interviews in early January 2027 and offers in February. A non-refundable registration fee of £180 applies at 11+ and 13+, and a security deposit is payable on accepting a place, currently £1,500 at 11+ and sixth form and £3,000 at 13+.

Sixth-form entry is competitive but not forbidding: candidates are asked to show academic curiosity and typically hold good GCSE grades, mainly at grades 6 to 9, with any subject-specific requirements set by the departments. Reed's own Year 11 students progress into its sixth form subject to those grades, and the school also recruits externally, so the Year 12 intake mixes continuing students with new arrivals. Because faith is not an admission criterion, the Church of England foundation places no barrier in front of families of other faiths or none.

As a fee-paying school, Reed's does not operate a distance-based catchment, so a family's postcode does not determine access in the way it would at a state school. What matters is the assessment, the interview and, for many families, the boarding and transport logistics. One extra factor to weigh is the co-education timetable: girls can currently join only the sixth form, with the First Form opening to girls in September 2027 and higher year groups following through to 2029. Prospective families can use the FindMySchool map and saved-schools shortlist to line Reed's up against other Surrey independents before committing to the pre-test registration.

Pastoral care is a clear strength and is organised through the house system, so every student has a house and a set of tutors who know them well. Inspectors judged safeguarding effective, describing an embedded culture across the school, with statutory training for all staff and governors, prompt and accurate recording of concerns, and arrangements extended to boarders. Wellbeing is treated as a leadership priority rather than an add-on, and the chapel, PSHE programme and mentoring all feed into it.

Support for learning differences is handled by a dedicated Academic Support department based in the Shell building, with four classrooms fitted with interactive technology and provision for students with dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and autism spectrum conditions. The department runs approachable drop-in sessions with deliberately unstuffy names: Study Buddies for revision, Stress Busters for relaxation techniques, and Nellie's Gang, which builds communication skills with the help of a therapy dog. A well-staffed medical centre, which handles sports injuries well, backs up the pastoral network, which matters at a school where sport is played hard and often.

Boarding at Reed's is flexible by design, and day and boarding students share the same houses and routines. Families can choose full boarding across seven days, weekly boarding from Monday to Friday, flexi-boarding of one or more nights a term, occasional single-night stays or weekend boarding, and the school is explicit that arrangements are tailored to each student rather than sold as fixed packages. That flexibility suits Surrey and south-west London families who want the boarding experience, or simply the logistical relief of a few nights on site, without a full-week commitment.

The accommodation is organised by age. The Close, a detached, self-contained building, houses the youngest boarders in Years 7 and 8 with a home-from-home feel; School House takes Years 9 to 11 within the main building; and the recently refurbished Sixth Form House provides senior accommodation with separate wings for young men and women. The boarding houses are well led and maintained, and students are well supported by a structured life-skills programme that helps prepare them for the independence of university and beyond. Day life is organised through a parallel set of houses, including Clapton, Reedhams, Royal Wanstead and Royal Putney for the younger years and Blathwayt, Bristowe, Capel and Mullens higher up, several named for institutions and benefactors from the school's foundation history, so that even day students belong to a house with roots in the school's story.

Sport is where Reed's genuinely stands out, and tennis is the jewel. The school describes itself as one of the country's leading tennis schools, with more than 40 national championship titles since 2003, a record that helps explain how Tim Henman and, more recently, Jack Draper came through its Tennis Academy. Reed's runs its performance sport through named academies in tennis, golf, ski racing and, since 2022, swimming, sitting alongside a full mainstream programme of rugby, hockey, cricket and more. The facilities back the ambition: a Sports Centre with a sports hall, squash courts, a multi-fitness gym and a 25-metre swimming pool, two floodlit astroturf pitches, and the Jarrett Indoor Cricket Centre, a five-net facility with PitchVision analysis technology opened in January 2018 by the former England captain Alec Stewart.

Music is broad and busy, spanning a Symphony Orchestra, a Jazz Orchestra, a Brass Choir and a Wind Band on the instrumental side, with the Chapel Choir and Schola Cantorum leading the singing. Curriculum schemes push instruments into the timetable early, through a Year 7 String Scheme and Year 8 cello, double bass and trombone schemes, so that playing becomes a habit rather than a specialism reserved for the few. Drama has real bite as well: around 90 students take LAMDA examinations across acting, devising, verse and prose and public speaking, a Stage Tech Club trains students in lighting, sound and stage management, and the department has competed successfully at the Woking Drama Festival, taking Best Youth Production and Best Director awards in 2024.

Beyond the arts and the pitch, the enrichment programme leans into leadership and challenge. The Combined Cadet Force, open from Year 10, runs along military lines and has taken cadets on exchanges as far as the Falkland Islands, Canada, Cyprus and South Africa; the Duke of Edinburgh's Award runs across the school; and quieter skills are developed through a Debating Society and a Toastmasters after-dinner speaking club. Enrichment sessions and prefect leadership programmes are woven into the timetable rather than left to chance, and the integration of sport, music, drama and art builds creativity and teamwork. It is a co-curricular offer built around named, purposeful activities rather than a vague list, and students are expected to commit to it.

Fees are charged per term and are inclusive of VAT. For 2026 entry, day places cost £9,705 per term in Years 7 and 8 and £11,615 per term from Year 9 to Year 13. Boarding is charged at £13,230 per term in Years 7 and 8 and £15,475 per term from Year 9 upward, with a compulsory lunch charge of £405 per term on top. On an annual basis that works out at roughly £29,100 to £34,800 for day pupils and about £39,700 to £46,400 for boarders, before extras.

Financial support runs along two tracks, and the distinction matters. Means-tested Foundation Bursaries, awarded through the Andrew Reed Foundation, continue the school's founding mission and can substantially reduce or cover fees for eligible families, though the school assesses awards case by case and does not publish fixed thresholds. Separately, merit-based scholarships are offered for academic achievement, art, drama, music, sport and all-round ability, with criteria varying by entry point. Because the bursary programme is the direct descendant of the original orphan foundation, it carries real weight in the school's admissions thinking, so families who might qualify should raise it early rather than assume the fees are simply out of reach. For current bursary eligibility and scholarship values, approach the school directly.

Reed's runs the long, activity-filled days typical of a busy boarding and day school, with sport, music, drama and supervised prep extending well beyond the academic timetable; families should confirm exact start and finish times with the school. Wraparound childcare in the primary sense does not apply here, as this is an 11-to-18 school, but boarding and flexi-boarding effectively cover early starts and late finishes for families who need them, and occasional boarding gives a practical fallback when a parent is away.

The campus sits at Cobham in Surrey, within easy reach of the A3 and M25, which makes it accessible across west Surrey and south-west London. The school runs a network of coach and minibus routes managed through dedicated transport software, with a published transport guide setting out pick-up points for each academic year. Families weighing up a long daily commute against weekly boarding will find the flexible boarding options change that calculation considerably, since a couple of midweek nights on site can remove the worst of the morning traffic.

Cost is significant, though support exists. With day fees above £11,600 per term at the top of the school and boarding above £15,000, Reed's is a major financial commitment. The Andrew Reed Foundation offers means-tested bursaries that can transform affordability for eligible families, but places are limited and assessed individually, so early enquiry is essential.

The co-education transition is phased, not immediate. Girls are fully part of the sixth form now, but full co-education only reaches the First Form from September 2027 and works up the school by 2029. Families of daughters seeking a Year 7 to Year 11 place should check exactly which year groups are open to girls in their intended entry year.

SEND communication is a work in progress. The one area flagged for development is the consistency of communication between subject teachers and the SEND department, so that support for students with additional needs is reliably effective across all lessons. Provision is well resourced through the Academic Support department, but families with a child who has significant needs should probe how information flows to classroom staff.

Entry is selective. Assessment is by ISEB pre-test, interview and, at sixth form, GCSE grades, so a place is competitive and not guaranteed by ability to pay. Prepare early and register in good time.

Reed's is a strong, purposeful Surrey independent that combines top-4% GCSE results with genuine sporting distinction and a philanthropic heritage that still shapes who it educates. Teaching is built on rigorous individual feedback, pastoral care is a real strength, and the co-curricular programme, tennis above all, gives students something to be good at beyond the exam hall. It is best suited to academically able, active children who will throw themselves into sport, music, drama or the CCF, and to families who value flexible boarding within reach of London. Weigh two things carefully: the fees, mitigated for some by Foundation bursaries, and the co-education timetable, which still limits girls' entry below the sixth form until the phased rollout reaches their year group.