St Edmund's College

Avita Pro Fide (For the Faith of Our Fathers), runs the motto, and few schools in England can claim it with more authority. St Edmund's College traces its foundation to 1568, which makes it the oldest Catholic school in the country, and it has occupied Old Hall Green near Ware in Hertfordshire since 1793. Today it is a co-educational, all-through independent school for roughly 791 pupils aged 3 to 19, spanning a nursery, a prep school, the senior college and a sixth form, with day, weekly, flexi and full boarding all on offer. Matthew Mostyn has led the school as headmaster since 2019. The 2023 ISI inspection judged the school to meet every relevant Standard, and at A-level results place it among the top 16.7% of schools in England. Set in parkland an hour north of central London, it blends deep Catholic heritage with a busy, outward-looking co-curricular life.

The story begins not in Hertfordshire but in Douay, France, where Cardinal William Allen founded the English College in 1568 to educate Catholics at a time when their faith was suppressed in England. When the French Revolution forced the college to close in 1793, its work crossed the Channel to Old Hall Green, and the institution has stayed there ever since. That lineage is not decoration. The school counts 20 canonised saints and 133 beatified martyrs among its historical alumni, and the poet Alexander Pope studied at an earlier incarnation of the school near Winchester. For families drawn to continuity, this is a place where the past is genuinely present.

The architectural centrepiece is the Pugin Chapel, completed in 1853 to designs by A.W. Pugin, the architect most associated with the Houses of Parliament. It anchors a site whose Catholic identity is unmistakable and pervasive. Yet the ethos is deliberately inclusive: around 70% of pupils are not Catholic, and the school welcomes children of all faiths and none. Leaders actively encourage pupils to explore the spiritual and moral aspects of their lives, and pupils of all faiths appreciate the focus on spirituality, receiving sympathetic guidance whether they seek formal church involvement or simply personal support.

The school became fully co-educational in 1986, having first admitted girls to the sixth form in 1974. Its mission speaks of realising the God-given potential of every member of the community in body, mind and spirit, and the tone that flows from it is calm and purposeful rather than pressured. Behaviour is a clear strength: pupils are very well-behaved, staff apply policies consistently, and instances of bullying are rare. The old year-group names survive too, so a new Year 7 pupil joins Elements, moves up through Rudiments and Grammar, and eventually reaches the sixth form. It is the kind of vocabulary that tells you the institution knows exactly what it is. That confidence in its own identity, expressed in the motto and reinforced through the Catholic and inclusive ethos, amounts to a clear vision that governors and senior leaders deliver consistently, and it gives the school a settled, unhurried feel that many families notice first.

Because St Edmund's is an all-through school, results attach to the phase that sits the exams, and the school's exam-taking phases are the senior college at GCSE and the sixth form at A-level. There is no separate primary league position for a fee-paying prep, so the prep years are judged on progress rather than a rank: teaching is effective and progress good at prep level, with children making strong early gains in a lively early years setting where activities are adapted to each child's stage of development.

At GCSE, St Edmund's ranks 718th of 3,895 schools in England for results, placing it in the top 18.4% (ranked against all schools in England with published secondary results, state and independent). This is a proprietary FindMySchool ranking built from official data. On the blended overall measure, which combines results with the FindMySchool inspection score, the school sits 953rd of 3,887, and within the Ware area it ranks 2nd. Around 120 pupils sit GCSEs at the end of Year 11 each year, and achievement at senior school is strong, with examination results that often exceed expectations relative to pupils' starting points.

The sixth form is where the academic profile is sharpest. St Edmund's places 427th of 2,562 schools in England for A-level results, which puts it in the top 16.7% in England for the phase, again a FindMySchool ranking drawn from official data. The grade profile bears this out: 37.5% of entries reach A* or A, comfortably ahead of the England average of 23.6%, and 67.9% reach at least a B against an England average of 47.2%. On the overall blended measure the sixth form ranks 611th of 2,561, and 2nd locally in Ware. These are the results of a broad, non-hothouse sixth form rather than a narrow academic sprint, and they hold up well against far larger and more selective rivals.

The curriculum is broad and balanced from the early years upward, and senior leaders keep a close eye on consistency. There is rigorous oversight of academic areas, with initiatives designed to keep teaching quality even across departments. In practice that means the prep school delivers good progress, while the senior school converts sound teaching into strong examination outcomes. The foundations are laid earlier still. In the nursery and early years, practitioners adapt activities to each child's emerging needs and level of development, and even the youngest children begin to develop an awareness of caring for their environment through the key-person approach.

Support for pupils who need it is well structured and clearly named. The learning support team is based in the Cardinal Hume Centre, with teaching delivered from the Cardinal's Suite, and pupils with additional needs are given individual Pupil Passports that set out how best to help them. Study skills are strengthened through a partnership with Elevate Education, which runs workshops for older pupils preparing for public examinations. This is targeted, individualised provision rather than a generic promise of help.

The PSHE programme is well planned and responsive to pupils at different ages, and it incorporates the full relationship and sex education requirements. Staff review it regularly, which matters at a school where pastoral and academic life are so closely braided together.

Progression through the school is designed to be smooth. Pupils move from the prep phase into Year 7, and the school's own Year 11 students continue into the sixth form provided they meet the entry bar, which is a GCSE grade 6 in subjects they wish to study at A-level, rising to grade 7 for Mathematics and grade 8 for Further Mathematics. The sixth form also recruits externally at Year 12.

At the end of Year 13, around a third of leavers go on to Russell Group universities. Recent destinations include Cambridge, Durham, Warwick, King's College London, Edinburgh, Leeds, Nottingham and York, a spread that points to genuine academic reach across the sciences, humanities and social sciences. Oxbridge success is steady rather than industrial in scale: in the most recent cycle the school secured a Cambridge place from a small field of applicants. Careers guidance is a visible strength, with visiting professionals and careers fairs that older students, especially those in the sixth form, find genuinely helpful.

The sixth form offers 21 A-level subjects, from the sciences and mathematics through to Drama and Theatre, Politics, Psychology, Theology, Media Studies and three modern languages. There is also an Alternative Academic Qualification in Food Science and Nutrition and IELTS provision for those who need it. The breadth lets students build combinations that fit competitive routes such as medicine, engineering and law rather than forcing them down a single track. Theology and three languages sit comfortably next to Computer Science, Economics and Further Mathematics, which suits a cohort whose destinations range from science-heavy courses to the humanities.

St Edmund's is academically selective, and the main entry points are Year 7 (Elements), Year 9 (Grammar) and Year 12 (Rhetoric I in the sixth form). Younger children can join through the nursery from age 3 and the prep school below Year 7. Applicants to the senior school sit a computer-based CEM assessment of about 60 minutes, with extra time available, which tests numerical, verbal and non-verbal ability rather than curriculum knowledge. A registration fee of £180 applies.

As a Catholic school with an inclusive intake, St Edmund's does not require families to be Catholic, and with roughly 70% of pupils from other faiths or none, admission turns on the entrance assessment and a good fit with the school's values rather than on religious practice. That makes it noticeably more open than many faith schools that gate places behind a Certificate of Catholic Practice or a priest's reference.

Sixth-form entry is the tightest academic hurdle, with subject-specific GCSE requirements as above. Because the school runs its own transport network and takes boarders, its effective catchment stretches far beyond Ware, so families do not need to live locally to apply. Prospective parents can use the FindMySchool map search and saved-schools shortlist to weigh St Edmund's against other independents in the corridor between Hertfordshire, north London and Essex before booking a visit.

Pastoral care is one of the school's most convincing features, and it is organised around a house system in which the boarding houses play a central role in daily life. The 2023 inspection judged safeguarding effective, with arrangements strengthened by an expanded wider safeguarding team and leaders who promote a watchful child protection culture backed by strong links to external agencies. That is the single most important pastoral fact a parent needs, and here it is reassuring.

Beyond safeguarding, the school places a high priority on mental health and emotional wellbeing. The prep school has a dedicated quiet wellbeing area and access to mental health professionals, while the senior school has built a virtual wellbeing hub for older students. Well-qualified medical staff and a prep school infirmary operate through the week, and there is effective liaison between residential staff, teachers and the medical centre, which is exactly the joined-up model boarding families should look for. Chaplaincy and the rhythm of Catholic life give the whole community a shared framework, and service to others runs through it: pupils show real initiative and empathy in voluntary and charitable work, with music and performing arts groups visiting care homes and local venues.

Co-curricular life is timetabled rather than left to chance. The senior school runs a Period 7 enrichment programme of weekly sessions offering more than 100 clubs, societies and activities, and the sheer breadth of provision for pupils of all ages is a defining strength.

Music is a serious pursuit. The flagship ensemble is the Schola Cantorum, a choir of around 70 singers that performs at Masses, concerts and in cathedrals, alongside the senior Cantores, the St Edmund's Chamber Choir and an orchestra. Instrumental groups run the full range, from Jazz Band, Junior Jazz, Concert Band and Rock Band to a Cello Ensemble, a Woodwind Ensemble, Junior Strings, a Guitar Group and a Piano Duet, so a keen musician can find an ensemble at almost any level. Drama is equally ambitious: the school runs a LAMDA Musical Theatre programme, house drama competitions and large-scale senior productions that have included Les Misérables, Side Show and Starlight Express. Together they give pupils a genuine performance culture rather than an occasional concert.

The uniformed and outdoor programme is a standout. The St Edmund's Combined Cadet Force, established in 1916, runs Army and Royal Air Force sections and its own Corps of Drums, and it sits alongside the Duke of Edinburgh's Award at Bronze, Silver and Gold. On the sporting side, football, rugby and cricket lead the boys' programme while hockey and netball anchor the girls', with three outdoor netball courts and an indoor court allowing several teams to play at once. Athletics, tennis, swimming and golf are open to all, the last through a partnership with Whitehills Golf Club, and an aspiring athletes programme has supported talented pupils to compete at the highest levels. For the entrepreneurially minded, a Young Enterprise programme linked to A-level Business offers real commercial experience, and a Service and Leadership programme channels the school's emphasis on responsibility to others. Charity and voluntary work are not incidental here: pupils show marked initiative in service, and the visible thread of giving back is one of the clearest expressions of the school's Catholic character in daily life.

Fees are charged termly and include VAT. Day fees rise with age, from £5,772 per term for Reception to Year 2 and £7,356 per term across Years 3 to 6, to £7,811 per term at Year 7 and £9,799 per term for Years 9 to 13. Boarding adds substantially: full boarding runs from £12,996 per term at Year 7 to £17,399 per term in the senior years, with weekly and flexi options priced below that. A registration fee of £180 is non-refundable and an acceptance deposit of £1,500 is refundable.

Financial support is meaningful. Means-tested bursaries can cover up to 100% of fees and are awarded primarily at the Year 7 and Year 12 entry points, and families may apply for a scholarship in addition to a bursary. Serving Forces families receive a 10% reduction, and sibling discounts scale from 5% for a second child to larger reductions for further children. For families whose circumstances change, this combination of bursary and Forces support is worth exploring early, since the main awards cluster around specific entry years.

Boarding is woven into the fabric of the school rather than bolted on. Places come in full, weekly and flexi forms, the last capped at up to three nights a week, so families can choose the level of residence that suits them alongside a large day population. The boarding community numbers around 90 pupils, many of them from overseas with Catholic links, which gives the houses an international character. Sixth-formers have single rooms, while younger boarders share singles or twins, with boys and girls on separate corridors on the upper floors of the main house and staff, including a matron, living on site.

Life in the houses is busy. Boarders take part in a wealth of activities alongside day pupils and have access on site to an indoor swimming pool, a sports hall, a fully equipped gym, astro-turf pitches, tennis courts, a well-equipped library and ICT suites. The result is a boarding experience that keeps evenings and weekends full without requiring families to live nearby. Because the boarding houses sit at the centre of school life rather than to one side of it, day pupils and boarders share the same activities and the same rhythm, and the mix of home and overseas families gives the community a genuinely international outlook while keeping its Catholic identity intact.

St Edmund's sits in parkland at Old Hall Green near Ware, roughly an hour from central London and well placed for Hertfordshire, north and east London and west Essex. Travel is made practical by an extensive school bus network of 16 named routes reaching towns including Cuffley, Finchley, Enfield, Harlow, Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City, Cambridge, Loughton, Chigwell, Bishop's Stortford, Waltham Abbey and Royston, which widens the day catchment considerably and means many families across Hertfordshire, north London and west Essex can send a child daily without a long drive of their own. Full and flexi boarding remove the commute altogether for those who want it. For nursery fee details, see the school website; government-funded hours are available for eligible families, and our guide to nursery funding explains the entitlement. Families weighing the commute can use the FindMySchool tools to compare St Edmund's with nearby independents side by side.

The Catholic character is genuine and pervasive. Faith is not confined to a weekly assembly here; it runs through the calendar, the chaplaincy and the school's sense of itself, symbolised by the Pugin Chapel at its heart. The intake is inclusive and most pupils are not Catholic, but families uncomfortable with regular worship and an explicit religious framing should look elsewhere.

Co-curricular tracking is a work in progress. The school has been asked to improve how it records and tracks pupils' involvement in the co-curricular programme over time, and to build on recent efforts to give sixth-formers more independence. The provision itself is broad; the point is about oversight, and it is worth asking how a child's engagement will be monitored.

Fees and location need planning. Senior day fees approach £9,799 per term and full boarding is considerably higher, all now including VAT, so the total commitment is significant even before extras. The rural setting is part of the appeal but means most families depend on the bus network or boarding rather than a short local run.

St Edmund's College offers something increasingly rare: an unbroken Catholic heritage stretching back to 1568, paired with results that put its sixth form in the top 16.7% of schools in England and its GCSE cohort in the top 18.4%. The teaching is sound, the pastoral care is genuine and inspector-verified, and the co-curricular life, from the Schola Cantorum to a cadet force founded in 1916, is unusually full for a school of its size. It suits families who want an all-through education with real breadth, a strong values framework and the flexibility of day or boarding, and who value character and continuity as much as league-table position. Those seeking a purely secular environment, or the very highest selective academic ceiling, may find a better fit elsewhere, but for the right family this is a distinctive and deeply rooted school that delivers well beyond the exam hall.