Radley College
Radley College
Lower Radley, England
Radley College is a traditional, full-boarding boys school close to the university town Oxford. It is often grouped as one of the Top 4, which includes Eton College, Winchester College and Harrow School as other elite all-boys boarding schools. Radley College is very academic, yet offers a wide variety of activities from great sports - rowing, golf and hockey are huge! - via drama to the arts. All this is provided on the breathtakingly beautiful campus of the school, set in the idyllic Oxfordshire countryside.
The Details
The Academics
Radley College is an academically strong school without being excessively selective. In 2024 the school achieved 68% 9-7 grades at IGCSE/GCSE and 67% A-grades at A-Level. The most popular subjects history, maths and English literature followed by sciences.
The SEN provision is very good here! Both individual and group sessions are offered to boys with dyslexia and dyspraxia.
Languages Taught
German, French, Latin, Greek and Spanish.
The Boarding
100% of the boys board, a true full boarding school!
The boarding houses are some of the nicest we have seen. Modern, well-kept and cozy. Most boys get single rooms from Y9 onwards.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
Radley College is a very academic school, yet somehow still manages to pull off being a very happy, quietly down-to-earth school. Where the other elite boys schools can come across as self-important and aloof, Radley College is anything but! The stunning rural setting of the school inevitably plays a role in this.
Radley College has everything you'd expect from a school intent on giving its pupils a perfectly rounded education. Sports is strong with rugby, rowing, cricket, tennis and hockey particularly noteworthy. Lots of so-called 'minor sports' on offer, including swimming, cross-country, badminton and squash. The arts are also very good with a beautiful atelier where boys produce excellent work under the guidance of artists-in-residence. Drama is reputed to be amazing!
Weaknesses
None we know of. Radley College is exactly what it says on the tin!
The Location
Radley College is located between the towns Abington and Oxford.
Abingdon - 10 min by car
Hard to beat for the perfect, yet rather less stuffy all-boys boarding experience.
When visiting Radley, be sure to take in the spectacular landscaped grounds. The estate spans 800 acres, and the gardens were partly designed in the 18th century by Capability Brown.
Take a look at similar schools
Eton College
Winchester College
Harrow School
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