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Rugby School

Rugby School, 50mins by train from London Euston, is one of the most famous British boarding schools. It is steeped in history, yet manages to have one foot firmly in the 21st century. The teachers are excellent; facilities here are fantastic; the sports, as one would expect of the school that invented the eponymous ball game, is very competitive. Notable is also the sense of community the school creates with its in-house dining at boarding houses, inter-house competitions and the like.

Von Bülow Education placed 1 pupils here in 2024.

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The Essentials

Number of pupils: 860
Percentage of boarders: 80%
Percentage of international pupils: 16%
Av. class size: senior school - 12 / 6th Form - 9
Closest international airport: Birmingham Airport, 60 mins by car.
Fees per term for 2024/2025: £18,352

https://www.rugbyschool.co.uk

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What we think

Deservedly one of the top boarding schools in the country.

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The Details

The Academics:

A-Levels, IB and I/GCSEs on offer.

French, German and Spanish offered at GCSE and A level.

Boarding:

80% of pupils board.

Fifteen houses in total – eight for boys, seven for girls. All boarding houses are beautiful, old Victorian houses, a 10-minute walk from the heart of the school.

A special feature of Rugby School's boarding is that pupils eat all meals in their boarding houses. Last time we visited we were treated to a delicious lunch in one of the lovely girls' boarding houses. We got a real sense of community there!

Exeat weekends exist and are compulsory.

Strengths:

Rugby School claims on its website that it 'focuses on educating the whole person'. One gets a sense that the school actually practices what it preaches. The teaching is first-rate, but the extracurricular offer is excellent and encouragement to get involved and discover unearthed talents is palpable!

With 80% boarders and in-house dining, Rugby maintains a proper, old-school boarding ethos!

Sports, as you'd expect, is very strong here. Rugby is, naturally a forte, but football, cricket, tennis and hockey are just as strong and popular. Other sports include badminton, fives, rackets, basketball, fencing, gymnastics, tai chi, pilates, dance, aerobics, riding, polo, clay pigeon shooting, sailing and triathlon.

You can tell that this is a very musical school. 40 practice rooms, 600 music lessons, a broad variety of options to get involved, whether it is the orchestra, jazz band, several choirs, ensembles or rockbands. The school's fantastic choir recently sang at the BBC and traveled to perform in New York!