Six of the UK’s Best Secondary Schools for Your Child

Recommendations for families who are looking for leading schools in the UK.

Every year, parents face the challenge of helping their children find the right secondary school for them. Fortunately, when it comes to choosing an outstanding school, the UK has many options that are well worth considering. But comparing option upon option can be confusing, even overwhelming, and it can be difficult to know which school offers the best fit.

That’s why we’ve collated six of the UK’s top-performing secondary schools and explored each’s unique offerings.

1. Wellington College

Wellington College is a Berkshire-based co-educational day and boarding school for young people aged 13-18. Founded in 1853 as a memorial to the Duke of Wellington, the school has grown over the years and now delivers a vibrant education to pupils from across the UK.

The college is nationally recognised for its curriculum development, and pupils team its core curriculums with its Wellbeing course and Philosophy and Thinking classes. All academic teachers are subject specialists, and every pupil has a tutor with whom they meet weekly to discuss their academic progress. Outside of academia, pupils enjoy spending time in the 400 acres of parkland that surround the historic college. Here, they practise several sports and have achieved national success in hockey, triathlon, equestrianism, rackets, rugby, shooting, squash, cricket, and polo.

Wellington College is widely recognised for its outstanding educational offerings. The college has won the TES Independent School Awards’ ‘Independent Boarding School of the Year’ and The Week’s ‘Best of the Best for Boarding’ titles. Arts Council has awarded the college ‘Artsmark Gold’, which celebrates its provision and standards in Arts subjects. And the college has a ‘premier league’ reputation for being one of the top schools in the UK.

• Termly fee for boarding pupils: £14,210.
• Termly fee for day pupils: £10,380.

2. Uppingham School

Rutland-based Uppingham School is a historic, co-educational school with a striking selection of facilities. These span from a Victorian schoolhouse, chapel, school tower and colonnade to the Western Quad (a £40m science, art, sports, and theatre campus with an industry-standard proscenium arch theatre, black-box drama studio, 62-station fitness suite, swimming pool, dance studios, tennis courts, squash courts, gymnasium, and six-court sports hall).

Uppingham School admits candidates who show a high level of academic ability to follow its broad, challenging curriculums. Aside from traditional subjects, pupils also follow a Life Skills programme, which Uppingham has entwined with its academic curriculums to teach young people skills based on the habits and behaviours adopted by the top 2% of successful people in the world.

Pupils can also partake in a range of additional subjects, including debating, linguistics, science reading, songwriting, drone racing, philosophy, memory skills, and beekeeping. And they can join societies like games club, electronics club, the classical film society, and a range of musical and sporting clubs.

On top of this, pupils follow the school’s ‘Make a Difference’ (MAD) programme, which shows them how to look outwards, lead and take responsibility, and serve others. This programme sees pupils volunteering in the local community, supporting charities, participating in conferences and debates, and creating opportunities for others.

All staff play a pastoral role in Uppingham’s school community, including teachers, housemasters and mistresses, matrons, cooks, and counsellors. These staff members work alongside specialists like nutritionists, psychologists, and doctors to offer a web of support for pupils. The school also operates a 24-hour health centre during time term, which registered nurses operate. A local doctor holds a surgery each morning in this centre. On top of this, parents can enrol their children on the school’s private medical scheme.

• Termly fee for boarding pupils: £13,164.
• Termly fee for day pupils: £8,150.

3. Repton School

Repton School delivers a truly balanced education to children aged 3-18. Its staff are known for supporting all pupils and helping them reach their potential, both academically and pastorally. Rather than focusing purely on academia, Repton also helps its pupils find, shape, and develop their creative and sporting skills through its wealth of co-curricular opportunities.

In 2020, Repton Prep and Repton School combined to become a through-school. This means its younger pupils can progress seamlessly into their GCSE and A Level education with no disruption or new school to get used to. Together, the schools house 1,000 pupils, making Repton small enough that no pupil goes unnoticed, but large enough to compete on the international stage across academia, sport, and the arts.

Sport is a major part of Repton’s curricular and extracurricular programmes. The school’s hockey team has won more national titles than any other school, having collected 41 successes across all age groups to date. More than 80% of Repton’s pupils represent the school in at least one sport, and pupils can choose between sports like athletics, hockey, cricket, tennis, basketball, cross country, fives, golf, riding, rugby, and sailing.

Repton School is also known for its outstanding pastoral care. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Repton was selected out of 32,000 schools as the winner of the 2021 Education in Business Award. This award celebrates Repton’s outstanding response to remote learning, which involved digitising every pupil’s academic timetables, offering remote sports coaching, hosting virtual performances, and encouraging pupils to get involved in remote community events.

Repton’s pupils enjoy using supreme facilities, including a state-of-the-art theatre, observatory, ceramics and photography workshops, and a £9m sports centre with an Olympic sized swimming pool. These facilities complement the school’s historic campus — some of the original buildings from the school’s founding in 1557 are still standing. This mixture of old and new reflects Repton’s comprehensive curriculum, which pairs traditional academia with numerous contemporary activities.

Repton is particularly strong at helping pupils achieve places at top-flight international universities, including MIT, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Brown. Other pupils choose to study at UK universities like Oxford and Cambridge. The school shapes and prepares its pupils for life, laying the tracks for each child’s individual success.

• Termly fee for boarders: £12,721.
• Termly fee for day pupils: £9,437.

Learn more about Repton School.

4. Oundle School

Oundle School is a co-educational day and boarding school in Northamptonshire that attracts pupils from over 30 countries. Around three quarters (847) of the pupils board, while the other 286 attend as day pupils. The children study in the school’s blend of historic and modern buildings, which date from the 17^th to the 21^st centuries. As the school’s buildings are dispersed throughout the town of Oundle, pupils enjoy the independence that comes with navigating the town between lessons.

Oundle School combines a traditional educational model with modern disciplines, teaching future-facing curriculums. In particular, the school is known for its impressive STEM education, which combines science, engineering, mathematics, and technology studies with physical and philosophical studies. Swansea University and The Imperial College have helped Oundle School build its SciTech vision, which sets the benchmark for STEM education in the UK.

The school also offers seven language subjects, 28 A Level subjects, and 26 GCSE/IGCSE subjects. And pupils can make the most of over 40 academic societies, which hold meetings in several of the school’s ergonomic facilities. One of the most popular facilities is the Cripps Library. Here, pupils can visit the Rare Book Room, which is home to Oundle’s special collections, like a 15^th century ‘Book of Hours’, books from the 16^th and 17^th centuries, first editions by the Northamptonshire poet John Clare, and private press books.

Oundle School also runs a Cadet Force, which is the largest organisation within the school. Around 460 cadets parade every week. Participating in the Force helps pupils develop their teamwork, self-reliance, leadership skills, and a sense of service. It also provides a point of entry into military careers for some pupils.

• Termly fee for year 7 boarders: £9,960.
• Termly fee for year 8 boarders: £11,560.
• Termly fee for year 9-13 boarders: £13,105.
• Termly fee for year 7 day pupils: £6,385.
• Termly fee for year 8 day pupils: £7,405.
• Termly fee for year 9-13 day pupils: £8,395.

5. Rugby School

Rugby School is a popular choice for both boarding and day pupils from all over the world. It’s both one of the UK’s oldest schools and one of the best-rated schools in Warwickshire. Rugby School pupils have achieved outstanding GCSE, A Level, and IB Diploma results for years, but the school shapes pupils into well-rounded individuals by also making several co-curricular activities compulsory. All pupils:

• Assist with or perform in a theatrical production
• Perform in a musical event
• Sing onstage
• Carry out community service
• Complete their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
• Commit to a weekly voluntary activity
• Attend Society meetings
• Speak publicly
• Join a sports team
• Spectate at least one theatrical production, musical event, and sporting event every year.

These activities enrich Rugby’s core curriculum, ensuring a varied education for all pupils and encouraging them to develop their interests and skills.

Given the history of the town, it’s no surprise that Rugby School is renowned for its sporting successes, and pupils can choose between 25 physical activity clubs and learn from professional coaches. The school enters many national sporting competitions at a lower-tier level so pupils can partake in UK-wide competitions. The school has also developed close links with local sports organisations like Leicester Tigers RFC, Wasps Super League Netball, and Warwickshire County Cricket Club.

• Termly fee for boarders: £12,818.
• Termly fee for day pupils: £8,042.

6. Millfield School

Launched in 1935, Millfield School has educated generations of children, all the way from age 2 to 18. The school comprises a pre-prep school for children aged 2-7, a prep school for children aged 7-13, a senior school for children aged 13-16, and a sixth form for young people aged 16-18. Pupils have access to a range of facilities that sit amidst the school’s 160-acre grounds. These facilities include a 25m swimming pool; art, design, and technology centre; a recital hall; five science laboratories; an equestrian centre with stables for 90 horses; a fencing salle; a golf course; and a shooting range.

Class sizes are usually between 10-16 at the prep school and 8-12 at the senior school. These small class sizes ensure that children receive dedicated attention from the teaching staff during their academic and vocational studies. From chess tournaments to vegetable growing, Millfield laces its educational model with numerous co-curricular activities.

• Termly fee for year 9-13 boarders: £13,785.
• Termly fee for year 9-13 day pupils: £9,055.

Choosing a Secondary School

Choosing the best secondary school for your child comes with its challenges. But identifying each school’s unique offerings can help you pinpoint the assets that will be of the biggest advantage to your child. From Repton School’s holistic approach to education and award-winning response to the COVID-19 lockdown to Oundle School’s SciTech vision, Rugby School’s focus on the co-curricular, and Uppingham School’s expansive curriculums, each school offers a unique edge.