Three schools, one town

A Community Of Education In The Heart Of Dorset

Sherborne is a town unlike any other. Located in beautiful rural surroundings, with easy transport links to London and regional hubs, it hosts three leading independent schools.

Sherborne Prep offers education for boys and girls from age three to 13, providing the perfect foundation for a life of learning, growth and wellbeing.

Sherborne Girls is a full-boarding school, providing an all-round education which is second to none and a vibrant co-curriculum in a purposeful and outward-looking community.

Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys, offering a first-class education with outstanding co-curricular opportunities.

Now, these three schools work more closely than ever. Sherborne School and Sherborne Prep merged in 2021, ensuring they make the best use of shared resources to enhance the educational experience for all pupils.

They work in close partnership with Sherborne Girls to ensure that every pupil across the three schools has access to the best teaching, modern and well-equipped facilities, and the most stimulating experiences.

Thanks to this close partnership, Sherborne provides a unique offer: a high-quality education for boys and girls from pre-prep all the way to school-leaving age, in a town that is vibrant yet safe, accessible yet located in glorious scenery.

It is a place where young people grow together, as well as benefiting from the advantages of single-sex education at senior school. A place where their social skills develop by the day, where they are challenged, inspired and encouraged to thrive.

Sherborne is a place of shared becoming, where pupils of all ages form dispositions, enthusiasms and skills that stay with them forever.

Boarding schools continue to be popular in the twenty-first century, offering exceptional education and extracurricular activities with round-the-clock pastoral care.

The 2022 ISC Census shows that 69,937 pupils were registered to board at any point during the 2021–22 academic year. Overall, 441 schools, representing 32 per cent of all ISC schools, have some boarding pupils.

Parents are able to choose between different types of boarding to suit their child. Although full boarding remains most popular overall, the pattern appears to be changing with weekly and flexi boarding becoming more popular. In 2016, 15.7 per cent of boarders were weekly or flexi boarders. In 2022, the figure was 22.8 per cent. Many working parents value the flexibility of these boarding options.

There are variations between different age groups. For the sector as a whole, 12 per cent of pupils at ISC schools board. At sixth form this proportion more than doubles to

Barnaby Lenon

Headmaster, Harrow School, 1999–2011 and Chairman, Independent Schools Council (ISC)

three in ten of all pupils. For junior pupils this proportion is significantly lower, with only 2 per cent of pupils boarding.

International pupils bring a global perspective to our schools and enrich the community.

The 2022 ISC Census shows there are 25,079 non-British pupils at ISC schools whose parents live overseas. Pupils from Hong Kong comprise the largest group in this category, with 5,845 pupils.

The parents of these pupils choose British schools because they are keen for their children to master the English language, they understand the significance of extra-curricular activities as part of a wide education, and they know attending a British school may be the best way to gain admission to a British university.

Some boarding and day schools have set up franchise schools abroad. While I was headmaster at Harrow, we built schools in Thailand, Beijing and Hong Kong. These schools pay a fee to the British school which helps to keep down the fees paid by parents and can be used to fund transformational bursaries at the school. In return, the British school provides advice and monitors the franchise school in a way which guarantees standards.

In 2021, average fee increases were 1.7 per cent. A total of 179,768 pupils now receive help with their fees, representing 35 per cent of all pupils. The value of this help totals over £1.1 billion, an increase of 4.3 per cent on the previous year.