Seeking the Exceptional

‘We must be good sons, brothers, husbands, servants, masters.’

William Sewell, Founder of Radley College

As a mother, sister and daughter of ORs, these words hold a special meaning for me and lie at the very heart of what drives the recruitment of the next generation of Radley boys. We make no apology for wishing to attract the most talented boys to the College but beyond any (or many) of the specific talents of any individual, we are interested in all boys who will bring something special to the school. Boys, regardless of their background, who possess the inner qualities to make the most of themselves and to help transform the lives of those around them. Boys, regardless of their social, cultural and economic circumstances, who will uphold our core values and have the moral courage and inner strength to make the world a better place.

My son was a current pupil when the Funded Places Campaign was launched in 2016 and, in truth, it was the school’s commitment to creating life-changing educational opportunities for boys – either through partially or fully funded awards – that convinced me to take on the role as Director of Admissions three years ago.

In that time, I have been proud to recruit some exceptional young men: those via the Funded Places route but also those from the Radley List and Open Entry admission; those from first generation boarders to those with OR fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers; those on funding from 10% to 110% (fees plus extras); those from the local environs of Oxfordshire to those from Scotland and those who, via scholarship, have brought multifarious talents to enrich our community. Last year we spent more than £3,000,000 supporting 103 boys, but our ambition goes beyond this. We are committed to increasing the amount of funding available year-on-year to reach a point where 75 boys (10%) will pay no fees and around 200 more will receive some level of financial support. This September, 16% of the school will be on some form of financial support.

But there is still work to be done and we are only halfway to fulfilling Sewell’s founding vision that ‘every tenth boy should receive his education free’. To this end we are rebranding our funded places campaign with the launch of The Radley Keys Award – an all-inclusive scholarship programme for talented and ambitious state-educated boys from low-income backgrounds. These awards will no longer be contingent on attainment of a particular scholarship but will reward and recognise potential over prior attainment. Families with higher incomes or with boys currently educated at a prep school are equally important to Radley and will still be eligible for funding. These families should look at our other awards such as The Silk Award for boys with outstanding all-round ability whose families need some financial support, or, The Warden’s Award, which recognises boys of exceptional ability via scholarship (be that academic, art, drama, music, sport or our new award, The Innovation Scholarship).

We will build on work already begun through our various partnership programmes with state and prep schools to identify and attract the very best and most deserving boys to Radley and at the heart of every award will be the celebration of potential, ambition, spirit and character. Please do be in touch with the Admissions Department if you would like to learn more about the various levels of fee support available or for any further information.

Sophie Langdale, Director of Admissions and Communications email admissions@radley.org.uk

or call +44 1235 543 174.