Bradfield College
Benedictus es, O Domine, doce me Statuta Tua
Founded in 1850 by Thomas Stevens, Rector and Lord of the Manor of Bradfield, Bradfield College is a co-educational boarding and day school set in its own Berkshire village. It is known for a warm, unpretentious community and a broad, all-round education that holds academic ambition, sport, and the arts in equal regard. Guided by the school's own watchwords of excellence and adventure, its culture encourages every pupil to take part fully and find what they do best, and among its more distinctive traditions is an open-air Greek Theatre of its own.
Key Facts
Location : Bradfield, Berkshire
Type : Co-educational, boarding and day
Age Range : 13 to 18
Pupil Numbers : Approx. 830 pupils
Founded : 1850
Motto : Benedictus es, O Domine, doce me Statuta Tua ("Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes")
Academic Profile
In Faulkner's, the first year, pupils at Bradfield follow the Faulkner's Curriculum, a bespoke, interdisciplinary course that builds skills across the sciences, languages, humanities, and the creative arts, before taking their GCSEs. In the Sixth Form they choose between A Levels and the International Baccalaureate Diploma, and Old Bradfieldians proceed to Oxford and Cambridge, alongside leading universities such as Durham, Bath, and Exeter, with a number each year choosing universities in Europe and the United States.
Co-Curricular Life
Music is taught in the college's own music school, equipped with recording facilities and a set of Steinway pianos, and expressed through a chapel choir, a choral society, and jazz and contemporary ensembles. Drama has a four-hundred-seat auditorium and a black box studio alongside the celebrated open-air Greek Theatre, and the visual arts have their own riverside art school for painting, printmaking, ceramics, photography, and textiles. Sport is played keenly and to a high level across football, hockey, cricket, netball, lacrosse, and tennis, supported by a double-size sports hall, a twenty-five-metre indoor pool, floodlit astroturf pitches, a tennis centre, and the college's own nine-hole golf course.
Admissions Essentials
Pupils join Bradfield College in Year 9, at age thirteen, into Faulkner's, the dedicated first-year house, with further places available in the Sixth Form. Registration for Year 9 entry takes place in Year 6, ahead of the ISEB Common Pre-Test, academic and pastoral interviews, and a group problem-solving activity, with around a hundred and fifty pupils joining each year. Sixth Form candidates are assessed on their current school record, an interview, and entrance papers in their chosen subjects. At Year 9 and Sixth Form entry, scholarships are available for academic distinction, art, design, drama, music, sport, and an all-rounder award.
In Essence
For a child who wants to try their hand at everything a school can offer, Bradfield sets academic ambition alongside strong sport and the arts, so that confidence grows through taking part and every pupil is given room to grow.