St Edward's School Oxford
Pietas Parentum
Founded in 1863 and known affectionately as Teddies, St Edward's School sits on a hundred acre site in North Oxford, within easy reach of the city itself. A genuinely all-round school, it pairs real academic strength with exceptional provision in the arts and a celebrated rowing tradition, shaping confident and open young people within a warm boarding community.
Key Facts
Location : North Oxford
Type : Co-educational, boarding and day
Age Range : 13 to 18
Pupil Numbers : Approx. 800 pupils
Founded : 1863
Motto : Pietas Parentum ("Parental Devotion")
Academic Profile
Pupils at St Edward's follow a flexible curriculum that gives them real choice in their subjects from the Shell year onwards, before taking their GCSEs. In the Sixth Form they choose between A Levels and the International Baccalaureate, and Old St Edwardians proceed to Oxford and Cambridge, Imperial, and US universities.
Co-Curricular Life
The arts have a genuinely strong presence, supported by a dedicated music school and by the North Wall, an arts centre on the school grounds housing a theatre, studio, dance space, and gallery, shared with the wider Oxford community and hosting touring companies alongside pupil productions. Music and drama flourish there through concerts, plays, and musicals across the year. Sport is led by a distinguished rowing tradition through the school's own boat club, which founded the National Schools' Regatta and has produced Olympic oarsmen, alongside rugby, hockey, cricket, and tennis, and the school's North Oxford setting gives pupils direct access to the resources of the city itself.
Admissions Essentials
Pupils join St Edward's School in Year 9, known at the school as the Shell, at age thirteen, with around 150 places available each year. Entry is assessed flexibly across Year 6, Year 7, or Year 8 depending on when a family begins the process, through the ISEB Common Pre-Test or the school's own entrance examinations, alongside an interview and a current school reference. A further group of around 20 pupils join in Year 10, known as the Fourth Form, and additional places are available in the Sixth Form. At Year 9 entry, scholarships and awards are available across academic ability, music, sport, art, design technology, drama, dance, an all rounder category, and a dedicated STEM award.
In Essence
For a child who wants to excel across the classroom, the stage, and the sports field alike, St Edward's is built for genuine all-rounders, a school where real academic strength sits happily alongside exceptional arts and sport.