UK Boarding Schools | Independent Schools | Private Schools

Harrow was founded in 1572 under a royal charter granted by Elizabeth I. It is one of the most famous schools in the world. Distinguished Old Harrovians include seven British Prime Ministers and the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Nehru, as well as poets and writers as diverse as Byron, Sheridan and Richard Curtis.

The School is situated on a 260-acre site close to London. It specialises in providing a high-quality, full-boarding education for boys. Pupils benefit from a combination of academic excellence and an outstanding range of opportunities outside the classroom.

Academic

Academically, our aim at Harrow is to ensure that all pupils achieve outstanding examination results relative to their ability. We achieve this by having high expectations of pupils, and teachers are expected to teach in a way that will motivate and interest them. Many departments run their own extracurricular societies to stimulate interest, and lectures by distinguished speakers from outside the School are frequent. Most Harrow pupils go on to university or medical school. Entry to Oxford and Cambridge Universities, as well as to top American universities, is achieved by one in five pupils on average.

Boarding

There are 12 boarding houses. Housemasters and their families live in the boarding houses, and are assisted by an assistant housemaster. The housemaster keeps a watchful eye over the welfare, personal and academic, of every boy in his care; for parents, he is the main point of contact with the School. Each house has a resident matron who is supported by the School’s Medical Centre where trained nursing staff offer 24-hour care. There are no dormitories: a boy shares his room with a boy of the same age for the first three to six terms and thereafter has a room to himself. Every boy has a computer in his room. Each house has common rooms, with newspapers, television and DVD players. All have their own gardens and sports facilities.

Extracurricular activities

Harrow has excellent sporting facilities and fields teams at all levels in a wide range of sports. The School aims to provide a very high standard of coaching and competition for the best sportsmen while enabling the less gifted to find something they can enjoy. Pupils can play sport every day if  they wish, and for the enthusiast there are many opportunities to play and excel.

The arts are an extremely important part of Harrow’s packed calendar of activities. The enthusiasm and energy of our staff are matched by the talent of our pupils, and the quality of our plays, musical performances and artistic projects matches our pupils’ achievements on the sports fields and in the classroom. The music department produces around 60 concerts a year, while the drama department presents about 14 plays a year. Pupils have the opportunity to learn about curatorship and art exhibitions in the Old Speech Room Gallery, and to see how the professionals do it across all these disciplines through trips to London’s shows, concerts and galleries.

The management of boarding is outstanding. There is a commitment to discussing and sharing good practice and to continual improvement .As one boarder commented "Harrow is a great school which is warm, welcoming and accepts everybody for who they are" another said "the boarding is fantastic"
Ofsted Inspection report 2010

All boys are encouraged to join the very many clubs and societies. Some are organised by academic departments or are related to games and sports; others are less easy to classify: the debating society, the photography club, the natural history society and the conservation group.

All teachers live in the School, and this makes possible the extraordinary diversity of worthwhile activities on offer in the evenings and at weekends.

Scholarships to Harrow School

A large number of scholarships are awarded every year for academic excellence, exceptional ability in music or art, or for outstanding talent in some other field, such as sport, acting or chess. With the exception of Peter Beckwith Awards, the scholarships can range in value from 5% to 10% of the fee and are held throughout a boy’s time at Harrow, subject to satisfactory performance. Boys may apply for more than one of the different types of scholarship, which include Academic, Music, Art, Sport and Outstanding Talent.

Scholarships can often be supplemented by a means-tested bursary of up to 100% for parents who might not otherwise be able to afford the fees. The Scholarship exams take place at Harrow, although special arrangements can be made for overseas candidates.

Peter Beckwith Scholarships

Every year, we award two scholarships to boys aged between 10 and 13 with the aim that they will come to Harrow when they are 13. The scholarships can cover up to full fees at Harrow from the age of 13, and also the fees at a prep school from the age of 11 until the pupil goes to Harrow. These are available for any pupil, whether in a private or state school, who is very talented and whose parents could not afford to send him to a boarding school.

The awards are means-tested, so the level of the award will depend on the family income. For more information on scholarships, go to the Admissions section on our website.

Entry requirements

The 11+ tests take place in September and October, two years before entry. Pupils come to Harrow, take a verbal reasoning test and have an interview with a Harrow master, usually a housemaster. Harrow welcomes boys who are enthusiastic, intelligent and well behaved, who will make the most of boarding life and our excellent facilities. Offers of a place at Harrow are then made, subject to achieving 60% in the Common Entrance examination, in the scholarship examination or in the Harrow Test. Sixth-form places are allotted on the basis of a report from the applicant’s school, as well as tests and interviews held at Harrow. For more information on admission to Harrow, go to our website at www.harrowschool.org.uk.

"Pupils excellent behaviour is supported by the promotion of high standerds and of an unselfish civilised approach to community life. The school emphasises the prositive, particularly rewarding good behaviour"

Independent Schools Inspectorate Report 2010

Scholarships to Harrow School
Up to 30 scholarships are awarded every year for academic excellence, exceptional ability in music or art, or for outstanding talent in some other field, such as sport, acting or chess. With the exception of Peter Beckwith Awards, the scholarships can range in value from 5% to 10% of the fee and are held throughout a boy’s time at Harrow, subject to satisfactory performance. Boys may apply for more than one of the different types of scholarship, which include Academic, Music, Art, Sport and Outstanding Talent.

The bursaries scheme at Harrow has been expanded and so scholarships can often be supplemented by a means-tested bursary of up to 100% for parents who might not otherwise be able to afford the fees.

The scholarship exams take place at Harrow, although special arrangements can be made for overseas candidates.

Peter Beckwith Scholarships
Every year, we award two scholarships to boys aged between 10 and 13 with the aim that they will come to Harrow when they are 13. The scholarships can cover up to full fees at Harrow from the age of 13, and also the fees at a prep school from the age of 11 until the pupil goes to Harrow. These are available for any pupil, whether in a private or state school, who is very talented and whose parents could not afford to send him to a boarding school.

The awards are means-tested, so the level of the award will depend on the family income. For more information on scholarships, go to the Admissions section on our website.