Thornton College

Thornton College day and boarding school for girls, located between Milton
Keynes and Buckingham, is set in 25 acres of beautiful grounds. The main
school building is a manor house dating back to the 14th century and it
became a school in 1917, founded by the Sisters of Jesus and Mary. The school
is very proud of its rich history, exceptional pastoral care for the individual
and its strong emphasis on core Christian values, though it is also proud of the
fact that it is a forward looking school, with exciting opportunities both in and
outside the classroom, and where girls of all faiths and no faith are equally
welcome and equally valued.

Thornton College is part of an international family of J&M schools in
twenty-eight countries around the world. This gives our students the best of
opportunities for student international partnership programmes, celebrations,
projects and exchanges, enabling each student to develop a unique global
competence and cultural intelligence.

Boarding is ‘upstairs’ in our main manor house offering a home from home
experience. The boarding bedrooms and common areas are bright and spacious.
We offer flexi, weekly and termly boarding for UK and international students
with a dense programme of exciting evening activities and weekend trips.
Thornton College is a one site school ensuring that there is smooth
transition for students throughout pre-prep, prep, senior and sixth form and
lots of leadership and role modelling opportunities. Our academic results
are comparable with high achieving competitive schools whilst having
a varied ability intake and Thornton consistently ranks as one of the top
non-selective schools in the UK. Girls can join us at three years old into our
Pre-Reception class offering families the very best start to their daughter’s
education. Woodland walks, cookery, ballet, French, music and movement,
library time and a host of other weekly activities excite their young minds. As
a Forest School, girls at Thornton excel inside and outside the classroom with
our Prep school children enjoying our outdoor classroom in our woodlands
and exploring and pond dipping in our eco habitat park. Thornton College
is leading the introduction of robotics into Prep school curriculum and won
the Independent School of the Year Award 2020 for our Student Careers
Programme and was a finalist school in the ISA Awards 2021 for Independent
Girls School. Students in Senior and Sixth Form enjoy overseas sporting tours,
World Challenges, Duke of Edinburgh (with sixth formers achieving their Gold
Awards); EPQs; UCAS and careers events and debating.

Our Sixth Form, which opened in 2016, offers a wide subject choice, small
class sizes and individual attention with future pathway support. In 2020 and
2021 100% of Sixth Form students achieved their first choice universities.
Thornton College is an incredibly diverse and multitalented community
where each girl can thrive to be the best version of herself, to know her own
strengths, to recognise her own challenges and to pursue with confidence the
next stages of her life.

“Our School is built upon an educational ethos that adds value to our students’ academic potential and helps them to appreciate the community values that underpin all that we do.

Thornton offers academic, sports, music, drama and all round scholarships of 5 – 25% for entrance into Years, 7, 9 and 12. Scholarship application deadlines are the November the calendar year before the September start.

For further information about scholarships please visit https://www.thorntoncollege.com/admissions/scholarships/

Thornton also provides a means tested bursary programme and Armed Forces discount and CEA payment is available.