WHAT? WHERE?

Epsom College. Wow! Just wow. Set on a beautiful 72-acre site on Epsom Downs, with a cluster of imposing Gothic-style buildings including a magnificent Chapel and first-class sporting facilities, this school certainly is impressive.

A co-ed day and boarding school for pupils aged 11-18, Epsom College consistently ranks academically among the top senior schools in the UK. But results are only part of the story. The school prides itself on an all-rounder offering and supports that with a broad curriculum and extensive co-curricular programme. To have time for everything, the school runs Saturday school which includes lessons and sport.

Entry is not super-selective, but rather ‘broadly selective’ with equal weight given to a child’s personality, academics and interests.

Spend any time here though, and what really stands out is the strong sense of community. There are about 1,150 pupils at Epsom College – spread across the Lower School (Years 7-8) and Senior School (Years 9-13) – and central to the tight-knit feel is the house system.

Every pupil – day and boarding – belongs to a house. The Lower School is day-only, and in Year 9 pupils join one of 13 single-sex houses which are the hub of school life. Each house accommodates pupils across all year groups so there’s a real connection across year groups.

The unified and close-knit community at Epsom College saw the school through one of its most sad and distressing times – the death of Head Emma Pattison and her daughter in 2023. But Epsom came through it with one of the most impressive years in the school’s history which included enhanced results, an increase in charity work and an even more steadfast community.

Founded in 1855 as a school for the children of widowed medical families, Epsom’s core values – kindness, integrity and ambition – still run deeply today.

FACILITIES

Take a seat, we could be here a while. An impressive entrance leads you via a one-way system into Epsom College where there’s a sympathetic mix of grandiose facilities that reflect Epsom College’s long history, and more modern buildings.

The Grade II-listed Chapel of St Luke is a notable highlight with beautiful stained-glass windows, high vaulted ceilings with exposed beams and oak wall-panelling. There’s more than a whiff of Hogwarts about it.

The main school building – another grand centrepiece – houses a number of day and boarding houses, the main hall, the large dining hall, classrooms and administrative offices including the Head’s study.

The Quad is at the centre of the school and it’s a busy and vibrant place where events are held and students hang out. There are cubby-holes for students to store bags, and a food truck for students who want to grab food on the go.

A cluster of buildings, including the science block, humanities building, classics block and the library, surround the Quad. The Mermaid – opened in 2023 and named after a secret society founded by Epsom College pupils in the 1920s – also faces the Quad. It’s a three-story building that houses the Sixth Form Centre including a café and study rooms, classrooms, and a lecture theatre.

There’s also an art school with five art studios.

Sports wise there’s a long list of facilities including a sports centre with two sports halls, a fitness studio, six squash courts, and a 25m swimming pool.

Outside there are more sports pitches than you can shake a hockey stick as well as an Olympic-standard water-based astro (one of only a handful at a UK school) and another sand-based astro. There are nine netball courts, 33 tennis courts and five cricket squares, plus a climbing wall, athletics track and rifle range.

SPORT

Epsom College has a winning reputation for sport – and no wonder, given all those dazzling facilities. It’s built into the school’s culture with a sport-for-all ethos aimed to instil a passion for sport in every child. Of course, there’s also plenty of opportunity for those who compete at an elite level. Some of the country’s top coaches are on staff, including many who played at national and Olympic level.

More than 22 sports are offered ranging from cricket and cross country to squash, tennis and target rifle shooting.

All pupils at Epsom College take part in regular inter-school fixtures on Saturday afternoons. It’s the usual suspects: tennis, athletics and cricket, plus netball and hockey for girls and rugby and football for boys. There are also regular inter-house fixtures.

It goes without saying the trophy cabinet at Epsom College is bulging. Most recently the school has added national titles in hockey, cricket and football. Target rifle shooting has always traditionally done very well too. Individually, there are several sporting stars including two golfers on the United States PGA. Epsom College is represented by 30 pupils who play internationally across 12 sports. These include athletics, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, hockey, netball, rugby, squash, swimming, target rifle and tennis.

THE ARTS

Whilst overshadowed by sport, the arts are a real strength at Epsom College and perhaps deserves a higher profile.

The John Piper Art School is home to five big and bright art studios where students are given creative freedom and encouraged to take bold, creative risks as they find their artistic voice. Pupils work in a range of media including drawing, painting, printmaking, digital media and sculpture. Art is a timetabled subject from Years 7 to 9, and fine art is offered at GCSE and A Level.

Musical types will thrive at Epsom College, with all manner of bands and ensembles, a cappella groups and choirs, along with the usual one-to-one instrumental teaching. The Chapel choir, which leads the music in Chapel each week, is hugely popular with about one in every 10 students taking part. Like art, music is a timetabled subject until Year 9, and then offered at GCSE and A Level.

Drama, too, holds a special place in the hearts of Epsom College students whether in timetabled lessons, co-curricular clubs or house-based events. Four major productions are staged each year with about 300 pupils involved each year. Performances take place in front of sell-out audiences – including matinees for local schools.

LITTLIES

The littlies at Epsom College are the Year 7 and 8 pupils, housed in the Lower School. It’s seen as a great transition from prep or primary school to senior school. Unlike the Senior School, the lower school pupils don’t have lessons on Saturday morning. They do however have competitive sports fixtures and coaching.

ACADEMICS

Academics at Epsom have been steadily rising over the last 10 years – impressive for a school that’s not highly selective and doesn’t cull students post GCSE. But this is no academic hothouse – the focus here is on encouragement and support. Epsom College wants to build a culture that celebrates ambition and success. There’s also a focus on the quality of teaching.

Lessons on a Saturday morning no doubt goes some way to strengthen the academics, but this is countered by a robust extra-curricular programme. So it’s not all work, work, work.

In 2024, GCSE results were impressive with 83 per cent of grades achieved at 7-9, and 64 per cent at 8-9. Over a third (34 per cent) were graded 9.

At A Level, Epsom College did exceptionally well. An incredible 37 per cent of students achieved a clean sweep of all A*-As. Overall, 88 per cent of all grades were A*-B and 63 per cent were A*-A.

Pupils go on to a wide range of higher education options – including international universities, medical school and Oxbridge. Epsom College offers one-to-one mentoring for university applications. Over the past five years about 10 per cent of students have been offered places at Oxford or Cambridge. Elsewhere, 77 per cent have gone to a Russell Group university – Imperial, Durham, UCL and Exeter being the most popular. More than 10 per cent have gone to international universities including New York University, University of Southern California and Northwestern University.

SIXTH FORM

There are about 400 pupils across the two year groups in the Sixth Form and each will study three A Levels (four if they chose maths and further maths). A two-year BTEC is offered in business, and a one-year BTEC is available in sport.

All Sixth Form students also chose an option from the core curriculum which includes the EPQ (Extended Project Qualification), English AP, core maths, Young Enterprise and advanced language qualifications such as DELE and DELF.

Pupils are also encourage to take part in the CCF (Combined Cadet Force) programme or undertake their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

Every student has a personal academic tutor who will monitor performance, agree targets and help when needed. Students have frequent one-to-one meetings with their tutor.

PASTORAL CARE

Every school talks about pastoral care and the wellbeing of pupils being a top priority. As well it should. At Epsom College, the pastoral system is incredibly strong and focuses on positive wellbeing. The school believes that prevention is more powerful and longer lasting than a cure.

It’s a multi-layered system, set up to ensure all students have a network of staff who care for their wellbeing. It starts with the house structure, a home-from-home with full-time housemistresses and housemasters on hand to offer support and guidance alongside their deputy and the house matron. There’s a strong sense of family in each house with pupils mixing across year groups and forming supportive friendships. Each child will also be part of a small tutor group.

A peer mentoring programme is in place, in which Sixth Form students are trained by external agencies to become a role model to younger pupils while also offering support.

All pupils also attend weekly PSD (personal and social development) lessons learning about a range of topics from online safety to drug and alcohol, morality and spirituality.

The school’s medical centre is staffed by registered nurses 24 hours a day during term time. Two child psychotherapists and a physiotherapist also work out of the medical centre.

In 2022-23, Epsom College was awarded the Independent Schools of the Year Award for Pupil Wellbeing. The same year Epsom also won the overall award for School of the Year.

BOARDING

Just under 30 per cent of pupils board at Epsom College. About 15 per cent of pupils are international, with around 30 nationalities represented. The structure is full boarding or weekly boarding. It’s a flexible set-up, so families are able to choose which nights their students spend at home and which are at college.

The house system is the cornerstone of life at Epsom College. All houses are single-sex and situated on the main school site. Each house is designed to be a home-from-home with bedrooms (or study rooms for day pupils), a living area, games rooms and a kitchen. Most rooms are shared between 2-6 pupils – there are single rooms too which are mostly assigned to Sixth Form students.

THE HEAD

Mark Lascelles, head at Epsom College in Surrey.

Mark Lascelles is new to Epsom College, arriving in September 2024 from Dauntsey’s, a boarding school in Wiltshire, where he was headmaster for 12 years. Prior to that Mark was at The King’s School, Canterbury, and Shrewsbury School in Shropshire.

Warm, engaging and positive, he comes to Epsom with the primary aim of getting to know the community and offering calm and quiet leadership. As a school that’s seen four heads in four years, Mark says he’s in no hurry to make any great changes. “The college is in an amazing place,” he says. “So, I’ll be looking at making marginal gains.”

Pastoral care and pupil welfare is high on his list of priorities, as is maintaining the school’s excellent results and extra-curricular programme. Not one to go down the league tables route (although he admits it’s always nice to be up near the top) he wants Epsom College to continue offering an excellent all-round education – with the pursuit of academic excellence. He says children need to be happy and have a sense of belonging if they are to thrive and do well.

Longer term, and as someone who enjoys sport, he’d like to see padel courts established at Epsom College. And, he says, the music house could do with a spruce up. Watch this space.

Mark and his wife Amber have three daughters – their eldest is at university, the youngest is at Epsom College and their middle daughter will move to Epsom after finishing her GCSEs at Dauntsey’s. He lives a three-minute walk from the Epsom campus.

Outside of school, Mark enjoys playing sport – in particular golf, padel, tennis and squash – as well as spectating. At Dauntsey’s, he was often seen on the sidelines of school matches, and he enjoys watching his daughters play. He also umpires hockey.

QUIRKS

Epsom College has its own language when referring to year groups. Year 7 is 3rd Form, Year 8 is Lower 4th, Year 9 is Middle 4th and 10 is Upper 4th. Year 11 is 5th form, and Years 12 and 13 are Lower 6th and Upper 6th respectively.

WRAP AROUND CARE

It’s a long day at Epsom College starting just after 8am (registration is 8.20am) and ending at 5pm for Lower School and 6pm for the Upper School. In the Lower School, children can stay until 6pm for optional supervised prep, and almost all do.

Co-curricular activities take place every afternoon from about 4pm. In Years 7-9, this is a combination of free-choice activities or a carousel of activities designed to encourage pupils to try new things. There are more than 150 options each term.

Saturday school starts in Year 9. Pupils have Chapel, followed by three 45-minute lessons in the morning and afternoon fixtures after lunch.

ANYTHING ELSE?

Epsom College is big on benevolence. There’s a culture here of kindness and giving back, which dates back to the school’s founding principles.

In the Sixth Form more than two-thirds of all pupils take part in the school’s Service Programme, volunteering more than 8,500 hours of service to local community projects and charities each year. Pupils in the lower years also have the opportunity to volunteer. Weekly placements take place at local primary schools, care homes, community groups and charities.

ISI REPORT

The most recent ISI inspection was November 2022 when the school was found to be compliant with all regulations. Read the full report here.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

No mobile phones allowed in school for pupils in Years 7-11. If pupils bring phones in, they must hand them in at the start of the day. Pupils in the Sixth Form are allowed phones, but they’re not permitted to use them during the school day.

Boarders are allowed phones, but there are restrictions around when and how often they can be used.

TRANSPORT

Pupils come from a wide area that takes in south-west London and a large chunk of Surrey extending to Guildford, Cobham and Weybridge. An extensive network of Epsom College buses operates each morning and evening. You can view the current transport map here. The school also operates a shuttle to and from Epsom mainline station.

FEES

At the higher end of the scale. In the Lower School (Years 7 and 8) it’s £8,678 per term. In the Upper School (Years 9-13) it’s £11,101 for day pupils, £14,871 for weekly boarders and £16,791 for full boarders.

Epsom College offers scholarships for academic, sporting, musical or dramatic talent. Each year about 80 pupils benefit from bursaries..

WORD ON THE GROUND

Epsom College is a vibrant and busy school with a great all-rounder offering and excellent academics. There’s a strong school community, and parents love that their children are well supported emotionally as well as academically. The sports and extra-curricular programme are also seen as a draw.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: This is a school for go-getters. It’s busy and bustling with a lot going on, six days a week. Children who love to have a go will thrive here. Academic results are consistently strong and the atmosphere is family at its best.

Probably not for: Pupils who don’t like trying their hand at lots of different things. You’ve got to get stuck in here!

Dare to disagree? Take a look yourself at the next open day on 22 March, 2025.

Epsom College, College Road, Epsom, KT17 4JQ. Tel: 01372 821000

Epsom College, Epsom

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