Best private schools in Berkshire

Prep schools 

Horris Hill, a traditional, top drawer boys’ boarding prep, has been busy innovating. With the introduction of early years, girls and more day and flexi-boarding pupils, things are now a bit softer and more 21st century, and local families are jumping on board. A cohort of full boarders still keeps things lively on weekends. Fresh air and freedom to explore are important here: fewer than 120 pupils have 65 acres through which to roam. Pupils move on mainly to famous independent schools – it will be interesting to see how this evolves. 

Cheam School is another well-known but less quirky local prep. Most notable of its notable alumni is King Charles III, whose signed photo was standing proudly in a drawing room when we visited. Prince Philip was a boy here too. Unashamedly traditional – Saturday school going strong, sport fearsome. St Andrew’s School near Pangbourne, east of Newbury, also has a royal connection: young Kate Middleton was a pupil here in decades past. Nearby, in a glorious pastoral setting near Woolhampton, is Elstree School. Known for good SEN and a gentle approach, but the academic pace is quick. Radley, Marlborough and Downe House are currently the most popular leavers’ destinations. Roughly two-thirds of pupils board to some degree from year 4. 

St Gabriel’s School, formerly a girls’ school but undergoing a transformation to co-ed (to be completed by 2026), perches grandly at the southern tip of Newbury and offers all-through education from nursery to sixth form. Thorngrove Prep is another southerly option towards Highclere. 

Secondary schools 

Downe House, an all girls’ school in Thatcham which until recently attracted many more London and international families than local ones, is now wooing more day pupils. A busy, full-on school with a zillion extras on offer, it maintains a (fairly accurate) uber-posh reputation. All of year 8 spends a happy term immersing themselves in French at the school’s very own chateau near Toulouse. 

Bradfield College and Pangbourne College, both towards Reading, are co-ed options within easy reach. Read the Reading section for more. Back in Newbury itself, St Gabriel’s School, offers all-through education from nursery through sixth form. 

Around a half hour north of Newbury in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, lies St Helen and St Katharine School, a more grounded option with the flavour of an old-time grammar school. Savvy locals, keen to outwit the 11+, target its 9+ and 10+ intakes, though the majority do join in year 7. Abingdon School uses the same coach service but has thrown a massive spanner into the area’s education ecosystem by announcing that it’s going co-ed from 2026.

Prep schools 

Bright and curious girls will do well at The Abbey Junior School in Reading itself. ‘Straightforwardly academic and ambitious,’ we remark in our review, but never weighted down by out-of-date traditions. Many parents tell us that the junior school was their favourite part of the Abbey experience. No 11-plus exam required for pupils to move up to the Abbey senior school. Also in town is Crosfields School, almost-all-through option taking children from 3 – 16. St Andrew’s School to the west of Reading in Pangbourne is popular with families who want a fully-fledged traditional prep with lots of room for exploration and fun. ‘Grounds are a children’s paradise of loveliness including zip wire, “monkey base” tree and donkey field,’ we rhapsodise in our review. 

Across the border into Oxfordshire is Rupert House School. Tucked into ‘an impossibly quaint part of Henley,’ it takes boys and girls from three to 11. Small and caring, with ‘minimal’ pressure in lower school, though more as pupils get older. Leavers head mainly to private day schools nearby. The Oratory Prep School is a strong RC option taking children from age two. About 30 per cent of its prep leavers go on to newly co-ed Oratory School, although the schools, since 2019, are no longer connected. Other destinations include Abingdon School, St Helen and St Katherine, Pangbourne College and an impressive range of boarding schools. 

Secondary schools 

Queen Anne’s School in Caversham (ages 11-18) is Reading’s girls-only boarding and day option – arty, sporty and gently academic, we say. Famous for jolly hockey sticks and match teas, but Enid Blyton would not recognise this school’s modern outlook. A level options now include animation, criminology, dance, environmental science, film studies, media studies, music tech, psychology and sociology. Across town, The Abbey School is Reading’s go-to girls-only all-through (nursery to 18) school. Pleasingly cosmopolitan, with an international outlook and IB diploma on offer in sixth form. Sciences the most popular uni degree among its leavers, with good numbers of medics. 

Taking children from 3 to 16, Crosfields School is solidifying itself as a good family option taking the full ability range, from non-academic to brainiacs. Small classes, encouragement and nurturing are hallmarks here – for all ages. Nearly all families have two working parents ‘sacrificing hugely to send their children here’, the head tells us. Nearby Leighton Park is popular with families seeking a gentle approach. Quaker values and small classes underpin the teaching and pastoral care. By sixth form around one-third board. 

Long regarded as the area’s independent boys’ powerhouse, Reading Blue Coat upset the local apple cart when it began its journey towards full co-education in 2023 (planned for completion in 2027). Almost all pupils now enter at either 11 or 16. Not in Reading and no blue coats, but we call it ‘a happy, high-energy, sporty, good value school’.

Bradfield College offers weekly boarding par excellence to ages 13 to 18. Most children board, but the vast majority decamp home on Saturday afternoon and return Monday morning (or Sunday night). Other special ingredients in the Bradfield mix are its splendid year 9 mega-boarding-house, IB diploma offering, love of football and emphasis on academic breadth over specialism. This is ‘a school that welcomes – nay honours – the all-rounder’ we say. Pangbourne College’s naval connections (school was founded in 1917 to prepare boys for life as officers in the Merchant or Royal Navy) belie its nurturing approach. Community is strong here and SEN well provided for. A sporty school across the board, but sailing and rowing are especially big (notable successes at Henley). Almost 40 per cent board (from age 11 up) in some capacity, mainly weekly or flexi (no Saturday school). Shiplake College, across the border in Bucks, is popular among families on the eastern side of Reading and has a bus service stopping at Shinfield, Reading train station and Caversham. 

For around a decade, The Oratory held the unique position of being the only RC boys-only boarding school remaining in all of England. But with its recent move to co-education, it has joined its peers in the 21st century. Strong on games, with a focus on racket sports, it’s one of only five schools nationally that offer real tennis. Rowing also going strong. Boarding available from age 11. 

Prep schools 

Holme Grange started life as a boys’ prep but has since expanded in every direction and now takes boys and girls from age 2 to 16. Its down-to-earth education includes 7.30am-6pm wraparound care with free homework sessions – helpful for working parents. At the opposite end of the prep school universe sits nearby Ludgrove where 70 per cent of year 8 boys move on to Eton. The best-known full-boarding prep in Britain, Ludgrove is more popular with London parents than local ones – a school bus picks up and drops off in west London at weekends. Royal connections run deep, with Princes William, Harry and Edward Duke of Kent all attending, not to mention Winston Churchill and Bear Grylls. Dolphin School for ages 3 to 13 offers yet another remarkable contrast with its mildly alternative take.

Secondary schools 

Reading Blue Coat (see Reading) is easy to reach and a popular option among families in Wokingham. Luckley House has bounced back from a rough patch to offer a breath of fresh air among Berkshire’s fee-paying schools. ‘A complete contrast to other better-known schools in the area, and all the richer for it,’ we say in our review. ’A small school and everybody knows your name,’ say staff. Minibuses bring children from a 20-mile radius but some children prefer flexiboarding. Holme Grange offers long hours for a day school and draws in families with London commutes as a result. No sixth form though; leavers disperse widely among the obvious Berks private schools with an entry point at year 12. Shiplake College’s bus service picks up and drops off in Sonning and Twyford and is popular among local families. 

Prep schools 

Wellington College Prep (formerly Eagle House) cheerfully prepares children for moving on at either 11 or 13. Majority stay until 13+, when at least half skip up the road to Wellington College. Strong on curriculum but remains, as we say, ‘a relaxed, playful prep where children can get ready for big school whilst remaining little for that much longer’. Also popular is Holme Grange, this side of Wokingham, which takes boys and girls on a journey from age 2 to 16. Yateley Manor standing just across the Hampshire border is a proudly non-selective option famous for its superb chess (taught from year 1). The school is following the local trend of expanding ever upwards and is in transition toward accommodating children up through age 16. 

Secondary schools 

Wellington College dominates the landscape in the area, both figuratively and physically. Huge, meticulously kept grounds with glassy pitches spreading out far and wide, this is one of the stars in England’s public school firmament. Fearsome on the rugby pitch as well as in the classroom. Modern, outward-looking and willing to take a risk. Officially a full boarding school – 80 per cent board – though vast majority go home on Saturday nights.

Prep schools 

We call Lambrook a ‘big and shiny prep’ with all the trimmings. School hit headlines in 2022 when the Prince and Princess of Wales decided to send Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis here. But parents tell us you’d have no idea the royal trio were even there – ‘all very discreet and low-key’. The boarders are weekly and flexi only so will not suit boarders from abroad. Almost all pupils move on to boarding senior schools, however. Meanwhile, St George’s Windsor Castle provides a surprisingly forward looking, modern day and boarding education and boasts a secret stairway to St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Brilliant music, of course, and all choristers receive a minimum 50 per cent bursary from the chapel and can apply for more. 

Papplewick, near Ascot Racecourse, has abundant charm: the best bits of ‘old-fashioned’ without the canings or cold custard (food’s delicious, in fact). Boys move on at 13 to boarding, with biggest numbers to top tier public schools. Compulsory boarding from summer of year 6. Not totally dissimilar is Sunningdale School. A boys-only traditional prep unabashedly dedicated to preparing boys for CE to biggest names of public school circuit. Weekly and full boarding only – no flexi frippery although a small number of day boys are now part of the set-up. Proudly eccentric and, dare we say it, old fashioned ‘The whole place bristles with energy and happiness,’ we say. Caldicott in Bucks is easily in reach offering a traditional boys’ boarding prep education for confident all-rounders who love sport, house points and vigorous competition; now offers flexi boarding from year 3 up and has relaxed its compulsory boarding model for years 7 and 8.

St John’s Beaumont Preparatory School is a RC prep with a large international component – its Jesuit links attract pupils from far afield. In the throes of going fully co-ed. Most leavers move on to boarding schools at age 13, but some stay local. Boarding available from year 4, but no Saturday school. The Marist School takes girls all through to age 18. LVS in Ascot opens its modern campus to all children from 4 to 19. 

Secondary schools 

Hardly a local option, Eton College is situated across the River Thames from Windsor. We call it ‘a school so good that many people choose it despite its name, not because of it’. Traditional, radical, expectation-busting and packed with a diverse community of confident and talented boys. Everyone boards from 13. 

St Mary’s Ascot’s canvas is also more national than local. Profoundly posh, academically awesome, socially stratospheric, robustly religious: a hardcore 98 per cent are RC. ‘A few C of E slip in,’ jokes the head. Almost everyone boards, and friends are made for life. Five minutes’ drive away, The Marist School offers girls’ RC day school education through to age 18. St George’s School Ascot (not to be confused with prep school St George’s Windsor Castle) is a welcoming, broadly non-selective girls’ boarding school. It’s a happy blend of local Berkshire families, girls from London (and slightly further afield), and international students. Heathfield School is the third member of the trio of girls’ boarding schools in Ascot, but who’s counting? ‘Gently academic,’ we say. ‘The school expects ambition and does well with broad intake. No longer seen as a finishing school for Etonians’ charming sisters.’

LVS in Ascot is a proudly non-selective all-through school taking children from 4 to 19. The school caters well to a wide ability range, so does not shy away from setting in maths, English and, eventually, science. As fee-paying schools go, LVS prides itself on being economical and egalitarian. Boarding offered from year 6. Just across the Surrey border, ACS Egham International School may not strike as an obvious choice for Berkshire families, but this is a peculiarly local version of international education. International families can and do dip in and out, but there is a solid core of long-term British students than is unusual in an international school. The IB diploma is a draw for many families. All through from age 3 to 19. 

Prep schools 

St Piran’s School in Maidenhead takes children up to age 11+ and sends them on to a big range of senior schools including grammars, top comprehensives and local day independents. Claires Court School is another grounded option – co-ed but with a diamond structure (boys and girls taught separately up to GCSE). St George’s Windsor Castle operates a minibus route which stops at the Maidenhead Sainsbury’s. 

Secondary schools 

Shiplake College, just over the Buckinghamshire border in Henley but with minibuses to and from Maidenhead, revels in a serene riverside setting befitting its reputation for rowing and ethos as a ‘smaller, more nurturing school set apart from its pushier, showier counterparts’. Around a third of pupils board, most flexi and weekly rather than full.

Brockhurst and Marlston House Prep. Twin boy/girl prep schools in Thatcham, following the diamond model, set on a Grade II listed estate. Learning support offers CReSTeD accredited dyslexia provision as well as OT and speech and language therapy weekly, if suitable. 

Shiplake College, in neighbouring Oxfordshire, ringfences a small number of places for children with mild learning needs and dyslexia in their Core Learning Department. Pupils receive extra support for literacy in years 9-11 and can access a reduced GCSE programme. Student-led support also offered in years 12 and 13. 

Odyssey House School, a newly opened independent provision for 7-18 year old pupils with neurodiversity who have had difficulty attending school. Tiny class sizes in sparkling new premises which support sensory difficulties and provide a calm environment. 

West of Maidenhead is Beech Lodge School, a special independent co-ed day school for ages 7 to 18. It serves children with complex needs, including trauma and attachment difficulties, multiple specific learning difficulties, autism and emotionally based school avoidance. Many are (or have been) looked after children or had experience in foster care/adoption and most have had previous school-based anxiety. 

The Unicorn School just over the border in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, is a nurturing specialist school for 7-16s with specific learning difficulties. Daily one-to-one support for all pupils and a full academic programme with integrated therapies, in primary and secondary level. Students sit GCSEs, BTECs and functional skills. 

Knowl Hill School, a short drive to Woking, Surrey is a small independent school for children aged 7-16 with dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia as well as some co-occurring conditions. Pupils follow individualised national curriculum, using multisensory teaching methods and a range of assistive technology for literacy.