Rugby School

Focus

Intellectual curiosity and resilience

Day fees 2025/26

$50,100

Boarding fees 2025/26

$79,100

Term dates

• Term 1: 31 August to 10 December 2025
• Term 2:  6 January to 21 March 2026
• Term 3:  12 April to 27 June 2026

Ages

13-18

Pupil count

890

Spear’s Review

In 1823, William Webb Ellis showed a ‘fine disregard’ for the rules of football when he picked up the ball and ran with it, inventing rugby. Rugby School applies a similar approach to learning, encouraging a non-conformist attitude. 

The school’s teaching approach blends independent study with collaborative lessons, underpinned by the belief that learning outside of the classroom is as important as learning within it. Each student is assigned a personal tutor, with whom they meet weekly.

‘Rugbeians are very busy,’ head Gareth Parker-Jones says. Alongside the 25 different sports on offer and a wide range of music lessons, students can engage in an extensive enrichment programme designed to nurture their intellectual and creative interests. Collaborative projects and exchange programmes are also available across Rugby School’s international campuses and in Thailand, Japan and Nigeria. 

Academics

In 2025:

• 78 per cent of GCSE results were grades 7-9
  
• 59 per cent of A-Level results were A* or A
• Average IB score was 36.0
  

Head teacher

Gareth Parker-Jones has been at Rugby since 2015. He initially served as deputy head (academic), becoming head master in 2020. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital School, Bristol and Pembroke College, Oxford, where he read history. He also holds a master’s degree in colonial and post-colonial studies from the University of London. He has taught at Harrow, University College School and Sevenoaks, where he was head of history. 

University and college destinations

In 2025, 6 per cent of Rugby School students were offered places at Oxford and Cambridge, while 2 per cent are continuing their studies at Ivy League schools in the US. 

Admissions

According to the school, for 13+ and 16+ boarding and day entry, parents are invited to visit the school. Visits typically include a school tour, a house tour and lunch with current students and staff. Registered applicants are asked to complete a pre-interview questionnaire (handwritten by the student), and during the assessment, they are interviewed by a housemaster or housemistress and a moderator. The school values academically robust students who also enjoy a wide range of interests to make the most of the school’s co-curricular programme.

Notable alumni

Notable ‘Old Rugbeians’ include:

• Neville Chamberlain (prime minister)
  
• Lewis Carroll (author, poet and mathematician)
• Salman Rushdie (author)
  

Accessibility

Birmingham Airport: 35 minutes

Location

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