WHAT? WHERE?

Cothill is a gently selective day and boarding School for boys from 7-13 years – although from Sept 25 it starts the process of becoming co-educational, initially taking girls from Years 3-5 with boarding on offer from Year 4 upwards, before becoming fully co-ed in 2028.

The school is hidden away on the outskirts of Cothill village, close to the market town of Abingdon and around 15 minutes from Oxford, with 180 pupils gambolling around in 25 acres of playing fields and surrounded by 200 acres of woodland. September 2023 brought exciting changes here with a new Head, George May, the opening of a brand new £10 million Sports Centre and the introduction of day boys (or more accurately, pre-boarders, as all pupils are expected to board from Years 7-8 at Cothill).

Now in it its 154th year, it’s the biggest all boys’ boarding Prep school in the UK (many of the alterative local boarding options being primarily for day pupils). Despite this, there’s a small number of overall pupils here, so class sizes are small – an average of 14-15.

FACILITIES

What was once an inauspicious first view of the school from the car park has been transformed by the now-completed shiny, fancy Sports Centre. The remaining main buildings are a mix of homely and purpose built, but there’s been a definite zsush since my last visit.

/SPORT

Excellent facilities with loads of sport as you’d expect in a leading boys’ prep school. Worth particular mention are the six grass tennis courts (my absolute dream – and so few of these courts around now), a 20 metre indoor swimming pool, nine hole golf course, squash court, outdoor climbing wall, a traverse wall, skate ramps and a peloton of BMX bikes that boys can now use on the BMX track.

With 180 boys to exercise every day, sport is always going to be a big deal at Cothill. Cricket is probably the biggest sport here, and there’s a gorgeous cricket ground with a lovely tiny thatched pavilion and a whopper new build boarding house called Bowlers too to prove it. Former England international Mark Ramprakash handed out the prizes for the U8 & U9 Cricket Festival in May so they take it pretty seriously! The other headline sports on offer here are football, rugby and hockey, but there are plenty of other options too, with swimming, tennis, squash, skiing, polo, athletics, gymnastics, shooting, climbing, basketball, table tennis, golf, badminton, netball, snooker and cross-country all on the menu.

This year Cothill pupils have won three sports scholarships to Sherbonne, Oundle and Uppingham, and there are various boys representing their county for cricket too. The Sports Centre has made a vast difference – now throughout rainy winters there are indoor facilities that allow the kids to continue playing sport with facilities including four cricket nets, a tennis court, four badminton courts, an indoor football pitch and a basketball court.

/CREATIVE ARTS

Since the arrival of George May as Head Teacher, the arts has been given an orbit blast. A former actor and producer (he cut his teeth at Oxford’s Creation Theatre) May knows first hand the power of the arts, so children with interests across music, drama, art and DT will be in heaven. There’s a fabulous director of music, a former opera singer whose voice nearly shakes the room and who is intent on broadening music’s appeal at the school past the classical (already done well with orchestra, jazz and brass bands and Junior and Senior Choirs) to captivate as many pupils as possible. That said there are already several rock bands who showcase their riffs at twice yearly rock concerts as well as at the summer festival, Rockhill, that is put on for the children (sorry parents, you’re not invited).

On the arts front, there’s a pottery room with lots of natural light and a large kiln and a school library – 10,000 books and counting- with amusing life-size cardboard cuts out of Hagrid, Neil Armstrong and the Hobbit to fuel the senses. A section of the library has been transformed into a café with comfy chairs and a full-size snooker table.

The day I visited the kids were due to perform Shakespeare in the garden, directed by the Head Teacher himself, whose own background as a professional actor will tell you all you need to know about how well supported drama is here.

THE HEAD

In September 2023, George May took the reins from previous Head Duncan Bailey (who’s moved to Runnymede College, Madrid) and he’s made quite the impression on parents with his energy and empathy and desire to modernise Cothill’s offering without losing its heart. Educated at Eton and Edinburgh, with a post grad at LAMDA, he ticks all the educational boxes, but he’s also disarmingly honest and his wife Emi-Lou is lovely too.

With four children and two dogs, they set the tone for the family feel of the school and with May as Senior Housemaster at Radley College, before making the move to Cothill they have plenty of experience too. His list of improvements and innovations is lengthy but watch out next for the creation of Forest School, better boarding houses, a bursary system to fund free places, and – the long term master plan – the creation of a dedicated STEAM centre with robotics, VR, DT, woodwork and art all under one roof (RIP squash courts).

ACADEMICS

The Cothill cohort is described by staff as ‘broad entry, sharp exit’. Though the children (as in most independent Preps) take a basic academic test to join, the school cares more about ‘fit’ and boys who will make the most of being at the school.

Like Summerfields in Oxford and Caldicott in Burnham, there’s a clear expectation here for boys to move onto the top private schools including Eton, Radley, Harrow, Winchester, Oundle, Sherbourne, Marlborough and St Edward’s. Cothill churns out the places and scholarships with assuring regularity (for 2024 they include two King’s Scholars to Eton, an academic exhibition to Winchester and one to Marlborough. Sports scholarships to Oundle and Sherbourne and a drama scholarship to Stowe) though for the less academic there’s also a close eye on ‘value added’ scores and enriching the learning. Thursday afternoon see the curriculum ripped up in favour of clubs and weekend excursions include trampolining and laser tag to mini golf and geocaching.

WELLBEING

Pastoral care has always been one of Cothill’s strengths – the school community is small, closely knit and it’s hard to let children fall through the cracks when the numbers are small and teacher attention high. A daily meeting between pastoral and academic teachers known sweetly as ‘Tingaling’ flags any issues, and there’s a counsellor who comes in on Tuesdays to support pupils who need help. The Head teacher’s two dogs are unofficial therapy pets, seen around the school and walked by various boys and there’s a wellbeing chill-out space The Nest, newly created. Impressively there’s a ‘movement initiative’ in place, first introduced in 2023, to help rectify any issues the boys may have with posture, breathing, mobility and stability due to the modern scourge of gaming and screen time. Pretty cool. I also loved the jigsaw in the hallway, ready for any boy to stop and let his mind wander for a minute or two.

SEND

Around 9% of pupils have some kind of SEND, with dyslexia most common, though the school is also currently helping boys with ADHD, dyspraxia, Aspergers and EAL. There’s a strong Learning Support department with two full time and three part-time staff, and yearly screening for all pupils.

BOARDING

Obviously the big news is the (arguably inevitable) move to co-ed, with a new boarding house being created for the girls from September 2025. Despite day pupils now welcome at Years 3-4, Cothill remains a full boarding school. The youngest boarders – Cothill Juniors – in Years 4 & 5 can go home after Saturday school (lessons in the morning) until Sunday night. By Y6 all boarders are full boarding.

QUIRKS

Plenty. The school’s family atmosphere is supercharged with all kinds of competitive moments, from staff vs boys football and touch rugby matches, Parents vs sons football and cricket matches and Cothill Rocks – the school’s battle of the bands, involves pupils & staff.

What else? Well, staff legend ‘PC’ (spoiler: he used to be a policeman) has been at the school 40 years as the woodwork and design teacher – he’s now 80 and still as popular as ever. And, not so much a quirk as a massive advantage is the half-term that the boys get to spend at Château de Sauveterre in the South of France (above). The red phone box in the playground is fun too.

FEES

Full boarding only, at £11,950 per term which is pretty much the same as its main competition. Day fees are £7,775 per term. Forces Allowances have just been given the go ahead, 25% for serving members of the UK Forces and FCO staff in receipt of boarding CEA. To confirm eligibility, please email fees@prepschoolstrust.org using your military email address with your rank and posting.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

No personal phones are allowed in school. However, pupils have access to the school landlines.

REPORTS

See the latest ISI reports here.

WORD ON THE GROUND

A very family-oriented school. Parents love the pastoral care, and the homely feel. There have been some inevitable grumbles from some about the switch to co-ed but most parents are won over by the new facilities and clearly invested Head and his wife.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: The boys I spoke to were sweet and unguarded, and when asked what kind of child would suit this school they said anyone ‘determined’ – by which I think they meant boys that join in, have a go, want to do their best. It’s not about academic ability, but attitude.

Not for: Children who really struggle academically might find the pace tough here.

Dare to disagree? Be my guest! Cothill has regular events, that you can register for here. The next Open Day is 14 Sept (10am – 12.30pm). The Cothill Big Family Day is 29 Sept and there’s a Taster Morning on 23 Nov (9.30am-12.30pm).

Cothill House, Cothill, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX13 6JL. Tel: 01865 390800.

Cothill School, South Oxfordshire

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