WHAT? WHERE?

Cranford School is a leading independent co-ed day school nestled in the heart of Moulsford Village, South Oxfordshire. Established in 1931 and on its current site since 1961, this through-school teaches boys and girls (a 50/50 split) from ages 3-18, making it one of the few co-ed schools in the area offering places from Pre-School to Sixth Form – handy! Its admission process islargely non-selective, but with small class sizes of 15 and an overall cohort of 635, there’s plenty of attention to push through strong academic results.

The site centres around a handsome Georgian brick manor house as the centre piece with modern additions behind and to the side. In the last two years, the school has had quite the glow up, with newly modernised teaching spaces, sports facilities and common areas. Teaching at Cranford is split into a dedicated Pre-Prep building (3-4 years); a separate Junior School building next door for (Reception to Year 6); a Senior school block for Years 7-11, and then the Sixth Formers in their own centre.  

This review focuses primarily on the Senior School , but you can read our detailed Pre-Prep review also.

FACILITIES

SPORT

Cranford School Moulsford Oxfordshire playing football

There’s an impressive indoor Sports Hall, a full-size Astroturf pitch to the front of the site (now with a handy purpose-built covered viewing area and Hot  Drinks  & Snack Shed, for parents cheering on home fixtures), an 18 metre swimming pool with retractable roof, a field for hockey/athletics and newly resurfaced netball/tennis courts to the back of the school.

Pupils at Cranford are most definitively active – there are 10 hours of curriculum sport each week, plus various academies and extra-curricular clubs before and after school. In fact, until Year 6 it’s compulsory for all children to play for the school sports teams. This is partly due to expediency (small schools finding it harder to field multiple teams) but also the head teacher is keen to impart life lessons from sport – the importance of teamwork, leadership, grace in victory and defeat, and resilence.

The main sports here are football, hockey, netball, cricket and tennis, with specialist Academies offered in football, cricket and hockey, though swimming shows a strong hand too (the kids are taught on site from pre-school), and the school offers a breadth of other options from gymnastics and martial arts to horse-riding and triathlon in case your child is a bit ‘swipe-and-miss’ with ball sports. There are also Sixth Form sports clubs – equestrian, golf, sailing and trampolining clubs vie with tennis, indoor rowing (ergs line up in the main hall) and a Sixth Form gym.

CREATIVE ARTS

As an Artsmark Gold Award accredited School (Arts Council England), creativity thrives at Cranford and both creative and performing arts get time and attention here. In terms of school facilities, there’s the Willow Theatre, newly renovated to include a modern lighting rig, sound system and giant video wall and a Creative Arts department with music rooms.

The school offers a Senior orchestra for those grade 3+, jazz, swing, rock and ukulele bands, various ensembles, along with Band Lab music tech in lessons. Musicians can take lessons from Year 2 at Cranford and there’s roughly a 60% take up of tuition – just tipping average I’d say. Choral music is particularly strong at the school – there has been considerable national successes over recent years, and pupils perform annually in the beautiful setting of Dorchester Abbey.

There’s a LAMDA club here which gives speech and acting lessons without the need to do the exam (though plenty go on to do them), which is a nice touch and indicative of Cranford’s efforts in inclusivity. Each year Senior school pupils put on two productions – a play and a musical.

teacher and pupil in art studio at Cranford School Moulsford Oxfordshire

Art and DT are both well supported here, with a large bright Art space that teaches Textiles as a separate subject for both GSCE and A level. The DT building is pristine, and DT has been offered as a GSCE and A-level subject since Sept 2023.

GENERAL FACILITIES

Cranford School Moulsford Oxfordshire building at night

The Junior School was revamped in 2018 to include a new library and classrooms. Across the school site there are now six science labs including one dedicated to A-level in the Sixth Form Centre.

ACADEMICS

Cranford School Moulsford Oxfordshire boys in art class

The value added score at Cranford is high at +1.3, and the GSCE and A level results are both strong. Cranford allows pupils to choose whichever subjects they please without having to select subjects within set ‘blocks’, though for GSCE English, Mathematics, Science, a Modern Foreign Language and a Humanity subject are compulsory. The choice of subjects is broad for a relatively small school, with GSCEs available in Business Studies, Textiles Design and Food Prep and Nutrition among others. For A-levels, Photography, Philosophy and Information & Communication Technology (not sure what it is but it sounds useful!) are all possible.

Cranford School Moulsford Oxfordshire boys and girls laughing outside

Pupils typically study 10 GSCEs, which is on the high side these days, and arguably reflects the confidence of the school. Results for 2025’s cohort for GCSEs saw 55% of all grades achieving a 9-7 (A*-A) and a value-added score of +1.0 – that’s the ‘added’ grade that pupils gain due to the teaching at Cranford school. The A level results saw 68% of grades awarded at A-B*, and a mind-boggling 100% of graduating students in 2025 securing places at their chosen unis.

PASTORAL CARE

Cranford’s family atmosphere and relatively small pupil numbers gives it a head start with pastoral care provision, which has historically always been a strength of the school. There’s a Deputy Head of Pastoral (Juniors), an Assistant Head who is also Head of Pastoral Care for Seniors, plus two dedicated school counsellors, the form tutor, school matron, and a Big Buddy Little Buddy scheme where the Senior pupils look after the littlies. A new addition in 2024 was a Sensory Garden, a series of garden spaces, covered seating areas and pathways around the school’s central willow tree.

LITTLIES

The Pre-Preppers (rising 3 years) are on site in their own light, large classrooms with access onto a large grass and enclosed playground area. Specialist teaching includes Music and Movement, Forest School (also for Reception), PE and swimming. When they move into Reception, the littlies move across to the Junior School building. Read our separate review of the Pre-Prep department.

SIXTH FORM

To continue at Cranford into Sixth Form pupils need a minimum of five GCSEs at Grade 5, including English and Maths, with Grade 6 in the subjects proposed for study at A-level. If they make it, they’ll be hanging out in the sleek Sixth Form Centre (think lots of glass and clean lines) which includes a huge, bright common room with modular furniture, a lecture theatre, studio space for art, its own science lab, a private terrace, fitness room and study areas. A Level subjects here are largely traditional but there are a few more unusual ones as well, including Film Studies, Philosophy, Sociology, and Food & Nutrition.

THE HEAD

Cranford School Moulsford Oxfordshire head teacher with pupils

I first met Dr James Raymond in 2014 when he’d just arrived as head teacher at Cranford at just 35 years old. Eleven years on and with two children at the school, he’s not changed at all – still friendly, thoughtful and very grounded. Over the years, he’s created an internal tracking system to make sure that ‘value-add’ is embedded in each child’s progress reports from Pre-Prep up to Sixth Form; invited parents on Open Weeks to see the school in motion, rather than the usual choreographed open mornings (though you can still do these if you prefer); appointed new House Masters as part of his ‘day school, boarding ethos’ approach to getting kids to try as much as possible; and introduced Discovery Weeks to the school and wider community.

SEND

As a non-selective school that takes from rising 3 year olds, Cranford is well-equipped with SEND provision, with two SENCo leads (one for Junior and one for Senior) plus two specialist SEND assistants.

QUIRKS

I’d say Cranford toes a fairly traditional line though it’s definitely not po-faced – the kids seem to have a great time. There are murmurings about creating a Cranford Farm, as well as plans to keep Forest School going right through Sixth Form – both brilliant ideas.

There’s also a colossal extra-curricular offering, known as the Cranford Pathway, which runs into a mind-boggling 100+ clubs every week across music, sport, drama, creative arts, trips, academics, and leadership along with one-to-one mentoring twice a year to focus and reflect on their personal goals.

WRAPAROUND CARE

Pupils can stay for a 7.30am breakfast, and after school clubs for Juniors and Seniors continue until 5.15pm (5pm for Pre-Preppers).

ISI REPORT

Happy reading for Cranford parents as the school passed with flying colours across the board in December 2025. Read the full report.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

It’s a hard no, with phones taken at the beginning of the school day and returned at the end. From Year 11 pupils are allowed their devices within their Common Room.

FEES

Competitive. For Early Years there is no VAT (yay!) and you can pay for half days up to full days, from a minimum of three sessions a week. Half days are £33.50 and full days are £67. Fees termly, excluding VAT are £3,960 for Reception rising to £4,670 for Y1-2; £5,659 for Y3-4, £5980 for Y5-6 and Senior School fees from Y7-13 are £7,267.

TRANSPORT

An extensive bus network takes children from Year 3 upwards to school, though younger siblings may also be allowed. Routes are mostly Oxfordshire – Henley, Shiplake, Goring, Pangbourne, Lewknor, Sutton Courtenay, Peppard but Cranford’s proximity to Berkshire also sees students that way, with a bus routes from Caversham, Sonning Common, Emmer Green.  See the routes.

WORD ON THE GROUND

Cranford School Moulsford Oxfordshire pupils outside smiling

Very positive. Cranford has long had a reputation as a homely, family-oriented school but the consensus is that the current head has added academic rigour and a quiet confidence to pupils. It’s now seen as a nurturing all-rounder, with co-education now fully embedded across all year groups.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

GOOD FOR: What’s not to love? Great ratios, a nurturing vibe and no ‘next-schools’ hassle from Pre-Prep up to Sixth Form.  No child gets overlooked or ignored in 14 acres and class sizes of 16, so your children are certain to get plenty of individual attention and care here. Being a through-school on a single campus removes a massive headache of next schools for parents and gives a sense of continuity for pupils.

NOT FOR: The school’s location is undeniably rural, so Senior pupils looking for more of a buzz may want a more central location.

WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF? Be my guest! Book here for all events; there’s a Whole School Open Week  from 8 – 12 June 2026. There are also  Stay and Play Toddler mornings every Monday morning at 9.30am – 10.30am during term time that are bookable in advance.

Cranford School, Moulsford, OX10 9HT. Tel: 01491 651218.

Cranford School, Moulsford

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