.jpg)
This list of the Top Ten senior schools forms part of the Herald's guide to some of the leading preparatory and senior Catholic schools in the UK (the full UK Education Special Report is available in the September 2025 edition of the magazine).
We have tried to give readers a feel of each school, while also providing information such as location, ethos, school fees and the inside track on the headmaster or headmistress. Criteria include academic performance and pastoral care, and how serious a role the Catholic faith plays in the life of the school.
Schools appear in alphabetical order. All fees are per term unless indicated otherwise.
Ampleforth College
North Yorkshire
Headmaster: Jon Mutton
Intake: Boys and girls, ages 13-18
Day fees: £7,425 to £11,146
Boarding fees: £13,707 to £19,205
Originally founded for 70 boys by the Benedictine monks at Ampleforth Abbey in 1802, Ampleforth has around 500 pupils today, over half of whom are Catholic. Pupils come from all over the UK and the number of day pupils remains under 20 per cent. The school emphasises that it is a full-boarding school, with plenty going on at weekends.
This term, Ampleforth welcomes a new headmaster, Jon Mutton, who is interviewed in this issue. The school is popular with Brits who live abroad and international students. In 2024, 77 per cent of A-level grades were A* to B, with 43 per cent at A* to A. Facilities include shooting ranges, an equestrian school, a dance studio, the school's own shoot, and fishing lakes.
While the monastery is no longer involved with school governance, the Benedictine ethos remains strong. A monastic chaplain is attached to every house, and there are prayers, retreats, student-led Lectio Divina, Mass at least weekly, and many chaplaincy activities.
Downside School
Somerset
Head Master: Andrew Hobbs
Intake: Boys and girls, ages 11-18
Day fees: £7,795 to £9,995
Boarding fees: £12,995 to £17,385
Downside School is located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, about a half-hour drive from Bath. Approximately three-quarters of the pupils at Downside are boarders, and more than 70 per cent are Catholic. Art, drama, design and technology, and music are popular; concerts take place in Downside Abbey Church, while pupils act in plays in a 450-seat theatre.
The monks have left the school, but the Benedictine ethos remains strong under the leadership of Andrew Hobbs. The chaplaincy team is assisted by a lay Benedictine community, the Manquehue Community, who are based close to the school and offer support by leading Lectio Divina groups and assisting with pastoral care.
In May 2024, Downside School was awarded "outstanding" in all areas of the Catholic Schools Inspectorate inspection, with the report noting in particular the "exemplary" pastoral care, "which allows students to flourish", and that "students have a profound understanding of their distinctive Catholic identity and are authentic witnesses to their faith".
Farnborough Hill School
Hampshire
Headmistress: Maria Young
Intake: Girls, ages 11-18
Day fees: £6,775
Farnborough Hill was bought in 1927 by the Sisters of the Religious of Christian Education, an existing convent school in Farnborough established in 1889. The chapel was added in the 1930s and is used for both assemblies and Mass. A 25-minute train ride from Clapham Junction, the school is proud to teach "proper" subjects such as Latin and Greek, with not too many "new-fangled studies" on the curriculum.
Co-curricular activities include bee-keeping and cookery. The school is proud of its very own radio station, F'Hill, which is run by the Year 11 pupils and staff. Headmistress Maria Young is a music teacher by background and a former headmistress of St Mary's, Shaftesbury.
Mayfield School
East Sussex
Headmistress: Deborah Bligh
Intake: Girls, ages 11-18
Day fees: £10,362 to £11,700
Boarding fees: up to £17,760
Founded by Mother Cornelia Connelly a little over 150 years ago, Mayfield is one of the UK's oldest and most prestigious all-girls senior schools, attracting pupils from the UK and abroad. Mayfield does well academically with half of all A-level grades at A* or A, including one in four at A* grade in 2025.
The school was also graded "outstanding" this year by the Catholic Schools Inspectorate, which described it as an "exceptionally joyful and supportive school" where "students feel empowered to strive to be the best they can be in all elements of their lives".
Mayfield is proud of its "actions not words" motto; this year, the girls' "sleep-out" for charity raised over £3,000 for the Cardinal Hume Centre in London. A highlight of this year has to be Mayfield's production of The Sound of Music at the Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells. Girls performed to full houses over three consecutive evenings, including a sold-out Saturday show.
The Oratory School
Berkshire
Head: Matthew Fogg
Takes: Boys and girls, ages 13-18
Day fees: £8,280 to £11,298
Boarding fees: £12,003 to £17,760
The Oratory School was founded in 1859 by St John Henry Newman. Matthew Fogg took over in April 2025; he is a former deputy head of the school and has spent his whole career in Catholic boarding schools. The school is proud of its Ex Umbris Learning Culture programme, "which goes well beyond preparation for exams to preparation for a life of curiosity and exploration". Its extensive co-curricular programme includes sport such as real tennis, golf and fencing.
Day, weekly and flexi-boarding is available. The school has two chapels and Mass is offered regularly for those who wish to attend. On Sundays and days of obligation, Mass is celebrated in the main chapel with the whole school community present; pupils serve as sacristans, servers and readers. The majority of pupils gain entry to their first choice of university, including many in the Russell Group.
St John's College
Cardiff
Head: Shaun Moody
Takes: Boys and girls, ages 3-18
Day fees: £3,555 to £6,910
Established in 1987, St John's College is the choir school of Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral. It welcomes children from nursery to sixth form, and provides male and female choristers from age eight to 18.
The school has a strong Catholic ethos and gets consistently excellent academic results, having been ranked best in Wales by the Sunday Times in 2019 and 2022, as well as the sixth-best-value independent school in the UK by the Daily Telegraph in 2023. St John's enjoys small class sizes and a stable, committed staff.
It has been shortlisted for Independent School of the Year for Student Wellbeing 2025.
St Mary's School Ascot
Berkshire
Headmistress: Danuta Staunton
Intake: Girls, ages 11-18 Day fees: £12,500 (excl. VAT)
Boarding fees: £17,550 (excl. VAT)
One of the foremost Catholic girls' schools in the country, St Mary's School Ascot has long been in the top drawer of independent schools and attracts the ambitious and socially well-connected from the UK and abroad. It regularly tops the league tables in both GCSEs and A-levels. The school remains reassuringly small, with only 390 girls, 98 per cent of whom are Catholic; admissions favour daughters, sisters and early registrations (they suggest applying two years in advance).
The new-ish chaplain, "Father PJ", is a former dean of Portsmouth Cathedral and episcopal vicar for education for the diocese. He has been a hit with staff and pupils, and girls enjoy Mass in the school's private chapel. Headteacher Danuta Staunton is well-liked and has made her mark with impressive results. Most pupils are full-boarders, so weekends are packed with activity.
St Mary's School
Cambridge
Head: Hannah Helliar
Intake: Girls, ages 3-18
Day fees: up to £8,475
Boarding fees: up to £18,210
Based in central Cambridge, St Mary's is a Mary Ward school for around 650 boarders and day girls. It was established in 1898 and is guided by the vision of the nun Mary Ward, who championed education for girls and inspired them to "do much".
In 2022, St Mary's received the highest grade of excellent for its Education Quality inspection, and was deemed outstanding in all areas of Catholic Life, Religious Education and Collective Worship in its most recent Diocesan inspection report (2022). It is the only single-sex school in its county. Academic results are strong and girls can opt to take classical Greek and additional maths at GCSE on top of the core curriculum.
Worship is an important part of daily life at the school. Every girl is expected to take RE at GCSE and there is an optional Mass every Wednesday morning. There is daily prayer during Advent and year group assemblies take place in the chapel. Hannah Helliar, an Oxford history graduate who has worked at the school since 2012, took over as headmistress last year.
Stonyhurst College
Lancashire
Head: John Browne
Takes: Boys and girls, ages 13-18
Day fees: £7,775 to £9,348;
Boarding fees: £9,729 to £17,745
Founded in 1593 and established on its current Lancashire estate in 1794, Stonyhurst College is the oldest continuously active Jesuit school in the world. The school offers both the IB diploma and A-levels, and pupils do well academically, with many going on to their firstchoice universities.
Stonyhurst is proud to be introducing a new STEAM curriculum in September 2025, "placing science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics at the heart of learning for younger pupils". There is also a newly renovated art and design department. Through the work of the Stonyhurst Foundation, the school offers financial support to pupils from a range of backgrounds. Headmaster John Browne has been in the position for almost a decade, and retires this year.
Worth School
West Sussex
Head: Stuart McPherson
Intake: Boys and girls, ages 11-18
Day fees: £6,993 to £10,376 (excl VAT);
Boarding fees: £15,236 (excl VAT)
Some 500 acres of pretty Sussex countryside are the backdrop to Worth, which has for over 60 years been a top choice among affluent Catholic families. Originally boys-only, Worth became fully co-ed in 2012. Small yet sophisticated, the school is in the grounds of the Benedictine Worth Abbey and its ethos is rooted in the Benedictine educational tradition.
Eight monks in the chaplaincy team teach the importance of Lectio Divina (sacred reading), liturgical worship and community living and services. Pupils regularly teach English and IT skills at the refugee detention centre at nearby Gatwick airport, and pilgrimages are arranged to Lourdes, Taizé and on the Camino to Santiago.
Worth offers the IB and A-levels and was described as academically outstanding in a recent inspection report. The abbey choir has sung at Mass in St Peter's in Rome, attended by the Pope, and in the Sistine Chapel.
Photo: Stonyhurst College.
This article appears in the September 2025 edition of the Catholic Herald. To subscribe to our thought-provoking magazine and have independent, high-calibre and counter-cultural Catholic journalism delivered to your door anywhere in the world click HERE.
.jpg)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
