Dulwich College

Overview

Dulwich College is a school for boys in Dulwich, southeast London, England. The college was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1,500 boys, of whom 120 are boarders thus making it one of the largest (in terms of numbers of pupils) independent schools in the United Kingdom. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, making it a public school of significant standing. Boarders now belong to one of three boarding houses. Alleyn's and James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS) belong to the same foundation, and the college has also founded international schools in Phuket, Seoul, Shanghai and Beijing and Suzhou. All of the franchise schools are built in the distinctive red-brick style of the London school, but with modern and oriental twists on the theme.

Unique Points

The school also excels at debating, many consider it the best debating School in Europe. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, it has had an extremely strong sporting tradition. The school has a very extensive archive, especially of material relating to drama and the arts, much of which is from Edward Alleyn's (the founder) own library. The school owns a boathouse on the River Thames and because of its proximity to Central London and combination of impressive architecture and rural character has been a popular location for filming and photography for feature films, docu-dramas and adverts.

Entry Requirements

For 13 plus entry the offer of a place at the College is made on the basis of

• the candidate’s performance in the appropriate examination or test
• an interview
• a confidential report from the Head of the candidate’s present school

For 16 plus the offer of a place is on the basis of

• the candidate’s performance in the appropriate examination or test in the subject to be studied at AS level
• where possible, we also interview the candidate as part of the admissions process
• a confidential report from the Head of the candidate’s present school