Rugby

Overview

Rugby is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain and one of the best known. It was founded in 1567 as a provision in the will of Lawrence Sheriff, who had made his fortune supplying groceries to Queen Elizabeth 1. It has both day and boarding-pupils, the latter in the majority. Originally it was for boys only, but girls have been admitted to the sixth form since 1975. It went fully co-educational in 1995. The school community is divided into houses. Rugby School is an educational community whose philosophy embraces the challenges of academic excellence, responsibility and leadership, spiritual awareness and participation in a wide variety of activities.

Unique Points

Rugby's most famous headmaster was Thomas Arnold, appointed in 1828, he executed many reforms to the school curriculum and administration. Arnold's reputation and the school's reputation was immortalised through Thomas Hughes' book Tom Brown's School Days. The game of Rugby owes its name to the school. The legend of William Webb Ellis and the origin of the game is commemorated by a plaque.There have been a number of notable Old Rugbeians including the inventor of Australian rules football Tom Wills, the war poet Rupert Brooke, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, author and mathematician Lewis Carroll, poet and cultural critic Matthew Arnold, the author and social critic Salman Rushdie.

Entry Requirements

Pupils are interviewed in the spring term (January to March) of the applicant’s Year 7. Prior to the interview we will ask the candidates' current schools for comprehensive reports, which will cover most of our academic questions, and the most recent verbal reasoning test (VRT) score. Following the assessment conditional places are offered in Houses, subject to applicants passing either the Common Entrance Examination with an average of at least 55%, the School's own entrance tests in English and Mathematics (for those whose schools do not prepare them for Common Entrance) or meeting the School's entrance requirements in the Scholarship examination.