Sevenoaks School is widely recognised as the international independent school in England by attendance, syllabus and outlook.

Sevenoaks School is widely recognised as the international independent school in England by attendance, syllabus and outlook. Attending pupils are drawn from more than 40 countries and the international GCSE is used as its standard curriculum. It was the first leading independent to adopt the International Baccalaureate in 1978. In 1999 the school abandoned A-levels altogether.

Sevenoaks School is rare in being situated in the heart of the town centre and this, together with its very significant day intake (some 70%) and pioneering history of welcoming international students, results in a much more open, cosmopolitan culture.

One of the oldest schools in the UK, the campus stretches from the town centre for over 100 acres, and architecturally the school offers a mix from the 18th century Palladian to ultra-modern, across more than 30 buildings, 107 classrooms and architect designed “The Space” performing arts centre.

The school is highly accessible, just half an hour from central London and within easy reach of Gatwick and Heathrow.

Alumni include Daniel Day-Lewis, John Frith and Paul Greengrass.

The school is non-denominational and was established as a secular foundation Religion is not integral to the curriculum, although “members of the boarding community are given the opportunity to worship on Sundays within the context of a local church community, according to their own religious tradition, and the school has links with places of worship for Jews, Muslims, Hindus and others.”

Sevenoaks was rated Excellent in its most recently available ISI Educational Quality report (2017).

Curriculum

Sevenoaks offers a breadth of 28 subject choices at IGCSE. Recognizing its international outlook, almost half of these are language based. Openness to international students still requires high proficiency in English on application; there are only limited options for EAL and this is not a school where international students can hope to learn English from a standing start.

Sevenoaks does resource help with learning difficulties in the areas of dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia. One former student said “… being dyspraxic I have problems with taking notes, organising my work and making myself understood. At Sevenoaks the Learning Support team was always prepared to step in and fight my corner and subject teachers provided all the extra notes and assistance I required. I am going on to study Medicine at Cambridge.”

Extra/co-curricular options are extensive. Its Sennocke Centres offers a fully equipped fitness suite, studio, pool, squash courts, an eight-court sports hall and indoor and outdoor tennis courts, in addition to track and field amenities. The Centre is open to the wider community highlighting the commitment of the school not to cut off its pupils from the wider world.

The state of the art “Space” performing arts centre includes a 230-seat theatre as well as recording studios, 410-seat concert hall and a drama centre. Sports include traditional football, rugby, cricket and netball, but also sailing, shooting, dance, riding and a plethora of other options to provide activities to suit every type of child.

The school provides more than 750 instrument lessons per week for its pupils. Its broader community program, established in 1960, pioneered school-based community service in the UK and is designed to sow the seeds of philanthropy and a sense of altruism in its pupils as a core part of their education.

Academic results

IB Results 2023: The average score was 38.7 points, more than eight points above the world average and in line with the school's pre-pandemic results.  

More than half the students, 54%, earned 40 points or more.

Headmaster Jesse Elzinga said: 

"Well done to all our students for gaining their IB Diploma, a great accomplishment for our second largest cohort of 231. They have achieved these remarkable results despite the disruptions they have encountered in their secondary education due to the pandemic. These are the first public examinations these students have taken, and their hard work, rigour and determination is commended.

The school has a strong Oxbridge slipstream with around 1 in 6 pupils being offered places at Oxford or Cambridge. 

Admission and fees

Entrance to the school is significantly fairer than the majority of its independent sector peers – offers made are non-conditional, removing stress from both pupils and parents in a process across the sector that is fraught and expensive in equal measure.

At Sevenoaks, if a pupil is awarded a place it is not contingent on later performance in, for example, Common Entrance (although results may be used for setting). Points of entry are at 11+/Year 7, 13+/Year 9 and 16+/Year 12.

The school is “strongly academic” and entrance is selective by way of entrance tests, references from the candidate’s current school, interviews and reports. However, character and the child as a whole is weighted by the school in considering whether to award a place through interview as well as individual statements submitted by parents and pupils themselves at Sixth Form. The school is not a hothouse school and has policies designed specifically to avoid this.

Year 7 application are over-subscribed around 3:1. However, competition from local grammar schools means that these odds lesson later. At 13+ competition reduces slightly to around 2:1. Competition is extremely intense for the 80 available sixth form places with 4 applications for each. At this level, international students are advised they need a high level of fluency in English, both written and spoken: between an Intermediate and Upper Intermediate level, equivalent to between B1 and B2 (CEFR); ALTE level 2/3; or IELTS levels 4.5 to 6 is required at a minimum.

The school has a genuine commitment to bursaries, but these are targeted to able local boys and girls who, for financial reasons, would not otherwise be able to attend the school. Around 50 day students received full or partial bursary fee remission each year. Scholarships are open to all applicants and provide for up to 10% fee remission.

Our view

Arguably without Sevenoaks School the UK boarding school system would have remained a closed insular affair; the school, uniquely, placed a British boarding school education on the international map.

Today the school continues to focus on that openness, both through its welcome to international students, co-educational environment and through integration within the local community.

It does not, as a result, offer a typically closed, single sex, English boarding school education.

Academic results are in the top 10 of any school in the country, but these are not well publicized, partly because Sevenoaks follows the International Baccalaureate, but also because it refuses to take part in league tables. That it achieves these results with both a much more open application process able to recognise the potential of children, and a system that offers unconditional offers, demonstrates the school’s confidence in its own ability to deliver a quality education.

It is not a hothouse school, but delivers the results of one – a very considerable achievement. For academic and gifted international students it is a genuinely fabulous option, promising all the opportunities of a prestigious English boarding school education with a more child-focused, added value and inclusive spirit at its heart. Too many international students, however, leave it too late by applying for a place in the sixth form – this is a school worth joining at the very first opportunity.

Strengths
• International openness
• Prestige
• Pioneers of the IB

Weaknesses
• Not an academic hothouse for those who need this
• Non-academic children can find better
• Not a traditional all-boarding education

Best for
• A first class education without hothouse pressure
• International students seeking the IB
• Oxbridge slipstream

Not for
• A single-sex education
• Pupils without self-discipline might do better elsewhere
• International students of limited means

Fast Facts
• Boarding number: 350 pupils
• Day number: 690
• Sixth Form: 420 pupils
• Average class size: 10 (Sixth Form) 20 (Middle)
• Number of full time staff (including non-teaching): 400+
• ISI Rating Boarding (2014): Excellent
• ISI Rating Academics (2014): Exceptional
• ISI Rating Personal Development (2014): Excellent
• ISI Rating Leadership (2014): Excellent
• Year Founded: 1432

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