Bradfield College

Picturesque Bradfield, alma mater of politician Lord Owen, novelist Louis de Bernières and explorer Benedict Allen, started, in 1850, as a choir school for the village church, fanning out from the original Arts-and-Crafts manor house and incorporating buildings designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and a chapel by his son, an early pupil.

There’s a superb science centre, plus the famed ‘Greeker’ theatre in which performances of Greek tragedies were renowned. Bradfield’s academic reputation (it offers the IB) increases all the time and there’s an impressive roster of visiting lecturers, plus the Bradfield Diploma, designed to create well-rounded individuals.

• 780 pupils aged 13–18, co-ed, predominantly boarding
• £9,975–£12,468