Marlborough is steeped in history, but make no mistake: this school has its sights set firmly on the future. In recent years, it has undertaken a series of building projects, and now a refurbished science block will join the ranks of other slick new facilities – including a music technology studio with sound-proof pods and professional recording facilities; and an innovation centre, which aims to teach STEM subjects in novel ways. This dynamic outlook has been channelled into numerous creative endeavours, too – notably in the digital display, ‘Marlborough in a Hundred Objects’, inspired by Neil MacGregor’s work. Art, theatre and music thrive here, as does sport: one recent pupil is on track to become a fully funded member of Team GB’s skeleton bobsleigh squad; another won gold in the junior ladies’ British Shooting Shotgun Series; and a third is a member of the Bath Rugby Senior Academy. All this fizzing energy and achievement might stem from the fact that this is very much a full boarding school, where days are action-packed from morning to night. The school is outward-facing. Fourteen per cent of pupils are in receipt of fee assistance, and Monday and Wednesday afternoons are dedicated to serving the local community, be that by assisting a conservation group (Action for the River Kennet), volunteering with the Riding for the Disabled Association or working as classroom assistants with children at a local primary school.
Location: Bath Road, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1PA
Website: marlboroughcollege.org
Head: Louise Moelwyn-Hughes, MA, since 2018; previously Head of St Edmund’s, Canterbury
Pupils: 1,012 boarding: 564 boys, 448 girls
Ages: 13–18
Term fees: £14,310
Oxbridge: 10%
Admission: ISEB pre-test, school’s own exams and interviews
Alumni: Novelist William Morris, poet Siegfried Sassoon, The Duchess of Cambridge
