- Chetham’s School of Music was founded by the textile merchant Humphrey Chetham in 1653 as a boys’ school. The oldest parts of the school date to the 1420s when they were used as a residence for priests for the church on the site of the modern-day Manchester Cathedral. It became a specialist coeducational music school in 1969.
- The school has no academic criteria for entry and class sizes are small, with its curriculum “broadly in line with the national curriculum”. Chetham offers “breadth, balance and quality in the context of the music specialism of the school”. Pupils take seven or eight subjects at GCSE including music, and up to four subjects, including music, at A-level.
- A bespoke “Fit to Perform” programme supports students’ mental and physical health with a fully equipped gym, training plans for players of different instruments and guidance on healthy eating.
- Former pupils include the actor Max Beesley, the Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire and many professional classical musicians.
Sign up to The Times and The Sunday Times weekly parenting newsletter