- Oundle has been governed by the Worshipful Company of Grocers since its foundation by Sir William Laxton in 1556. A boys’ school until 1990, it is now fully coeducational. Oundle’s 820 boarders outnumber their day pupil peers by nearly three to one, making it one of the largest boarding schools in the country. As the headmaster Dominic Oliver puts it, “If you want to have a real impact on young people, then a boarding school allows you to do that to the full.”
- As Oundle sees it, one of the advantages of the boarding lifestyle is the scope that it affords the co-curricular programme. This is ambitious and varied. The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is compulsory for all of those in the fourth form and other clubs include astronomy, riding and medical society.
- The school offers highly prized scholarships but these do not attract any fee remission, since it believes that the integrity of these awards lie in their “honorary capacity”. It looks to its scholars “to provide intellectual and cultural leadership to their peers”. In return, Oundle offers “dedicated programmes of opportunity and support” to scholars. Scholarships can be underpinned by means-tested bursary assistance.
- Former pupils include the legendary newspaper editor Charles Wintour, the biologist Richard Dawkins and the writer Caroline Criado-Perez.
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