- Shrewsbury School was founded by Edward VI in 1552 and has been fully coeducational since 2014. Learning, the school says, should be “serious fun”.
- Along with Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Charterhouse, Westminster and Winchester, it is one of the nation’s original public schools. Its Taylor Library holds Charles Darwin’s personal atlas and first editions of the King James Bible and Isaac Newton’s Principia of 1687.
- It has international schools in Bangkok, Hong Kong and India.
- Outdoor pursuits are an important part of school life: in 2021 Shrewsbury appointed its first “head of adventure” and the school owns a cottage in Snowdonia.
- Scholarships are available for those who excel academically or in music, art, drama, design technology, sport or all round. The school’s aim is to “increase access to pupils regardless of their circumstance” and it offers means-tested bursaries. During 2020-21 the school awarded scholarships worth £3.9 million.
- Alumni are known as Old Salopians, after the Latin name for Shropshire. As well as Darwin, they include the Monty Python actor and writer Michael Palin.
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