- St Edward’s, founded as a Roman Catholic school for girls in 1939, is the only independent school in Cheltenham that does not offer boarding. The school site of Charlton Park was, in the 11th century, a hunting lodge owned by Edward the Confessor.
- In 2022 the school was acquired by Alpha Schools, which owns 19 schools. The following year, St Edward’s was named the independent school that made the most progress by the UK Education Business Awards and received the outstanding progress award. It has adopted high performance learning pillars to “systematically build the cognitive competencies that lead a young person to thrive in school and later life”. The approach includes enquiry learning, practice and training, and parental engagement.
- Scholarships are available for pupils entering the school in years 7, 13 and 12, and means-tested bursaries are offered to those pupils “who would benefit from an education at St Edward’s.” These children are “expected to make a significant contribution to the life of the school”.
- Alumni include the actor Josh O’Connor and the singer-songwriter FKA Twigs.
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