| St. Edward's School, Oxford | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Location | |
 | |
,, OX2 7NN England | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public school Privateboarding andday school |
| Motto | Pietas Parentum (Latin: "parental devotion") |
| Religious affiliation | Church of England |
| Established | 1863 |
| Founder | Thomas Chamberlain |
| Department for Education URN | 123292Tables |
| Chairman of governors | Chris Jones |
| Warden | Alastair Chirnside |
| Staff | c.100 |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 13 to 18 |
| Enrolment | 805 Boys:445, Girls:360 |
| Houses | 13 |
| Colours | Gold and Cornflower Blue |
| Publication | St Edward's Chronicle |
| Alumni | Old St Edward's (OSEs) |
| Telephone | 01865 319 204 |
| Boat Club | St Edward's School Boat Club |
| Website | http://www.stedwardsoxford.org |
St Edward's School is apublic school (Englishfee-chargingboarding andday school) inOxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'.[1]
Approximately sixty pupils live in each of its thirteen houses. The school is a member of theRugby Group, theHeadmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, and the Oxfordshire Independent and State School Partnership. Termly fees in 2024/2025 are £15,906 (+ VAT) for boarding and £12,725 (+ VAT) for day pupils.[2] The school is also affiliated to theChurch of England.
The school teaches theGCSE,A Level and International Baccalaureate (IB) qualifications. The sixth form is split evenly between pupils studying A Levels and the IB Diploma.
The school was founded in 1863 by Thomas Chamberlain, student ofChrist Church, Oxford, and vicar ofSt Thomas the Martyr's Church, Oxford. The school carries the name ofSt Edward the Martyr, King of England from 975 to 978.
The original school building was Mackworth Hall, which at that time stood on New Inn Hall Street in central Oxford.[3]
In 1873, after a storm damaged the school buildings and in anticipation of growing numbers, A. B. Simeon, the first Warden, moved the school toSummertown. At the time, the site was on the boundary of Oxford and surrounded by farmland, and Simeon bought a large plot for the school. The school remains on that 100-acre (0.40 km2) site today, with theQuadrangle and playing fields on opposite sides ofWoodstock Road.
Simeon created anindependent school with monastic-style buildings around a quadrangle.[4] The original buildings were designed byWilliam Wilkinson. The north range was built in 1873 and 1886, thegatehouse in 1879, and the east range, including Big School and the library, in 1881. Wilkinson's most significant building at St Edward's is the chapel, built in 1876.[5]
The Rev. Henry Ewing Kendall (1888–1963) was Warden from 1925 to 1954.[6][7]George Mallaby taught at the school in the period 1924 to 1935, and gave his views of Kendall inEach In His Office (1972).[8][9] At the beginning of the book he listed Kendall withNorman Brook,H. W. Garrod andJack Adams as "four remarkable men".[10]
Kendall succeeded the Rev. William Harold Ferguson, who had moved toRadley College to take over as Warden there fromAdam Fox.[11]St Michael's College, Tenbury and the choir school atAll Saints, Margaret Street were feederprep schools, which had kept up musical standards; and there was anAnglo-Catholic tradition. The fees were low. Yet the retention of staff and the teaching were not good. Kendall's attitude was that "if the right standards were established and the right facilities offered, more boys could certainly be attracted from professional families."[9]
As Warden, Kendall concentrated entirely on the school, was "human, friendly, humorous, convivial"; on the other hand he retained complete control of its running. He gave it 29 years of "incessant activity and unswerving devotion".[9]
The whole school became fully co-educational in 1997.
In 2016, the school announced a new building project to complete the school's main Quad. The new development, designed by architect Nick Hardy (TSH Architects) and completed in 2020, includes a purpose-built Library, a university-style academic centre,[clarification needed] and a new hall, with a capacity for 1,000 people.[12]
July 2007 marked the official opening ofThe North Wall Arts Centre. The centre was built on the site of the old school swimming pool, which was the oldest swimming pool in the country.[13][14][better source needed] The North Wall Arts Centre is run by Ria Parry and is a producing theatre.[15]
The North Wall Arts Centre won several major architectural awards for its design,[15] including a RIBA award.[16]
The Martyrs Pavilion, designed by architect John Pawson, was opened in 2009 and won the 2010 Oxford Preservation Trust award in the New Buildings category.[17]
In May 2025, St Edward’s School faced public backlash after a teacher was suspended for allegedly sharing a racist image in a WhatsApp group. The image depicted Adolf Hitler as a Black man, alongside text resembling a racial slur. The incident, reported by the BBC, caused outrage within the school community. The school stated it had launched a full investigation and claimed it does not tolerate racist or discriminatory behaviour.[18]
The sports on offer for girls include rowing, cricket, hockey, football, netball and tennis, while the main sports offered for the boys include rowing, rugby, hockey, cricket, football and tennis. The school has over 90 acres (360,000 m2) of playing fields in North Oxford.[19]
In rowing theSt Edward's School Boat Club has wonThe Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup atHenley Royal Regatta on five occasions, more than any other British school exceptEton College andSt Paul's School, London.[20] In 1984 the 1st VIII became the first ever crew to achieve the 'Triple', winning all three school events that year: The School's Head of the River; The Queen Mother Cup at the National Schools Regatta; and The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. In 2013 the boys 1st VIII boat rowed in the fastest Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup final ever seen at Henley, chasing the holdersAbingdon School down to within half a length. Both crews beat the existing course record, having dispatched other leading international schools on the way to the final. In 2014, the boys 1st VIII were again the losing finalists. Having won Henley events eight times (including three years as winners of the now-discontinuedSpecial Race for Schools), and been the losing finalist seven times,[20] St Edward's School is one of the most successful boys' rowing schools. In 2023, St Edward's School became the first co-educational school to win Gold in Championship events for both boys' and girls' crews in the same National Schools' Regatta, winning the Jim Mason Plate for Girls Coxed Fours[21] (for the second time) and the Queen Mother Challenge Cup for Boys Eights[22] (for the fourth time).
The Steeplechase is the school's annual cross country race and is held once a year with the seniors running a 4-mile (6.4 km) race acrossPort Meadow, the floodplain of theRiver Thames.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: several alumni hereby removed due to lack ofWP:CITATIONS. They can be found in the article's history; please restore them onceWP:RELIABLE sources are found. You can help byadding to it.(November 2025) |
Former pupils of St Edward's are known asOld St Edward's, abbreviated to OSE.
Notable OSE include:
Notable masters of the school include:
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The school has built up links with a number of schools around the world, which include:
The school received a grant of arms in December 2017.[35]
 |
|
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: location (link)51°46′36.55″N01°16′07.27″W / 51.7768194°N 1.2686861°W /51.7768194; -1.2686861
