There’s something about Sherborne
A DIFFERENT KIND OF CO -EDUCATION | AGES 3-18
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Prep
Girls
Co-ed day & boarding, ages 3-13
Full boarding & day, ages 13-16
Boys
Sixth Form
Full boarding & day, ages 13-16
Girls & Boys full boarding & day, ages 16-18
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
Sherborne is unique. Throughout its long history, Sherborne has continuously evolved, and this is the next chapter: a considered approach that is rooted in experience, shaped by careful observation, and directed purposefully towards the future. Nowhere else in the UK does a school exist with the same structure, the same set-up, or the same deliberate philosophy. Separate, yet together We are Sherborne Prep, Sherborne Girls and Sherborne Boys – three schools with distinct identities, united under one name and vision. We work in unison: together when it serves our pupils best, separate when appropriate. From September 2026, that unity becomes even more explicit, as all three schools come together under a single, unified Sherborne brand to offer a coherent educational pathway from age 3 to 18. Here we set out that vision. It explains who we are, how we teach, what we believe, and where we are going. We hope it conveys something of the excitement we feel about what lies ahead, whether you are already part of our community or thinking about joining it.
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A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
Three Schools. One Journey.
Sherborne Boys was founded in 1550, Sherborne Girls in 1899, and Sherborne Prep in 1858; together giving Sherborne one of the longest and richest educational histories in the country. All three schools have been woven into the fabric of this small Dorset town for generations. At senior school level, boys and girls share music, drama, sport, the CCF and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award alongside the broader experience of growing up together in a close-knit community. And it is here that our 'Separate, yet together' model has been shaped and refined: an approach rooted in a deep understanding
of when boys and girls learn best together and when they learn best apart. We are one of the largest full boarding communities in the UK, with some 900 pupils present every weekend. Boarding at Sherborne means learning to live alongside others, developing independence, practising empathy, building the kind of resilience that only comes from real experience of community life. Day pupils are an equally valued part of that community, sharing fully in the life of the school and benefiting from everything that makes Sherborne distinctive.
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A Broader Vision Three themes run through this booklet with particular prominence: our distinctive educational structure; our explicit, timetabled approach to Character Education; and our new Innovation and Entrepreneurship programme. These are the areas where we are making the most visible new investment, and they represent what is most distinctively Sherborne about our vision for the years ahead. But they exist within, and are supported by, a broader strategic framework that reflects the full depth of what we offer. Our commitment to academic excellence and personalised learning pathways. Our pastoral provision, which places the wellbeing of every individual pupil
at the heart of everything we do. Our partnerships with universities, businesses, charities and the wider world. Our growing focus on sustainability, global citizenship and ethical leadership. Our Christian ethos, which underpins our values of kindness, inclusion and service. Sherborne has always understood that education is about the whole person. The five strategic pillars described later on – Character & Wellbeing, Academics & Futures, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Partnership & Community, and Sustainability & Humanity – give shape to that understanding and provide a roadmap for how we will build on it over the next five years.
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
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Something Unique
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
There is something about Sherborne that those connected to it recognise immediately, and here we go some way to explaining what that is and why it matters.
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Our Structure: Separate, yet together.
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
S H E R B OR N E
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
What does ‘Separate, yet together’ look like in practice and why does it matter? The answer lies in a simple insight: that what is best for a child’s education changes as they grow. At Sherborne, for centuries we have been refining our understanding of those changes and building a structure that responds to them intelligently.
THE PREP YEARS: Co-Education (ages 3-13) Sherborne Prep is fully co-educational. At this stage, gender differences in learning styles are less pronounced and play-based exploration helps pupils build natural social confidence. Boys and girls learn, play, collaborate and develop together, forming friendships and social skills that will serve them throughout their lives.
The curriculum is ambitious and childcentred, designed not just to teach children what to think, but to help them love how to think. In Years 7 and 8, the Sherborne Prep Diploma brings together academic rigour, character development and a spirit of discovery. It is an holistic framework that develops young people who think independently, lead with purpose and collaborate with confidence, ready for the next stage of their Sherborne journey.
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THE GCSE YEARS: Single-Sex Teaching (Years 9-11) From Year 9, our approach shifts. The rapid emotional, social and physical changes of adolescence mean that boys and girls develop at different rates and in different ways. Self-consciousness can inhibit learning. Peer pressure can distort subject choices. The classroom dynamics that suit this age are different from those that might suit younger pupils. This is why, during the GCSE years, we teach boys and girls separately. Our academic staff are immersed in the developmental realities of adolescence, anticipating its challenges as much as responding to them. The result is classrooms where pupils are willing to ask questions, take intellectual risks, and engage fully with their education. Crucially, this also helps us challenge gender stereotypes in subject choice. We want girl physicists. We want boys studying the Arts. In a single-sex classroom, those ambitions feel natural, not exceptional.
And throughout these years, the broader life of Sherborne carries on jointly. Sport, music, drama, outdoor education, academic enrichment opportunities and social activities bring boys and girls together within the schools and beyond, including an active role in the wider town community. The single-sex years are also where academic ambition continues to flourish. Our high academic performance programme, which begins in Year 9, is not simply about ability, it is about motivation: the willingness to go further, to be stretched, to reach beyond what seemed possible. Over three years, the combination of the right environment and the right challenge shapes pupils who arrive at the Sixth Form knowing themselves, confident in their abilities, and ready for everything the next stage at Sherborne offers.
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
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THE SIXTH FORM: Co-Education Renewed (Years 12-13) By 16, a degree of character formation, of self-knowledge, self-belief and mutual respect, has taken place that makes an increasingly co-educational environment the natural next step. Boys and girls learn alongside one another in a more discursive, intellectually challenging environment that mirrors the world they are preparing to enter. By September 2028, the majority of lessons will be taught together, while retaining the flexibility to teach separately where experience tells us it serves pupils best. But the Sixth Form at Sherborne is about much more than the classroom. It is where academic rigour, character, entrepreneurship and innovation converge, and where independence, initiative and genuine ambition take root. The style of learning shifts too: more collegiate, more independent, more led by debate, collaboration and the exchange of ideas.
Pupils take on leadership across the school community, mentor younger pupils, lead service projects and engage with the wider world through partnerships with universities, businesses and alumni. Our Sixth Form of the future brings this ambition into focus, combining academic excellence with ethical leadership, entrepreneurship, AI and digital literacy, sustainability and global citizenship. For some, that means a clear path to a competitive university place. For others, it opens horizons they may not previously have considered. For all of them, it is a preparation not just for what comes next, but for a life of purpose and contribution. The Result This structure is something more thoughtful than a simple choice between co-education and single-sex schooling. It is an educational philosophy built on experience, refined over more than a century, as evidenced by both our senior schools often ranking among the top in the country for value-added outcomes.
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
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Something Distinctive
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
Throughout that journey, one thing remains constant: not just what our pupils know or achieve, but who they are becoming.
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Character Education: Qualities that Endure. Exam results matter. They always will. They are the price of entry into life after school. But they are not the whole story, and at Sherborne, they never have been.
They have always been part of what Sherborne does. What is changing is that they are now deliberate, structured and measurable.
What has always set our pupils apart is who they are, as much as what they know. The quiet confidence. The readiness to serve. The integrity that does not bend under pressure. These are the qualities that employers notice, that universities value, and that make for a life of positive impact.
Founded on Christian values, Sherborne has always understood education as a moral endeavour as much as an academic one, concerned not just with what pupils know and can do, but with the kind of people they become and the contribution they make to those around them.
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
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A Deliberate Commitment Character Education at Sherborne is no longer something that happens by osmosis – through sport, through the boarding house, through the example of good teachers. Those things remain vital. But from 2026, we are going further. We are actively embedding character formation across every aspect of school life, giving it language, structure and weight so that it can be recognised, reflected upon and meaningfully evaluated. Though we will work with the pupils on many and all virtues, the key Sherborne Virtues will be: Resilience – not pretending things are easy but learning how to respond when they are hard: recovering, adapting and persevering with courage, perspective and, if appropriate, humour. Empathy – understanding other people well is a serious endeavour. It enables pupils to listen properly, respond with humanity, and live thoughtfully among those different from themselves.
Integrity – the discipline of honesty, moral courage, and doing the right thing rather than the easy thing, even when no one else is watching. Curiosity – being more than well taught: intellectually alive, with the habit of asking, noticing, testing and wanting to understand more deeply. Service – a good education should turn outward. Service means using one's strengths, opportunities and influence for the good of other people and the wider community. Respect – grounded in how pupils speak, behave, compete, disagree and belong: demonstrating courtesy, self-restraint and humility, and a proper regard for other people, place and the lives we share. Why Now? We are acutely aware of the world our pupils are preparing to enter. Artificial intelligence is changing what it means to work, to create, even to think. In that context, the qualities that make us distinctively human have never been more important, or more valuable.
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
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A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
Character has always been at the heart of a Sherborne education. Now, more than ever, it is what will set our pupils apart.
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Something Original
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
Innovation & Entrepreneurship: Building the Future.
The centenary of Alan Turing’s arrival at Sherborne as a pupil is a fitting moment to launch our most ambitious new initiative. In naming our Innovation Centre after him, we celebrate not just his extraordinary contribution to the modern world, but the kind of mind that made it possible – original, unconventional, and quietly revolutionary. It is a reminder that the pupils who think differently are often the ones who make the greatest difference. The curiosity, rigour and imagination that defined Turing’s thinking are the qualities we are working to nurture in every Sherborne pupil today – qualities that have never been more relevant, or more necessary.
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A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
The Turing Innovation Centre A dedicated building on our estate is being converted into a purpose-built space for innovation, AI and entrepreneurship. It is not a computer lab. It is not a classroom. It is a place for building, testing, failing productively, and creating – from the youngest pupils in the Prep right through to Sixth Formers running real companies. It will be a hub for AI education, technology incubation, creative labs and cross-school collaboration, housing our Start-Up Studio and introducing pupils at every age to leading-edge technologies. The Turing Conference As part of the wider Sherborne Turing Project, a collaboration between the school and the town, we are launching the first in what will become an annual Turing Conference. The inaugural event brings together leading figures from industry, academia and technology, including representatives from Microsoft, BAE Systems, GCHQ, Bletchley Park and leading universities, for workshops, expert panel discussions, lectures and live demonstrations of cutting-edge technology. Themes include the future of AI, cyber security, digital innovation and the ethical questions that surround them.
New Directors From 2026-27, two new Directors will lead our Innovation and Entrepreneurship focus: Director of Digital Innovation Our AI and digital literacy curriculum will progress from Prep through to Year 13. Pupils will not simply learn about AI, they will build, train and critically evaluate AI systems, and engage seriously with the ethical questions they raise. Director of Entrepreneurship Our entrepreneurship programme will run across all three schools, growing in ambition at every stage. In the Sixth Form, it culminates in pupils incorporating and trading a real company, raising seed capital from an external investor panel, and presenting at an annual Pitch Day. For Every Pupil, at Every Stage Entrepreneurship and innovation thrive on difference; in thinking, in approach, in perspective. From Pre-Prep to the Upper Sixth, we will use AI to help optimise each individual's ability and potential, identifying early where any pupil may benefit from additional support and opening doors that a more standardised approach might leave closed. This thinking will be embedded across school life and, as programmes develop, increasingly woven into the curriculum itself. It is an attitude as much as a syllabus; a deep-rooted belief that every pupil's ideas can become reality, and that a Sherborne education equips them to be a net contributor to the society around them.
Without pioneers, the world will turn but never move forward.
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A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
Something Adventurous
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Our Strategic Vision: 2026–2031. Sherborne Girls, Sherborne Boys and Sherborne Prep come together under a single, unified Sherborne brand to offer a clear and distinctive educational pathway from age 3 to 18, one that respects each school’s distinct identity while giving every pupil a coherent, all-through journey. Grounded in excellence, driven by character, and powered by innovation, we prepare every pupil to be not just successful, but significant: leaders, creators and changemakers in a fast-evolving, globalised world.
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
OUR VISION IS UNDERPINNED BY FIVE PILLARS: 1. Character & Wellbeing At the heart of everything we do is a commitment to the whole person. Sherborne nurtures kind, confident and resilient individuals who grow into ethical, socially aware leaders, developing empathy, integrity and initiative across every stage of their Sherborne journey. The Sherborne Framework for Character & Wellbeing Education will provide a shared values and character-development model across all three schools, underpinned by the six virtues: resilience, empathy, integrity, curiosity, service and respect, and seeking formal accreditation as an external measure of our commitment. Character and wellbeing are not confined to a single lesson or programme. They are embedded across every area of school life: academic, co-curricular, boarding, enrichment and social, with reflection, goal-setting, learning from failure and personal growth woven through every pupil's journey from their earliest years. Our pastoral and boarding provision is one of Sherborne's greatest strengths, an environment of independence, emotional literacy and genuine community living that supports belonging for every pupil, whatever their background, learning style or culture.
Leadership runs through everything we do. Pupil voice, school council, peer mentoring, eco-councils and service projects give every pupil meaningful responsibility, with structured progression from junior years through to the Sixth Form. Our tutor and mentoring programmes provide the continuity and personal attention that long-term development requires, and we are committed to a culture in which character and wellbeing are modelled, celebrated and reinforced by pupils, staff and parents alike. Our Christian foundation gives this work its deepest roots, and the belief that every individual has inherent worth and dignity, and that we are each responsible for the wellbeing of those around us. This quiet conviction runs through every aspect of life at Sherborne.
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2. Academics & Futures Academic excellence is the bedrock of a Sherborne education, and our ambitions for it have never been greater. Broad, rigorous and deeply personalised, our education balances intellectual challenge with creativity, curiosity and a genuine love of learning, equipping every pupil with the knowledge, skills and mindset to thrive in a complex, rapidly changing world. Our curriculum combines core subject mastery with interdisciplinary, applied and inquiry-based learning, building the critical thinking, creativity, teamwork and communication skills that life beyond school demands, at every stage of the journey. Personalised academic pathways, supported by high-quality tutoring, mentoring and coaching, ensure that every pupil is stretched, included and successful, from the Prep's core skills through to Sixth Form specialisation. Reflective learning habits, self-assessment and pupil-led review prepare pupils for smooth and aspirational transitions at every stage.
Real-world learning is central to our academic vision. Expert-led challenges, internships, career-readiness programmes and alumni partnerships, including the Sherborne Prep Diploma and our Aspirations & Futures Programme, connect classroom learning with the world beyond it. Strategic collaborations with leading universities, research institutions and global experts enrich learning and broaden every pupil's sense of what is possible. AI fluency, digital literacy and ethical technological understanding will be woven through the curriculum at every stage, not as isolated skills, but as an integrated part of how our pupils learn to think and work. Our Sixth Form of the Future will bring it all together, combining academic rigour, ethical leadership, entrepreneurship, sustainability, micro-credentials and global citizenship pathways in a programme that prepares young people not just for university, but for a life of purpose and impact.
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
3. Innovation & Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial thinking and future-ready skills are embedded across all years, fostering the curiosity, creativity and confidence that turns ideas into action and ambition into reality. Our progressive Sherborne Entrepreneurship Programme will run from Junior through to Senior years. Pupils will design, pitch and lead their own ventures, developing the creativity, initiative, problem-solving and ethical decisionmaking that every walk of life demands. Collaborative projects, design thinking, hackathons and innovation challenges will sit alongside pre-graduate pathways, micro-apprenticeships, certifications and workplace shadowing, giving pupils real experience of how ideas become practical solutions. The Turing Innovation Centre will be the physical home of this ambition: a hub for AI education, technology incubation, creative labs and cross-school collaboration, with our Start-Up Studio at its heart. From the youngest pupils in the Prep to Sixth Formers running real companies, it will be a space for building, testing and creating.
Deep partnerships with entrepreneurs, alumni, local businesses and industry experts will provide the mentorship and real-world perspective that bring this learning to life, helping pupils see, concretely, how ideas become solutions and solutions become impact. Ethical and sustainable innovation runs as a constant thread through everything, because the most effective pioneers are also the most responsible ones, and the best ideas are those that leave the world better than they found it.
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4. Partnership & Community Sherborne is part of something larger than itself. Rooted in a town and linked to a national and international network of alumni, partners and friends, our sense of belonging to something larger than the schools itself is integral to the education we offer. Meaningful leadership, service and volunteering opportunities foster empathy, responsibility and measurable community impact at every age, giving every pupil the experience of contributing to something beyond themselves. The unification of Sherborne Girls, Sherborne Boys and Sherborne Prep under a single Sherborne brand creates new opportunities for co-created initiatives, shared identity and values, and a collective ambition that is greater than any single school could achieve alone. Our links with universities, businesses, charities and NGOs continue to grow, providing cross-cultural exchanges, apprenticeships and real-world problemsolving opportunities that connect our pupils with the wider world.
Our alumni and Friends of Sherborne networks are among our greatest assets, enriching school life through mentoring, talks and events, and connecting pupils with professional networks and broader horizons. Civic engagement, ethical fundraising and collaboration with the wider community develop in our pupils a robust sense of social responsibility. Our Christian ethos, a commitment to inclusion, kindness and shared values, remains the quiet foundation on which everything else is built.
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
5. Sustainability & Humanity Caring deeply, for themselves, for others and for the world they will inherit, is something we ask of every pupil. Sustainability, ethics and global citizenship are woven through academic, co-curricular and enrichment programmes at every stage: not as additions to the curriculum, but as a fundamental lens through which pupils learn to understand the world and their place within it. Pupil-led initiatives bring this to life in concrete, visible ways, from rewilding and regenerative campus projects to eco-councils and social-impact activities, giving every pupil the experience of making a tangible difference, long before they leave school. Climate literacy, systems thinking and responsible decision-making run through the curriculum, integrated through citizen science, circular economy projects and sustainable innovation. Pupils do not simply learn about these challenges; they engage with them as active participants in finding solutions.
The campus itself, alongside the Turing Innovation Centre, will serve as a living laboratory for ethical innovation and interdisciplinary problem-solving, a space where the connection between ideas and their real-world consequences is made visible every day. Through experiential learning, social action and honest engagement with global inequities, we foster the empathy, cultural understanding and moral courage that the next generation will need. Sustainability connects to everything, to innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership, creating coherent pathways from the earliest pupil projects through to Sixth Form and the Turing Centre. The habit of responsible thinking is not an add-on at Sherborne, it is part of who our pupils become.
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Something Special
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
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The Foundations. A vision is only as strong as the foundations beneath it. Across all three schools, we are developing the people, systems and partnerships that will ensure our ambitions are felt in the daily life of every pupil.
Our staff are at the heart of this. Ongoing investment in professional development, mentoring and leadership will ensure that the people who bring this vision to life every day have the support, skills and inspiration to do so with excellence. The systems and platforms we put in place will enhance teaching, learning, pastoral care and wellbeing across all three schools, enabling us to track academic progress, character development and future-readiness, and to intervene early where any pupil needs additional support. Our partnerships with universities, businesses, community organisations, alumni and global networks, will continue to connect our pupils with expertise, opportunity and experience beyond the classroom. A shared culture of collaboration, communication and values will ensure that the distinct character of each school is preserved and celebrated within the wider Group framework.
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
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Something unique is always worth a closer look.
There is something about Sherborne that anyone connected to it recognises. It is not easily reduced to a prospectus or a set of statistics. It is the community. Its humanity. Its excellence. Its ability to produce decent human beings who are capable, quietly confident, and ready to contribute to the world. It is the girl who discovers her brilliance in physics. The boy who learns to lose gracefully and win magnanimously. The boarder from overseas who finds, perhaps unexpectedly, that this small Dorset town feels like a home. The Sixth Former who walks into their university interview not just prepared, but ready for their next adventure. A Sherborne education has always been about more than results, rooted in the conviction, as old as the school itself, that every pupil matters, that every life has purpose, and that our role is to help each young person discover what that purpose is.
What this document describes is not a departure from that tradition. It is its continuation – made more deliberate, more ambitious, and more relevant to the world that awaits our pupils when they leave. The three strands of our approach – our distinctive Separate, yet together structure; our explicit, timetabled Character Education programme; and our new Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre - are not separate initiatives. They are a single, integrated philosophy of education, one that has been taking shape for over four centuries and is now, for the first time, fully articulated. You will not find this elsewhere. We are proud of what Sherborne is. We are excited about what it is becoming. And we are enormously grateful to the families – past, present and future – who are part of it. It is something you need to come and see for yourself.
A different kind of co-education ages 3-18
Something Unmistakeable
About Sherborne Schools Group Sherborne Girls, Sherborne Boys and Sherborne Prep form part of Sherborne Schools Group, a wider family of independent schools united by a shared commitment to transformative, values-driven education. The Group's vision is to be recognised as the UK's leading group of independent schools, renowned for blending academic excellence, character and wellbeing, and 21st-century skills – preparing every pupil to thrive, lead, and shape society as ethical innovators, courageous thinkers, and global citizens.
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