Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a public school (fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its linguistic, military, and sporting traditions.
Cheltenham College
Latin: Labor omnia vincit
("Work Conquers All")
July 1841
G. S. Harcourt, J. S. Iredell
W. J. Straker-Nesbit
Nicola Huggett
88[1]
Co-educational
13 to 18
720[2]
11
Old: Current:
Old Cheltonians (OCs)
The Cheltonian & Floreat
History[edit]
Two Cheltenham residents, G. S. Harcourt and J. S. Iredell, founded the college in July 1841 to educate the sons of gentlemen. The plan to establish a "Proprietary Grammar School" had been agreed at a meeting of residents at Harcourt's home on 9 November 1840.[3]: 1 It originally opened in three houses along Bays Hill Terrace in the centre of the town.
Within two years it had moved to its present site, with Boyne House as the first College Boarding House, and soon became known simply as Cheltenham College. Accepting both boarding and day boys, it was divided into Classical and Military sides until the mid-20th century. The 1893 book Great Public Schools by E. S. Skirving, S. R. James, and Henry Churchill Maxwell Lyte contained a chapter on each of what they considered England's ten greatest public schools; it included a chapter on Cheltenham College. The college is now an independent fee paying school, governed by Cheltenham College Council. A few girls were admitted in 1969. In 1981 the first girls' house opened and the Sixth Form became fully co-educational. In 1998, girls were admitted to all other years.
In 1865, a Junior Department was added to the main College buildings. In 1993 it opened its doors to girls and also opened a pre-Prep department, Kingfishers, for 3- to 7-year-olds.
Student body[edit]
Cheltenham has approximately 720 pupils (a fifth being day pupils) between the ages of 13 and 18.[4] The fees are between approximately £34,000–£46,500 per annum, making it amongst the most expensive schools in the United Kingdom.[5] The school claims to have a strong academic reputation, with the majority of pupils going to The Russell Group Universities, and around 7% going on to Oxford and Cambridge universities. Both GCSE and A Level results are among the highest in Gloucestershire.[6][7]
Sport[edit]
Rugby[edit]
The Rugby club dates back to 1844. Cheltenham competes with larger single gender schools. The first inter-school rugby football match was played between Rugby School and Cheltenham College, Cheltenham beating Rugby. The "Cheltenham Rules" were adopted by the Rugby Football Union in 1887. Cheltenham's rugby XV was undefeated in the 1957, 2008 and 2017 seasons.[8] Eddie Butler, former Welsh, Barbarian and British Lions International Rugby player, taught French at the school. The schools Director of Rugby is former Gloucester Rugby and England Rugby player Olly Morgan.
Rowing[edit]
The Boat Club was founded in 1841. The Boat House itself is located at the foot of Tewkesbury Abbey on the banks of the River Severn. Key events in the rowing calendar are; Schools' Head of the River Race, The National Schools Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta. At the 2013 National School's Head of River, the 1st IV+ came first in their division.[9]
Rackets[edit]
Cheltenham College plays Rackets. At times, they have dominated the Queen's Club Public Schools Competition: Cheltenham have been National Champions three times from 2003 to 2011. Chris Stout won the Foster Cup (the individual championship for public schools) at Queen's Club in December 2011. The current World Champion, Jamie Stout (Chris's brother), is an Old Cheltonian as well.[10]
Cricket[edit]
Cheltenham has a longstanding tradition of cricket and is the home of the Cheltenham Cricket Festival. Gloucestershire County Cricket Club played its first game at the College cricket ground in 1872, making this the longest running cricket festival on an out-ground, in the world.[12]
In popular culture and media[edit]
Cheltenham College was used to film the majority of the school scenes in the popular 1968 British film If...., starring Malcolm McDowell, although an agreement between the school's then Headmaster, David Ashcroft, and the film's director, Lindsay Anderson (who was a former pupil and Senior Prefect), prevented the filmmakers from crediting the school. Additional interior scenes were filmed at Aldenham School in Hertfordshire, which gained sole accreditation in the film's closing credit.