Sherborne School

Welcome to Sherborne School

Sherborne School is an independent, all- boys, full boarding school, for pupils aged between thirteen and eighteen. Founded in 1550, built around Sherborne Abbey, in one of the most beautiful, bustling small market towns in the country it is surrounded by the rolling Dorset countryside in a truly unique setting. The benefits and advantages of the peaceful setting are enhanced by the ease of transport to London with a direct line train station from Sherborne to Waterloo.

Defining what makes any school individual is not easy. All schools strive to provide the best education they can, which often comes down to academic success, a caring pastoral environment and a busy extra-curricular life. Sherborne offers all these, thriving on the balance between tradition and constant innovation and improvement.

As an academic school, Sherborne supports and challenges every boy to realise his potential, whatever his ability. As university places become increasingly competitive, excellent exam results are the goal. But we believe that the best route to academic success is not through exam technique, though that has its place, but through making academic study exciting. We show boys how to think and learn independently, so that critical, structured thinking becomes a habit.

As an all-boys school, we can use our lengthy experience of educating boys to shape our approach to their often different interests and learning styles, pastoral needs, and rates of development.

As a boarding school, Sherborne is in a privileged position to develop not only each boy's academic potential, but also his sporting, musical and artistic skills, and his spiritual and social awareness. Our House system is vital in ensuring that each boy's school life is fulfilled and secure; it is in the House that boys learn to balance the needs of the individual with those of the larger community and where they are most likely to make life-long friendships. 

Sherborne is a town unlike any other, hosting three leading independent schools. Now, these three schools work more closely than ever. Sherborne School and Sherborne Prep merged in 2021, ensuring they make the best use of shared resources to enhance the educational experience for all pupils. They work in close partnership with Sherborne Girls to ensure that every pupil across the three schools has access to the best teaching, modern and well-equipped facilities, and the most stimulating experiences. Thanks to this close partnership, Sherborne provides a unique offer: a high-quality education for boys and girls from pre-prep all the way to school-leaving age, in a town that is vibrant yet safe, accessible yet located in glorious scenery.

But this is not an exhaustive list of Sherborne's strengths. Please do visit and discover for yourself how we offer an education that allows boys to excel. You can be sure of a warm welcome.

We look forward to introducing you to the spirit that is Sherborne.