Stowe School is a public school (English fee-chargingboarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in Stowe, England. It opened on 11 May 1923, initially with 99 schoolboys, and with J. F. Roxburgh as the first headmaster. The school is a member of the 18 member Rugby Group, the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, and the G30 Schools' Group. Originally for boys only, the school is now coeducational, with 541 boys and 374 girls – 915 students enrolled in the school as of September 2023[update]. Roughly 80% of the school's pupils are in boarding houses, while the other 20% are in day houses.
As of the 2024/25 Academic Year, Stowe School charges up to £46,701 per year for tuition[5] (£15,567 per term, three terms per academic year for 2024/25). The school offers three fee brackets based on the type of placement. Boarders are charged £46,701 per year, while pupils in the limited "Day in Boarding" program pay between £33,576 and £38,076 annually. These students are assigned to one of the school's boarding houses and have the option to board there for a maximum of two nights per week. Pupils in one of the school's three Day Houses—Winton, Cheshire, and Croft—are charged a reduced fee of £28,464 per academic year. Students in the Day houses are not given the option to board. The school provides bursaries and other means of financial assistance to admitted students who exhibit outstanding abilities in the Arts, Academics, Sports, and other areas. A typical scholarship at Stowe is worth 5% of the school fee.[6]
The tuition fee includes the provision of meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), educational services, and "extracurricular activities".[7] In some instances, it also covers boarding accommodation. Additional costs, such as school uniforms, equipment, trips, and transportation (such as airport transfers and bus services), are billed at the end of each term in addition to the tuition fee. These extra costs can range from a few hundred to a few thousand pounds per term.
Admission to Stowe School is competitive - families are told to begin the registration process in Year 4 or Year 5 to secure a place.[8] All applicants must pass an interview and admissions testing, typically conducted in Year 6 or Year 7. Demand for both Day and Day Boarding places is particularly high. Day places are competitive due to reduced fees, while Day Boarding places are sought after due to their limited availability. At 13+ entry, there are only about 16 Day Boarding places for boys and 10 for girls. At 16+ entry, the availability of Day Boarding places is even more restricted, and in some years, there may be none available.
The school has been based since its beginnings at Stowe House, formerly the country seat of the Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos. Along with many of the other buildings on the school's estate, the main house is now a Grade I Listed Building and is maintained (since 1997) by the Stowe House Preservation Trust.
History
Stowe School opened in 1923. The main building is Stowe House, whose exterior was completed by 1779. Funding for the school came through the Rev. Percy Warrington and the Martyrs Memorial Trust.[9] The school's first architect was Clough Williams-Ellis.
The first Headmaster was J. F. Roxburgh. He aimed to focus on the individual child and introduce them to beauty and learning; he wanted a civilised school founded on Christian values.[10]
The Beatles played a concert at Stowe School on 4 April 1963. A recording of the concert was revealed in 2023, and leaked to the public later in the year.[11][12]
In 2016, a Daily Telegraph investigator posing as a parent of a Russian pupil was told by the then school registrar that while pupils would always be expected to pass the entrance exam, it would help secure a place if a borderline child's parents were able to donate "about £100,000 or something like that."[15]
Boarding houses
There are 13 boarding houses: 8 boys' houses and 5 girls' houses. There are also three Day Houses - 2 boys' houses and 1 girls' house. The boarding houses are mostly named after members of the family of Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. Each house has a number or letter assigned to it.
Cricket ground
The first recorded match on the school cricket ground came in 1928 when Stowe School played St Paul's School.[17]Buckinghamshire played their first Minor Counties Championship match there in 1947, when the opponents were Berkshire. Between 1947 and 1982 the ground held five Minor Counties Championship matches, the last of which saw Buckinghamshire draw against Bedfordshire.[18] The ground has also hosted a single MCCA Knockout Trophy match which saw Buckinghamshire play Bedfordshire.[19]
Alasdair MacDonald, Stowe: House and School, London: W. S. Cowell, 1951 [ISBN missing]
References
^"URN 110548 Stowe School". Edubase/DfE. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
^"Stowe School – Headmaster's Introduction". Stowe.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 July 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
^"Stowe School – Staff Directory". Stowe.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
^"Current Fees". Stowe School. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
^Stowe, School. "Stowe School Fees". Stowe School. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
^Stowe, School. "Stowe School Bursaries and Scholarships". Stowe School. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
^Stowe, School. "Stowe School Extracurricular". Stowe School. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
^Stowe, School. "Stowe School Admissions". Stowe School. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
^W. A. Evershed, Party and Patronage in the Church of England 1800–1945, D. Phil. thesis, Oxford University,1985, gives a detailed and well-referenced account of the questionable methods employed by Warrington. The Martyr's Memorial Trust appointed the first Governing Body, whose Chairman from August 1922 was Lord Gisborough.
^Outrageous Fortune: Growing Up at Leeds Castle By Anthony Russell
^Thorpe, Vanessa (9 April 2023). "Please Please Us: Lost tape of Beatles school gig could be saved for the nation". The Observer. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
^"The Beatles - Stowe School Complete Concert (4-4-1963 / Original Recording)". YouTube. 23 August 2023.
^"Bluebell Railway Locomotives – Stowe". bluebell-railway.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
^Claire Newell; Luke Heighton; Edward Malnick; Camilla Turner (9 December 2016). "The inside story:How to buy a place at a top school". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
^"Stowe School – West". Stowe School. Stowe.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
^Other matches played on Stowe School Ground Archived 4 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Cricketarchive.com.
^Minor Counties Championship Matches played on Stowe School Ground Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Cricketarchive.com.
^Minor Counties Trophy Matches played on Stowe School Ground Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Cricketarchive.com (7 August 1983).
^List-A Matches played on Stowe School Ground Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Cricketarchive.com (19 June 2005)
^Second XI Championship Matches played on Stowe School Ground Archived 4 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Cricketarchive.com.
^Second XI Trophy Matches played on Stowe School Ground Archived 4 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Cricketarchive.com.