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Headington Rye Oxford

28 replies

PanicStationsEveryone · 29/04/2026 16:24

Unforseen circumstances might be taking DH to Oxford Area for work. Just doing some pre-lim research to get ahead of the game. DS in pre prep and DD will be in year 7.

This school seems to fit (at least for DS for a few years whilst we settle) for both kids.

Any feedback on the school from current parents and past. Normal stuff - pastoral care, is it a happy place to be, teachers/head good, whats the prep like as well.

Sorry it so broad! TIA.

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HopefulYankee · 04/05/2026 20:31

I toured Oxford High many years ago. It seemed like a very good school but I thought the facilities at Headington were better. It’s bigger and everything is “on campus”.

oxfordbumble · 04/05/2026 22:16

PanicStationsEveryone · 04/05/2026 20:02

Makes one sense! That how I viewed it. OK cool. So the older kids all moved to the senior school buildings and the prep schools all remained on the rye campus next door?

What happened to the headington junior school, did they sell it off?

On boarding, which id forgotten about, is it mostly day or split quite well? Are there.lots of local friends for kids or are they all international al boarders?

They still own the old prep school site. I heard it's being used for sixth form events at the moment. I'm not sure what the longer term plan is for it.

The website says that about a quarter of the senior school is boarding. But I suspect that this isn't an even spread and that the proportion of boarders is much higher at the upper end than in Year 7. I get the impression that most boarders are international but that's anecdotal not from any official stats.

oxfordbumble · 04/05/2026 22:30

We have looked round both Headington and OHS. We also know people with kids at both. Both are great schools.

Oxford High is more academic, as you'll see if you delve into their stats. Back in the days when more academics could afford to live in north Oxford and send their children private, it was where Oxford dons sent their daughters, and this reputation for being academic still lingers. Headington does well and there are very able kids there, but when you look at the results, there is slightly more of a tail and a smaller proportion getting the absolutely top grades. It's extremely subjective whether that matters to you.

OHS used to have a reputation as a bit of a hot-house for this reason, but there is a lot more emphasis on pastoral care now and the current head seems really hot on this. (Responding to previous posts, our friends with kids at Headington have nothing bad to say about the pastoral care there either and describe it as a supportive school.)

Headington's facilities are undoubtedly better. OHS has good facilities but Headington's are extraordinary, especially for sport and art. And Headington takes sport very seriously for those who are keen.

Don't under-estimate how difficult it is to get around Oxford, and how much that might matter to your choice of school. Traffic is very bad, many routes through town are blocked to private cars, and this will get worse once the congestion charge points get replaced by bus filters. Local bus connections between residential parts of the city are poor and usually involve getting a bus into town, walking across town, and getting another bus out again. Cycling is a possibility but it depends on your risk tolerance. The schools have a private bus service, but only right after school, so if you aren't walkable or can't pick them up, then going by bus means they can't do clubs (which is a shame since both school have loads of extra curriculars). In other words, if you're choosing between Headington and Oxford High, exactly which part of town you are planning to live in might make quite a big difference (especially as you also have another child to get to school).

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