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Our view
There’s a real buzz at this co-ed boarding school, with a sense that it’s surging to even greater heights than it’s already reached. The new head Samantha Price, who possesses passion, ambition and energy in equal measure, has been in post a year now and already a spanking new sixth form centre has opened in the middle of the school, complete with library and café. Part of ‘a global family of schools’ – with one in Abu Dhabi and two in China – sixth formers can now spend a term in any of them, so the world really is their oyster. A real family atmosphere pervades, and pupils’ and parents’ love for and investment in the school can be felt at every turn.
Where is Cranleigh School?
Basking in 280 acres of leafy Surrey countryside, Cranleigh’s sweeping grounds and 19th-century buildings are genuinely breathtaking with the Surrey Hills and South Downs offering wraparound views. It’s approached from a pretty road outside the market town of Cranleigh and is easy to get to from Guildford, which is only 20 minutes’ drive away. London isn’t far either and as well as attracting the less flashy Surrey crowd, Cranleigh is also gaining popularity with parents looking to escape the competitiveness of the
London school circuit.
Head at Cranleigh School
The very impressive head Samantha Price took over the role in September 2024, following a hugely successful 10-year tenure at Benenden. We are big fans: professional yet approachable, she is calm, efficient and really goes the extra mile for every pupil. She tells us her first year at Cranleigh has been great and she’s thoroughly enjoying being back in a co-ed setting. ‘The school is very well established with a strong positive culture,’ she says, and her vision is to create ‘much more of a whole school’. There are plans to increase numbers, too, from 700 to 850, and evolve the boarding model to bring more day pupils in to stay a night or two a week. Currently some 75 per cent of senior school pupils board.
A real hands-on head, she spends her Saturdays watching as many sports matches as possible and checking in with as many parent spectators as she can. She’s also a brilliant role model (she’s on the wellbeing committee of the HMC), passionate about giving pupils a real edge and helping them stand out in the workplace, and has a real knack for recruiting the best people into all the right places.
Admissions at Cranleigh School
While applicants sit the ISEB pre-test at their prep schools in Year 6, there is no hard-and-fast pass or fail mark. It’s more about finding the ‘Cranleigh fit’; ie, are they prepared to have a go and get stuck in? Will they contribute to the school community? Holistic assessment days where the children take part in team-building exercises and discussion groups help the school find the all-rounders it’s looking for.
Children from Cranleigh Prep are exempt from sitting the ISEB if they wish to move on up to the senior school, which helps them avoid stressful senior-school entrance exams. Instead, the head of the prep will discuss each child’s individual suitability for progression with the senior admissions team. Around 60 per cent of the prep cohort joined the senior school last year with Aldro, Highfield and Brookham, Danes Hill and Fulham Prep among some of the other feeder preps.
Things get a bit more selective at sixth form when demand outstrips places, so there are minimum GCSE requirements as well as an assessment day that looks at applicants’ ‘Cranleigh fit’ potential.
The Cranleigh Foundation offers means-tested bursary support to children who have faced significant trauma, and works together with local charities and Surrey Social Services to identify children who could benefit from a boarding school experience and education.
Academics and destinations
Pupils receive a broad education with equal emphasis on academic and creative subjects. There’s streaming in most subjects from Year 9 and independent learning is encouraged from the start. In Year 10, all children take the , which Cranleigh developed with the New College of the Humanities, which involves pupils completing a philosophy project which they can present as a written report, artwork, presentation or video. In the sixth form, most students do an EPQ (the school’s director of learning, teaching and innovation, Dr John Taylor, was one of the founding writers of the qualification) alongside three A-levels. This emphasis on critical thinking over digesting facts is all part of the school’s ethos and children are encouraged to look to the future, identify how they can be useful global citizens and develop their leadership skills.
Results are good, both at GCSE and A-level, which is reflected in the range of destinations leavers head off to, including Oxbridge, Exeter and Durham, as well as a few sports scholarships to the US and Europe. The strong science department has seen an uptick in leavers heading off to study medicine and bio science.
Co-curricular at Cranleigh School
There’s no doubt that Cranleigh has a glittering sporting reputation – ‘Sport is huge and deep; everyone is playing sport,’ says Ms Price – but it’s important to note that pupils are equally revered for all talents, not just their skills on the pitches. The school embraces sport wholeheartedly and has incredible facilities: 10 grass pitches, nine Astro courts, an equestrian centre, a nine-hole golf course, a swimming pool, a sports centre and an athletic development facility for pupils on the elite sports programme. There’s also the Woodland Fitness centre equipped with hi-tech gym equipment and a physiotherapy room (gym culture is big) – and a newish building with another gym, squash courts and two dance studios. From January 2026 football is being added to the roster of games on offer (this is big news for a school traditionally seen as a rugby school) and girls’ cricket is going from strength to strength. The pace of sport doesn’t slow down when pupils reach the top years – all sixth formers get involved, with every pupil taking part in four sessions of sport a week. Matches take place on Saturdays, and Cranleigh are always formidable competitors, often walking away triumphant.
Drama is also a big part of school life. There is a new performing arts centre and the department is eye-catching with ‘Cranleigh Drama!’ emblazoned in neon lights and old theatre chairs lining the corridor. It’s a very popular option, with 70 per cent of Year 9s choosing it. And everyone is easily accommodated as there are plenty of dedicated rooms and places to perform, including the 1920s Speech Hall, which has stage and technical lighting, and a smaller, 100-seat theatre, complete with green room. There are four to five productions annually and this year the pupils are staging
The Sound of Music in the New Wimbledon Theatre to give them experience of performing in a professional space. Dance is also part of the performing arts offering, with ballet, modern, contemporary and tap all on the menu.
Music is, says Mrs Price, ‘a side of Cranleigh which is sometimes less recognised, but has a huge amount of substance’. Hundreds of individual lessons are taught each week, and in addition to GCSE and A-level music, pupils can choose music technology at A-level, making use of an impressive recording studio and music tech suite. Art, meanwhile, is served by double-height-ceilinged rooms that are wonderfully light, the perfect setting for children to explore fine art, sculpture, printmaking, photography, pottery, textiles and painting. Plus, there is a comprehensive design engineering department and many students who take A-level go on to take engineering degrees.
Clubs are scheduled daily, with pupils expected to regularly participate. Options range from choir to history society, Duke of Edinburgh and first aid (plus everything in between), and there’s a big focus on enterprise and entrepreneurship – pupils can take electives in investment and AI.
Boarding at Cranleigh School
The majority of children board at Cranleigh, with day pupils making up about 25 per cent. Boarders are evenly split between boys and girls, and live in eight lovely boarding houses dotted around the campus. Boarding houses vary from modern to quirky and characterful, with big dorms for younger children and single rooms for older years. House families, created within each individual house, are not only a super support network for younger pupils but also excellent for in-house bonding.
Day pupils are assigned to houses too and each have their own desk space, so there’s a fantastically integrated feel. All day pupils stay for supper and often don’t go home until after 9pm as the school day is so full of activities. From September 2026, a new Day+ model will give day pupils the option to stay over for one night a week (a second night can be charged on top).
Each boys’ house is paired with a girls’ house, and lots of socials together and inter-house competitions create a lively, fun atmosphere. The houses have a strong family feeling and are a happy downtime hub where children can eat, relax and hang out with their friends.
As so many boarders are local, most return home for the remainder of the weekend after the completion of Saturday fixtures. A small number of international boarders do remain on site (they currently account for six per cent but the aim is to increase the number to 10 to 15 per cent), and staff ensure they can have some social time with sleepovers, cooking sessions and informal brunches together on Sunday. And, in a move that’s proved popular with both children and parents alike, chapel now takes place on Friday evening so weekly boarders can return to site first-thing on Monday morning.
Cranleigh School community
The house system creates a very secure pastoral setting, with houseparents and matrons all enjoying a great relationship with pupils. Families within the houses are headed by sixth-formers, and children are also assigned tutors who stay with them throughout their time at the school. The Year 9s aren’t allowed phones – at all – which they seem to get used to after the initial shock (they even end up agreeing it’s a good thing). As they go up the years, phone access is increased – but up until Year 12, phones get handed in at bedtime. Pastoral care is tracked by a system initiated by the IT department and the pastoral team meets weekly to ensure no one slips through the net.
Assistant head pastoral David Mulae is in charge of both pupil and staff wellbeing, and he is determined to recruit staff from a wider range of backgrounds and heritages which he believes will lead to a further increase in diversity among the pupil and parent body. And since trousers were introduced for girls’ uniform, almost all have switched to this smart and modern option.
Parents are regarded as part of the family and even though many pupils board, plenty of parents live locally and are invited into school for concerts, talks and matches. ‘Parents are very involved,’ says Ms Price, and the alumnae network is very strong – many send their own children to the school.
And finally....
Cranleigh is a bit of a Goldilocks school – not too big, not too small, good for girls, good for boys, not greedy for the sportiest or the cleverest, but rather valuing what every pupil brings to the community. Quietly confident, entirely unpretentious, it’s no surprise that local Surrey families and, increasingly, canny ones from London seek out the excellent broad-church education which Cranleigh delivers.