About the School
Harrow School is one of very few remaining full-boarding, all-boys schools in the United Kingdom. During the School term, every pupil lives in one of the 12 Boarding Houses, going home only at exeats (long weekends), half terms and holidays. Masters (teachers) and their families also live on the School estate. Harrovians routinely progress into higher education that ranks among the best the world has to offer. Following the 2023 A Level results, the headlines are: - Boys will be taking up places at 7 of the world’s top 10 universities (QS World University Rankings) including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, Chicago and UCL; - Nearly a quarter of boys will take up places at institutions ranked in the world’s top 20 including Princeton, Cornell, Edinburgh, U Penn and Yale; - 19 Ivy League offers for Harrovians this year, with 5 boys receiving both Ivy League and Oxbridge offers; - This year, Harrow boys received a total of 102 offers to US universities, including from Harvard and from all of the other 7 Ivy League universities; - A record 14 Harrovians will be taking up places at 6 of the 8 Ivy League schools in the United States of America, with 31 Harrovians in total taking up places at US universities; - 12 boys will be taking up places at Oxford and Cambridge; - Success beyond UK and US with one boy attending ETH in Zurich, ranked 9 globally; - The School continues to have impressive representation at top UK institutions such as Imperial (6), UCL (14), Durham (16) and Newcastle (10); No two Harrovians are the same: some live in London, others much further afield in the UK or overseas; a number come from established Harrow families, others have no experience of traditional boarding schools; many excel in sport or the arts, others are very strong academically. What Harrovians experience through their extra-curricular activities, and by leading and serving others, is just as important as their lessons. Harrow was founded in 1572, under a Royal Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I of England. The School celebrated its 450th anniversary last year and its distinguished history enriches the daily life of the entire community. From the boys’ distinctive dress and the carving of their names onto House boards, to Harrow’s own unusual form of football, archaic vocabulary and the communal singing of Harrow Songs, the School has many cherished traditions. Famous Old Harrovians include statesmen such as Sir Winston Churchill, writers such as Lord Byron and scientists such as the Nobel prize-winner Lord Rayleigh and Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor of photography. More recently, many boys have gone on to distinguished careers in business, the law, medicine, the armed forces, the arts and the media. Harrow’s old boy organisation has a membership of approximately 9,000 Old Harrovians, many of whom are actively involved in its 23 clubs, thriving international events diary, and extensive careers guidance and work placement programme. The School’s 320 acres comprise many buildings of special architectural and historic interest, six conservation areas, a registered park, a nine-hole golf course and even a working farm. A brand new Biology and Chemistry department will open in 2024, to be followed soon after by a new Sports Centre. Positioned on the Metropolitan Line, 20 minutes from Baker Street on a fast train, Harrow enjoys the best of both worlds – a spacious boarding community within easy reach of the vibrancy of the UK’s capital city.
