Radley College

{{Infobox school

| name = Radley College

| logo = Radley crest.png

| logo_size = 160px

| image = File:Radley College.JPG

| image_size = 250px

| motto = {{langx|la|Sicut serpentes, sicut columbae}}
([wise] as serpents, [innocent] as doves [Matthew 10:16])

| established = {{start date and age|1847}}

| closed =

| type = Public school
Private boarding school

| religion = Church of England

| president =

| head_label = Warden

| head = John Moule

| r_head_label =

| r_head =

| chair_label = Chairman of the Council

| chair = David Smellie

| founder = William Sewell

| specialist =

| address = Kennington Road

| city = Radley

| county = Oxfordshire

| country = England

| postcode = OX14 2HR

| local_authority =

| urn = 123300

| ofsted =

| staff =

| enrolment = 770

| gender = Boys

| lower_age = 13

| upper_age = 18

| houses = 11

| colours = {{color box|red}} Red
{{color box|white}} White

| publication = The Radleian

| alumni = Old Radleians (ORs){{cite web|url=https://www.radley.org.uk/radleian-society/radleian-society/|title=RadSoc Hub|website=Radley College|author=Radley College|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518054312/https://www.radley.org.uk/radleian-society/radleian-society/|archive-date=18 May 2024}}

| free_label_1 = Campus

| free_1 = {{convert|800|acre|km2|adj=on}} rural campus

| free_label_2 = Affiliations

| free_2 = HMC
The Rugby Group

| website = {{url|https://www.radley.org.uk}}

}}

File:Dennis Silk (1931-2019).jpg, the Warden from 1968 to 1991, was credited in the 20th century with transforming Radley from "a pretty ordinary place" to one of the best public schools.{{Cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Eric |title=How Silk transformed the country club |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/how-silk-transformed-the-country-club/156175.article?storyCode=156175§ioncode=42 |website=Times Higher Education |date=12 December 1997 |accessdate=15 February 2025}}]]

Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley,{{Cite web|title=About the register of charities|url=https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/|access-date=2021-03-21|website=register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk}}{{Cite web|title=The College Crest and Motto|url=https://www.radley.org.uk/about-radley/why/the-college-crest-and-motto|access-date=2023-04-27|website=www.radley.org.uk}} is a public school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village of Radley, in Oxfordshire, in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1847.{{Cite web |url=http://www.jhud.co.uk/huddleston/radley.html |title=Joyce Huddleston – freelance technical writer, editor and abstractor |access-date=2 May 2010 |archive-date=13 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513081115/http://www.jhud.co.uk/huddleston/radley.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.radleyvillage.org.uk/institutions/radleycollege.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050308210442/http://www.radleyvillage.org.uk/institutions/radleycollege.html |url-status = dead|archive-date=8 March 2005 |title=Radley College |publisher=Radley Village|access-date=16 April 2010 }} The school covers {{convert|800|acre|ha|abbr=off}} including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, and farmland. Before the counties of England were re-organised, the school was in Berkshire.

Radley is one of four public schools which have retained the boys-only, boarding-only tradition, the others being Sherborne, Harrow and Eton. Formerly this group included Winchester, although it is currently undergoing a transition to co-ed status.{{cite web |title=Winchester College in the 21st Century |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/newsletters/the-winchester-vision |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=9 February 2021}} Of the seven public schools addressed by the Public Schools Act 1868 four have since become co-educational: Rugby (1976), Charterhouse (1971), Westminster (1973), and Shrewsbury (2014). For the academic year 2022/23, Radley charged boarders up to £14,850 per term, or £44,550 per annum.{{Cite web| title=Schedule of fees - Guidance notes on current charges 2022/23 | url=https://www.radley.org.uk/userfiles/rcmvc/Documents/02-Admissions/Fees/Schedule%20of%20Fees%202022-23.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711153332/https://www.radley.org.uk/userfiles/rcmvc/Documents/02-Admissions/Fees/Schedule%20of%20Fees%202022-23.pdf | archive-date=2022-07-11}} It is a member of the Rugby Group.

In May 2025, Radley College announced one of the largest mergers in the independent charitable schools industry with Prep Schools Trust (PST). The merger deed, which will take effect formally in September 2025, will see funds, staff and ownership of the prep schools within PST to be transferred to the Charity of St Peter's College, Radley.{{Cite web |title=Radley Schools Group |url=https://www.radley.org.uk/radley-schools-group/ |website=Radley College |language=en-GB}}

History

File:Radley Hall, Radley College, 22-05-2007.jpg

Radley was founded in 1847 by William Sewell (1804–79) and Robert Corbet Singleton (1810–81). The first pupil was Samuel Reynolds, who in 1897 wrote his reminiscences of school life.{{Cn|date=April 2025}}

The school was originally housed in Radley Hall, now known as "Mansion". Radley Hall was built in the 1720s for the Stonehouse family. Later in the 18th century the estate passed to the Bowyer family, who commissioned Capability Brown to re-design the grounds. After the school was founded, extensive building work took place, beginning with Chapel (replaced by the current building in 1895), F Social and Octagon (the earliest living accommodation for the boys), Clock Tower, and in 1910 the dining hall (Hall). Building work has continued throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, with three new Socials, a weights-room/gym, a rowing tank, a theatre, and a real tennis court being completed since 2006. The Science Block was also expanded and refurbished in 2019. The grounds include a lake, a golf course and woodland.{{Cn|date=April 2025}}

On 31 August 2017, The Daily Telegraph{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/08/30/exclusive-radley-college-emerges-fourth-public-school-caught/|title=Cheating in Exam|date=31 August 2017|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London}} reported that a whistleblower had suggested that teachers had helped their students in an art GCSE exam. Investigations by the exam board found no fault beyond a minor technical breach of exam regulations. Radley College issued a statement expressing full support for staff and procedures both within the art department and across the school.{{Cn|date=April 2025}}

On 6 July 2018, pupils hired a plane to tow a banner reading "Make Radley Great Again" over the school, reportedly in response to changes to the school branding and staff during John Moule's time as warden.{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/13/radley-college-revolt-modernising-headteacher-has-changed-100/ | title = Radley College revolt over modernising headteacher who has changed 100-year-old crest | newspaper = The Daily Telegraph | location = London | date = 14 July 2018 | access-date = 15 July 2018}}

School terms

There are three academic terms in the year:

The Michaelmas term, from early September to mid-December.
The Lent term, from early January to late March.
The Summer term, from mid-April to late June or early July.

Radley formalities

Radley College has its own specialised terminology and formalities, similar to the notions of Winchester College.{{cite web |title=A Radley Glossary |url=https://www.radley.org.uk/about-radley/a-radley-glossary|publisher=Radley College |access-date=20 August 2021}} For example, all teachers are referred to as "dons", and female teachers and members of staff are addressed only as "ma'am"; the headmaster is known as the "warden"; boarding houses are known as "socials", with their masters being known as "tutors" and their head prefects as "pups"; ties earned by pups, top sportsmen, and other distinguished boys have flat bottoms and are known as "strings" ("social strings" if earned for distinction within the social, "college strings" if earned for distinction within the wider college); and the five year-groups, from first to last, are called "shell", "remove", "fifth", "6.1", and "6.2". During the Michaelmas and Lent terms, gowns are worn over uniforms, while during the summer term, shirts are worn without ties, jackets, or gowns (known as "Summer Dress" or, more officially, as "Shirt-Sleeve Order"). A formal house meeting is held once a week, known as "social prayers" (an assembly usually with a talk or presentation); an informal house meeting with food, known as "cocoa", takes place every evening; a weekend which a boy would usually stay in school for but has been allowed to leave on is known as a "privi" (short for "privilege weekend" as these can be cancelled if a boy is subject to disciplinary proceedings); and the final day of the academic year is known as "gaudy", from the Latin {{lang|la|gaudē}} meaning "rejoice thou".

Socials

There are 11 socials at Radley, each housing approximately 70 boys and distinguished by the colours of their members' ties. They are each known by a single letter, although they are formally named after their tutor (e.g., H, formally Wood's Social). When the college opened, most boys were living together in College, but they were under the care of six "social tutors" and the term "social" then referred to all the boys under the care of one tutor. When D Social was built in 1886, all the boys and their tutor were united in their own living quarters and so the word "social" came to mean the building and all of its inhabitants.{{cite web |title=The Socials |url=https://www.radley.org.uk/boarding/boarding-houses/the-socials |publisher= Radley College |access-date=26 August 2021}} Similar to Eton's houses and their dames, each social at Radley has a matron known as the "PHM" ("pastoral housemistress"), whose role is central.{{cite web |title=A Radley Glossary |url=https://www.radley.org.uk/about-radley/a-radley-glossary |publisher= Radley College |access-date=26 August 2021}}

class="wikitable"

!Name

!Colours

!Tutor

|Blue and brown

|Richard Hughes

|Purple and black

|Charlie Scott-Malden

|Pale blue and dark blue

|Stephen Giddens

|Blue and white

|Charlie McKegney

|Pink and black

|Adam Jolly

|Red and gold

|Tom Norton

|Red and dark blue

|Graham King

|Dark green and light yellow

|Nick Wood

|Light blue and coral

|Kyle Willis-Stovold

|Green and white

|Matt Glendon-Doyle

|Gold and navy blue

|Ali Hakimi

Academic aspects

File:Chapel, Radley College, 22-05-2007.jpg

The school was inspected by the independent schools' Inspectorate in February 2008. The inspection report rated the school's standard of education as "outstanding", the highest rating.{{cite web |url=http://www.radley.org.uk/pages/inspectn.html |title=ISI Inspection report 2008 |publisher=Radley College |date=21 February 2008 |access-date=16 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505161104/http://www.radley.org.uk/pages/inspectn.html |archive-date=5 May 2010 |url-status = dead}} There was a subsequent inspection by ISI in 2013, and a further inspection in 2023.{{Cite web|url=http://www.isi.net/schools/6818/|title=Radley College :: Independent Schools Inspectorate|website=isi.net|access-date=20 April 2017}}

In 2012, the Independent review of A level results, based on government issued statistics, ranked Radley 31st in the UK, ahead of Malvern (32nd), Harrow (34th), Winchester (73rd), Tonbridge (74th), Eton (80th) and Wellington (89th){{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/secondary-tables-2012/the-top-100-independent-schools-at-alevel-6294994.html | title=The Top 100 Independent Schools at A-level | work=The Independent | date=26 January 2012 | access-date=31 May 2013}} By 2019 they were still in the top 100 but had dropped to 75th place.{{Cite web|title=Top 100 Independent Schools by A Levels and Pre U|url=https://www.best-schools.co.uk/uk-school-league-tables/list-of-league-tables/top-100-schools-by-a-level|access-date=2021-03-21|website=Best Schools|language=en}}

Sports

File:RadleyBoathouse01.JPG

Sports played at the College are rugby football in the Michaelmas Term, hockey, rowing and football in the Lent Term and cricket, rowing, lawn tennis, and athletics in the Summer Term.

Other sports played include badminton, basketball, beagling, cross-country, fencing, fives, lacrosse, rackets, real tennis, rugby sevens, squash, water polo, swimming and sailing.{{Cite web|title=StackPath|url=https://www.radley.org.uk/sport/sports-at-radley|access-date=2021-03-21|website=www.radley.org.uk}}{{Cite web |last=StudyLink |first=Britannia |date=2021-05-19 |title=Radley College Guide: Reviews, Rankings, Fees And More |url=https://britannia-study.com.my/uk-boarding-school/radley-college |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Britannia StudyLink Malaysia: UK Study Expert |language=en-GB}}

=Rugby=

Rugby is the major sport of the Michaelmas term. The school fields 23 rugby teams on most Saturdays of the Michaelmas term and on some Thursdays. The Master in charge of Rugby is Gloucester loose-head prop Nick Wood, OR.

=Rowing=

Radley is recognised for its rowing, having won events at Henley Royal Regatta on 6 occasions.{{cite web |url=http://www.rowinghistory.net/HRR%20US/hrr_1946-2000.htm |title=Results of Final Races – 1946–2003 |access-date=29 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716161931/http://www.rowinghistory.net/HRR%20US/hrr_1946-2000.htm |archive-date=16 July 2011 |url-status = dead}} Only Eton, St Paul's, Shrewsbury, and St Edward's have won more events at the Regatta.{{Cn|date=April 2025}}

=Cricket=

Cricket is played in the summer term. Some Old Radleians have progressed to play cricket for England or captain county level cricket teams.{{Cn|date=April 2025}}

=Field hockey=

Eighteen hockey teams are fielded during the Lent term. Teams train on three Astroturf pitches and a full-sized indoor hockey pitch. Radley takes part in the Independent Schools Hockey League.{{Cite web|title=StackPath|url=https://www.radley.org.uk/sport/hockey|access-date=2021-03-21|website=www.radley.org.uk}}

=Football=

Twelve football teams are fielded in the Lent term. Radley competes in ISFA Southern Independent Schools Lent Term League. There is a yearly pre-season training camp before term starts.{{Cite web|title=StackPath|url=https://www.radley.org.uk/sport/football|access-date=2021-03-21|website=www.radley.org.uk}}

=Other sports=

Sports such as fives, rackets, sailing, badminton, and polo are represented, as well as scuba diving. A real tennis court opened in July 2008, which made Radley the only school in the world to have fives, squash, badminton, tennis, racquets, and real tennis courts all on campus.{{cite news| url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/search/2389892.TENNIS__Radley_get_real_with_new_court/ | first=Russell | last=Smith | title=School Sport: Search is on at Radley for next Strauss | work=Oxford Mail | date=12 June 2006 | access-date=31 May 2013}}

Southern Railway Schools Class

The school lent its name to a steam locomotive (Engine 930; Radley) of Southern Railway's Class V (Schools), which were named for English public schools.

Price-fixing cartel case (2005)

In 2005 Radley College was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools which were found guilty by the Office of Fair Trading of running an illegal price-fixing cartel which had allowed them to drive up fees.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4420822.stm|title=Private schools fee-fixing ruling|date=9 November 2005|publisher=BBC News|location=London}} Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £21,360 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a Trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.{{cite web |url=http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06 |title=OFT names further trustees as part of the independent schools settlement |publisher=The Office of Fair Trading |access-date=16 April 2010 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610055129/http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06 |archive-date=10 June 2008 }} In their defence, Jean Scott, the head of the Independent Schools Council, said that independent schools had previously been exempt from the anti-cartel rules applied to business; they were following a long-established procedure in sharing the information with one another and they were unaware of the current law.{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1455730/Private-schools-send-papers-to-fee-fixing-inquiry.html | title = Private schools send papers to fee-fixing inquiry | newspaper = The Daily Telegraph | location = London | date = 1 March 2004 | access-date = 15 March 2011}}

List of Wardens

R C Singleton (founder) (1847–1851)
W B Heathcote (1851–1852)
W M Sewell (founder) (1852–1861)
R W Norman (1861–1866)
W Wood (1866–1870){{cite web|url=https://radleyarchive.blog/william-woods-diary/|title=William Wood's Diary|website=Radley College Archive|date=7 March 2013 |access-date=25 June 2019}}
C Martin (1871–1879)
R J Wilson (1880–1888)
H Lewis Thompson (1888–1896)
T Field (1897–1913)
E Gordon Selwyn (1913–1919)
A Fox (1919–1925)
W H Ferguson (1925–1937)
J C Vaughan Wilkes (1937–1954)
W M M Milligan (1954–1968)
D R W Silk (1968–1991)
R M Morgan (1991–2000)
A W McPhail (2000–2014)
J S Moule (2014–Present)

Notable alumni

Boyd Alexander, traveller and ornithologist
James Bachman, comic writer and actor
Merton Barker, cricketer and field hockey player
Richard Beard, prize-winning author of fiction and non-fiction
Harry Bicket, conductor
C. E. Bowden, pilot and pioneer of IC engined model flight and radio control
Gerald Brenan, writer
John Bridcut, documentary film maker
Christopher Bulstrode, orthopedic surgeon and author{{Cite journal |last=Illman |first=John |date=2024-01-19 |title=Chris Bulstrode: volunteered for the army as a trauma surgeon in his 50s |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj.q133 |journal=BMJ |language=en |volume=384 |pages=q133 |doi=10.1136/bmj.q133 |issn=1756-1833|url-access=subscription }}
William Burdett-Coutts, producer, Assembly Festival{{cite web | title=William Burdett-Coutts | work=Rhodes University Trust | url=http://www.rhodesalumni.co.uk/alumni-accolades/#wbc | access-date=19 August 2012 |url-status = dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311123115/http://www.rhodesalumni.co.uk/alumni-accolades/#wbc | archive-date=11 March 2012 | df=dmy-all }}
James Burton, conductor and composer
Richard Toby Coke, UKIP politicianCharles Mosley, ed., Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage (107th edition, 2003), vol. 1, page 641; vol. 2, p. 2289
Collingwood Tinling, builder of first jet engine
William Collins, author and cricketer
Peter Cook, comedian
John Crabtree, lawyer and businessman; Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands{{cite web |title=Crabtree, John Rawcliffe Airey, (born 5 Aug. 1949), Lord-Lieutenant of West Midlands, since 2017 |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U288601 |website=Who's Who & Who Was Who |access-date=29 May 2022 }}
Tim Crooks, Olympic rower
Jamie Dalrymple, cricketer
Norman Denny, author, translator of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables
Ted Dexter, cricketer
Artemas Diamandis, musician {{cite magazine |title=Battle of the Bands |magazine=The Radleian |volume=ST17 |date=2017 |publisher=Radley College |page=10 |url=https://issuu.com/radleycollege/docs/radleian005}}
Alexander Downer, former Australian Foreign Minister and former Australian High Commissioner to the Court of St James
Mark Durden-Smith, television presenter
Marc Edwards, sports correspondent with BBC World News (formerly with CCTV International, France 24 and Eurosport)
Ivan Ewart, British naval officer and charity worker
Jeremy Flint, bridge player
George Freeman, Conservative Member of Parliament for Mid Norfolk
David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, father of the Mitford sisters
Andrew Gant, choirmaster and composer
Richard Gibson, actor, best known as Herr Flick in the BBC series 'Allo 'Allo!
Nicholas Hannen, actor
Robert Hall, BBC special correspondent
Noel Harrison, English actor & member of the British Olympic skiing team in the 1950s
Simon Hart, Conservative Member of Parliament for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire.
Alex Hearne, cricketer
Christopher Hibbert, historian
Cyril Holland, son of Oscar Wilde
Sir George Hollingbery, former Conservative Member of Parliament for Meon Valley and Her Majesty's Ambassador-designate to the Republic of Cuba
Charles Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk, pioneering bomb disposal expert in the Second World War
Alan Huggins, Hong Kong judge
Charles Hulse, cricketer
Ben Hutton, cricketer
Jamie Laing, Reality TV in Made in Chelsea
Thomas Langford-Sainsbury, air vice marshal
Hugh Lindley-Jones, cricketer
Desmond Llewelyn, actor best known for playing Q in many James Bond films
Archie Lorne, heir-apparent to the Dukedom of Argyll
James Lovegrove, SF novelist
Rupert Lowe, Reform UK Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth
Dick Lucas, evangelical Anglican preacher
Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt, air chief marshal
James Charles Macnab of Macnab, soldier and chief of Clan Macnab'Macnab of Macnab, James Charles' in Who's Who 2012 (London: A. & C. Black, 2011)
Sir George Mallaby, public servant, High Commissioner to New Zealand
Robert Marshall, cricketer{{citation needed|reason=lacks a reliable source confirming attendance|date=July 2019}}
Sir Charlie Mayfield, CEO of Waitrose and John Lewis Partnership
J.X. Merriman, South African statesman
Harold Monro, founder of the Poetry Bookshop
Lord Charles Montagu Douglas Scott, admiral
Andrew Motion, poet and former Poet Laureate
Andrew Nairne, director of Kettle's Yard
Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery
Sir Christopher Nugee, Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)
Edward Nugee, Barrister, Treasurer of the Inner Temple
Lt Gen Richard Nugee, British Army officer
Owen Paterson, MP and former cabinet minister
Ian Payne, broadcaster
James Pearce, journalist and presenter for BBC Sport
Sir David Pountney, opera director
Edgar Prestage, historian and Portuguese scholar
Dennis Price, actor
Sir Nicholas Redmayne (1938–2008), stockbroker and investment banker[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3527597/Sir-Nicholas-Redmayne-Bt.html "Sir Nicholas Redmayne, Bt: Stockbroker who helped to reposition Kleinwort Benson as a leading investment bank in the 1980s"], The Daily Telegraph, 26 November 2008, accessed 10 March 2024 {{subscription required}}
Michael Reeves, film director
S.H. Reynolds, clergyman
Professor Sir Mike Richards, UK National Cancer Director
Lord Scarman, judge
Brough Scott, horse racing journalist, radio and television presenter, and former jockey
James Scott, cricketer
Tom Shakespeare, sociologist and broadcaster
Thomas Spyers, cricketer
Clive Stafford Smith, campaigning lawyer
Andrew Strauss, cricketer
Will Stuart, rugby player
Jeremy Stuart-Smith, High Court judge
Sir Reginald Stubbs, colonial governor
Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, killed in action in Afghanistan on 1 July 2009
Nigel Twiston-Davies, Cheltenham Gold Cup winning horse trainer
Charlie Wallis, cricketer
Mike Westmacott, mountaineer, Member of the successful 1953 British Mount Everest Expedition
Peter Wildeblood, journalist and playwright and celebrated gay rights campaigner
Richard Wilson, Baron Wilson of Dinton, former UK Cabinet Secretary
Simon Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Aspley Guise, CEO of Next plc
Major General Sir Edward Woodgate, who died of wounds sustained during the Battle of Spion Kop
Charles Worsley, cricketer{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/34/34072/34072.html|title=Player profile: Charles Worsley|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=19 November 2011}}

References

External links

{{Official website|https://www.radley.org.uk/}}
[http://www.independentschools.com/england/radley-college_162.html Reviews and ratings]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110104040140/http://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/school/radley-college.html Profile] at the Good Schools Guide

Category:Private schools in Oxfordshire

Category:Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference

Category:Boys' schools in Oxfordshire

Category:Boarding schools in Oxfordshire

Category:Racquets venues

Category:Real tennis venues

Category:Educational institutions established in 1847

Category:1847 establishments in England