Established in 1834, Forest is an outstanding all-round school, offering a breadth and depth of opportunity in which pupils’ academic excellence is balanced with exceptional personal development. It is, above all, a happy school which understands the rich inter-relationship between curricular, the co-curricular and the pastoral. The school is located on a 50-acre site at the edge of the capital’s largest open space, Epping Forest.
There are currently 1,612 pupils in the School – 844 boys and 768 girls. All pupils from Reception to Year 13 share the main school campus, and facilities such as the Chapel, Dining Hall, Sports Hall, playing fields, Deaton Theatre, and the Martin Centre for Innovation. The unique Sixth Form pupil experience is enabled through the use of their own dedicated Sixth Form Centre, including collaborative IT workspaces, group study areas and a careers room.
Curriculum. Academic enrichment, learning and personal development are the natural outcomes of Forest’s holistic approach to education, which enables our pupils to grow in a diverse and progressive community before they progress beyond our ‘White Gates’ to a career or university of their choice. While nearly 90% of Foresters progress to Russell Group or Top 10 UK universities, a growing number are accessing competitive degree apprenticeships, studying abroad, and we always have pupils who pursue specialist courses in Drama or Art and at Music conservatoires. A rich, broad academic curriculum in the first years of the pupils’ time at Forest is progressively augmented by opportunities to reflect thoughtfully on personal development and form a more individualised academic curriculum as they move through the school.
In Y7–Y9, a broad range of core subjects is taught, including Modern and Classical Languages (French, German, Latin and Spanish), incorporating the three Sciences and plenty of creative opportunities through timetabled Drama and Music, Fine Art, Photography, 3D Design, Textile Design and Food and Nutrition. Forest teaches our own bespoke Dialectic and Civics course as part of the core curriculum in Years 7 to 9, which explicitly teaches the power of rhetoric, oracy, critical thinking, careful listening and agreeable disagreement. As part of this exciting course, pupils study aspects of citizenship education, and the threats, challenges and opportunities facing humanity in the 21st century.
At GCSE, all pupils follow a core curriculum of English Language & Literature, a Modern Foreign Language, Maths and Science (separate or Double Award, according to preference), as well as a choice from around 15 optional subjects. A distinctive feature of the Forest curriculum is that all pupils also complete the Higher Project Qualification (HPQ) – a research-based dissertation on a subject of the pupil’s own choosing, following a taught course of critical thinking and project skills, and then assessed at GCSE level.
In the Sixth Form, pupils take the Sixth Form Curriculum. At the core are pupils’ 3 or 4 A levels alongside the Extended Project Qualification. Pupils have a timetabled Personal Development curriculum, including a fortnightly lecture series. A levels provide the core academic element and Sixth Formers can choose from a diverse array of subjects. Most choose three main subjects, examined at the end of the two-year course, and taught in small teaching groups averaging below 10 in size. All Sixth Form Curriculum pupils begin a course in Project Skills in Year 12 and will produce an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), which may take the form of a dissertation-style essay, or ‘creative artefact’, such as a film, composition or even a computer program. Sixth Formers’ Personal Development curriculum is centred on the seven core values of Forest School: Community, Diversity, Growth, Hard Work, Learning, Responsibility and Wellbeing.
The school places considerable emphasis on teaching the effective use of technology. Every pupil in the Senior School is required to have with them a keyboard-enabled device in school, and all pupils are trained in the use of mobile devices as appropriate tools to best leverage learning. All teachers incorporate digital materials and applications within their teaching, when the learning task would stand to benefit from it. Computer Science, is available from Year 7 as an academic subject. Pupils also learn about how to best harness Artificial Intelligence and how to safeguard their academic integrity all through the Senior School.
Additionally, all pupils – from Year 7 to Year 13 – are engaged in a robust and sequenced programme of reflection, study and assessment in Relationships, Sex and Health Education. This critical subject at Forest ensures all our learners can fully understand and be equipped for the increasingly complex world which they inhabit.
The curriculum is augmented by a wide range of timetabled academic super-curricular activities which supplement the core curriculum and which cultivate cultural and aesthetic appreciation, critical thinking and develop problem-solving skills. Lessons in additional languages such as Italian and Russian are offered, as well as opportunities to develop skills through Science and Maths competitions, partnership work with universities, participation in MOOCs and multiple opportunities to attend ‘Lookout Lectures’ featuring diverse national and international leaders from the realms of business, civil society, science and culture.
Co-curriculum. The School is recognised for the quality of its co-curricular offering. The co-curriculum covers all areas of pupil interest, with particularly large contributions from our ambitious and well-resourced Art, Drama, Music and PE departments. The music department has more than 50 visiting staff teaching a wide range of instruments and voice. Regular concerts take place in School venues and outside, including House Music, House Song and national competitions. Drama offers three major productions per year alongside House Drama competitions, and regular showings for curricular Drama. Art presents exhibitions and cross-curricular projects with English and other departments. The PE department boasts a heritage of sporting excellence for both girls and boys in a wide range of both mainstream and less conventional sports, with pupils regularly selected at district, county and national level. Recent alumni are now acting on-screen, writing for film and TV, and playing football for Chelsea and cricket for England. Other activities include Forest’s Combined Cadet Force, which is linked to the Royal Green Jackets, and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme which offers Bronze, Silver and Gold levels with high completion rates at all stages. Pupils can choose anything from chess to technology, debating to drama, or a wide range of musical activities to some of the best sporting offerings. Pupils participate in a diverse programme of activities that encourage the learning of physical, cultural and leadership skills throughout their time at Forest. The co-curricular programme at Forest builds and develops five core principles – Creativity, Challenge, Culture, Community and Careers.
Games. The main games for boys are football, hockey, cricket and athletics. The main games for girls are hockey, netball, cricket, football and athletics. The sporting facilities are extensive and include an all-weather AstroTurf facility, tennis and netball courts, indoor and outdoor cricket nets, gym, sports hall, two swimming pools, strength and conditioning suite, 5-a-side 3G and acres of sporting fields. Additional sports such as swimming, tennis, basketball, fencing, scuba diving, squash, mountain biking, table tennis, badminton and water polo are also available to boys and girls.
Fees per term (2025-2026). Reception to Year 2: £7,525, Year 3: £8,009, Year 4 to 6: £8,655 Year 7 to 13: £10,690. Fee reductions are available for children of the Clergy. Fees include VAT.
Futures Planning at Forest. At Forest, success is defined by choice. Many pupils progress to leading universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Russell Group institutions, conservatoires, and top Arts colleges, while others thrive through professional apprenticeships with firms like PwC, EY, Dyson, BAE, Morgan Stanley, Deloitte, and Crowe. Increasingly, pupils are exploring dynamic fields such as sustainability, artificial intelligence, fintech and creative technologies. Supported by an extensive alumni network offering bespoke guidance and mentoring, Forest ensures every pupil can discover and pursue a pathway that reflects their ambitions, whether that means university, apprenticeships or stepping straight into the world of work.
Admissions – Preparatory School. Entry point to the Prep School is 4+ and 7+. In principle, pupils are assessed on the basis of:
4+ entry
A series of low-key activities which include: picture recognition, some letter recognition, following a pattern, knowing colours, counting, drawing, naming simple shapes, sequencing, listening to a story, playing and responding sensibly to the adults who are present.
7+ entry
A standardised assessment on a computer, a reading comprehension, a short piece of writing, an age-appropriate maths test and some group activity.
Admissions – Senior School. In principle, pupils are assessed based on:
11+ entry
•Performance in a computer-based entrance assessment
•Performance in a collaborative task
•Performance in a written task
•An interview with a senior member of staff
•A written confidential report from the present school
16+ entry
•Performance in a computer-based entrance examination
•Performance in a written task
•An interview with a senior member of staff
•A written confidential report from the present school
•Predicted Grades
•Recent School report
Entry into the Forest Sixth Form requires at least three grade 7s or above, at least three grade 6s, and at least grade 5 in English and Maths. This is alongside specific required grades at GCSE in the qualifying subject/s required for their chosen courses.
Full GCSE grade requirements can be found on the School website: www.forest.org.uk.
Scholarships and bursaries are available at 11+ and 16+ entry. Scholarships are awarded for outstanding academic ability and exceptional attainment in Art, Drama, Music and Sport. The maximum non-means-tested fee remission awarded in respect of any one pupil is 20% of full fees, whether in one area of excellence or in a combination of one or more areas of excellence.
Bursaries are means-tested and are awarded in addition to Scholarships, up to and including the total remission of fees; in other words, a free place. Bursaries are only given in conjunction with a Scholarship.
For full details visit www.forest.org.uk.
Charitable status. Forest School, London is a Registered Charity, number 312677. The objective of the School is Education.
Governors & Staff:
Governing Council:
Chairman of Governors: David Wilson, LLB Hons, FRSA, FRGS
Dr Steven Berryman
Jane Davies
William Fuller
Yemisi Gibbons
Dr Saniya Hadi, BSc Hons, MBBS, MRCOG
Neena Lall OBE
Kateryna Law
Richard Mann
Simon Perry
The Venerable Mike Power
Paul Sampat
Executive Leadership Team:
Warden (CEO): Mrs Claire Tao, BSc, University of Surrey, MSc, London School of Economics, Assoc CIPD
Bursar: Mrs D E Coombs, BSc Cape Town, Hons BA, MBA Stellenbosch
Director of Innovation and Transformation: Mr J E R Sanderson, BMusPerf (Hons), Elder Conservatorium, BMus, University of Adelaide, FRSA, FCCT
Senior School Leadership Team:
Head of Senior School: Mr D Thomson-Jones, BSc, University of Edinburgh
Deputy Head Academic: Mr R Sokhal, BA (Hons), University College London
Deputy Head Pastoral and Safeguarding: Mrs N Milton, BA (Hons) Roehampton, NPQH, University College London
Head of Sixth Form: Ms K Spencer Ellis, MA, Christ Church, University of Oxford
Head of Middle School: Ms L E Lechmere-Smith, BA (Hons) Sheffield, PGCE, University of Oxford
Head of Lower School: Mr J T Sloan, BA (Hons) Royal Holloway, University of London
Prep School Leadership Team:
Head of Preparatory School: Mr J R W Clements, BMus (Hons), Guildhall School of Music and Drama, MEd, FRSA, FCCT
Deputy Head: Teaching & Learning: Mr D Marshall, MA, PGCE
Deputy Head: Pupil Wellbeing & Development: Mrs K Clarke, FCCT B.Ed. (Hons) CANTAB
Deputy Head: Logistics & Operations: Mrs S Hall, BA (Hons)
Deputy Head: Pupil Welfare &Engagement: Mrs A Manlangit, Bed
Deputy Head: Inclusion & Learning Support: Mrs M Pickwick, BSc (Hons)