Colfe’s School
Colfes School
Org 1: HMC
Horn Park Lane, London, SE12 8AW
Telephone: 020 8852 2283
Open events: Whole School - Saturday 27 September 2025, Senior School - Saturday 8 November 2025, Sixth Form Open Evening - Thursday 9 October 2025
Key dates: Entrance Assessment Dates for 2026 Entry:
3+ - Monday 24 November to Friday 28 November 2025
4+ - Saturday 11 October 2025
7+ Monday 1 December to Friday 5 December 2025
11+ Thursday 6 January 2026
16+ - Tuesday 21 November 2025 (Scholarship applicants only)
Age Range: Nursery, Pre-Prep/Infants, Prep/Junior to 11, Senior to 18
Day or Boarding: Day
Gender: Co-ed
Exams offered: A Level, Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), BTEC, GCSE, IGCSE
Scholarships Tick: Academic, Art, Drama, Music, Sport
Bursaries and discounts: New entrant bursary, Existing pupil bursary/hardship award
Scholarships and bursaries – further details,cpc|Colfe’s School
www.colfes.com
Colfe’s is an independent co-educational day school for pupils aged 3–18. It is one of London’s oldest schools, established in 1652 by Reverend Abraham Colfe. Our links with the Leathersellers’ City Livery Company – who have governed the school since then – remain strong today.
With a reputation for academic excellence and outstanding pastoral care, our ethos is as a real-world school: ambitious but grounded in its local community. We are proud of our 360-year history but we are not burdened or defined by it.
Entrance is selective and academic standards are high. In 2025, 95% of A level results were A*, A or B, with over 65% of grades either A* or A. 97% of students went on to their chosen university, including Oxbridge, Russell Group and US universities.
At GCSE in 2025, 80% of GCSE grades awarded were 9–7, 57% of exams were graded 9–8, and 30% (almost a third of all exams) were awarded a grade 9.
Colfe’s has a strong reputation for all-round quality and innovation, and excellent pastoral care. The most recent Independent Schools Inspectorate inspection in 2023, conducted under the new ISI framework, noted that ‘Pupils receive education that is wide-ranging, appropriately challenging and prepares them effectively for life beyond school.’ The previous ISI inspection in 2016 rated Colfe’s as ‘Excellent’. Colfe’s was awarded Microsoft Showcase School status in 2024 in recognition of technological and digital excellence. We have also been awarded two TES Awards for Education Initiative of the Year (2014 and 2016) for our outstanding pastoral programmes.
Admissions. There are approximately 890 pupils in the Senior School, including 240 in the Sixth Form. The Junior School caters for a further 460 pupils. All sectors of the school are fully co-educational. The main points of entry to the Senior School are at 11+ (Year 7) and 16+ (Year 12). Approximately 60 to 70 external pupils from a range of local primary and prep schools enter the Senior School at 11+. The main points of entry to the Junior School are 3+ (Nursery), 4+ (Reception) and 7+ (Year 3). The majority of Junior School pupils transfer to the Senior School at 11.
Applications are made online via the website www.colfes.com
Buildings. All the teaching accommodation is modern and purpose built. Specialist on-site facilities include the Sports and Leisure Centre, comprising sports hall, swimming pool, and fitness suite. As well as spacious on-site playing fields, the Leathersellers’ Sports Ground, located less than a mile from the main school campus, provides additional extensive playing fields and facilities. There is a dedicated forest school nearby for younger pupils. The school also holds the freehold of the Old Colfeians ground at Horn Park.
The purpose-built Beardwood Performing Arts Centre is home to Music, Drama and the Visual Arts faculty. It provides light and spacious Art and Photography studios, a music recital hall, and a 300-seat theatre.
Building developments over the past decade have included the opening of the Stewart Building, comprising a purpose-built Sixth Form suite and eight hi-tech classrooms, the Russell Building completed in 2025, housing the Computer Science, Geography and Learning Support departments, and the Laurel Building, housing the Classics and Religion & Philosophy departments.
Curriculum. The curriculum follows the spirit of the National Curriculum in both Junior and Senior Schools. Pupils are entered for the separate Sciences at GCSE and follow the IGCSE Mathematics course. A wide range of subjects is available at A level, including Politics, Business Studies, Photography, Media Studies, Psychology and BTEC Sport and Exercise Science.
Physical Education and Games. Physical Education and Games are compulsory for all pupils up to and including Year 11. Sixth Form students also have a compulsory weekly sports session. Full use is made of the wide range of facilities available on site, including a fully equipped Sports Centre, swimming pool, an all-weather surface, fields and tennis courts.
All pupils play cricket, football and athletics. Boys also play rugby and girls play hockey. Other sports include swimming, waterpolo, gymnastics, basketball, health-related fitness and tennis.
Music and Drama. Music and Drama thrive alongside each other in the purpose-built Beardwood Performing Arts Centre. The Music department is home to a wide range of performance groups ranging from beginners to advanced ensembles in both classical and contemporary genres. There are regular performance opportunities throughout the year, some held in the purpose-built recital hall and others in external venues. A team of visiting instrumental teachers provide further opportunities for pupils. Drama is a popular subject at both GCSE and A level and outside the classroom. Colfe’s offer plentiful opportunities for involvement with performance, production or technical support, including co-curricular drama clubs, House competition, and two productions held every year, by the lower and upper schools, offering opportunities both on and off stage. LAMDA lessons are also offered.
Careers. The Careers and Higher Education Department is staffed on a full-time basis. Regular events include University Information Evenings and Careers Fairs.
Fees per term (2025-2026). Senior School: £8,733; Junior School: KS2 £7,218; KS1 £6,450; Reception (exclusive of 15 hours childcare funding) £6,210; Reception (inclusive of 15 hours childcare funding up to and including the term the child turns 5 years old) £5,052; Nursery: £4,290.
All fees are exclusive of lunches.
Devices. On entry to the senior school, parents will be asked to purchase a Microsoft Surface device for their children to use in lessons and for homework.
Scholarships. Academic scholarships are awarded mainly on the basis of outstanding performance in the Entrance Examination. The exam is designed to identify and reward academic potential, as well as achievement.
Means-tested Academic scholarships are also available at 11+ and 16+. These may, in exceptional circumstances, cover the total cost of tuition fees. Applications are made online via the Colfe's School website.
A limited number of co-curricular scholarships in Creative Art & Design, Drama, Music and Sports awards are also available at 11+ and 16+. In the case of Music scholars, free instrumental tuition may accompany the award.
The Colfeian Society. Enquiries to the Director of Development & Alumni Relations, Colfe’s School, London SE12 8AW; email: alumni@colfes.com.
Charitable status. Colfe’s School is a Registered Charity, number 1109650. It exists to provide education for boys and girls.
Governors & Staff:
Visitor: HRH Prince Michael of Kent
The current Governors provide between them a broad range of relevant experience and qualifications. A majority are Members or appointees of the Leathersellers’ Company to which Abraham Colfe entrusted the School in his will when he died in 1657.
The activities of the Leathersellers are many and varied but the School and its fortunes continue to feature prominently on the Company’s agenda. The Master of the Company is, ex officio, a member of the Board of Governors.
Board of Governors:
Martin Dove (Master of the Leathersellers' Company)
Matthew Pellereau, BSc, FRICS (Chairman)
Julie Bradley, LLB
Serena Cooke
Daniel Coulson, BSc Hons, MA, MRICS (Vice Chairman)
Edward Dove
Nick Hedley, LLB Hons
Dr Nicola Jones, Cantab
Damian King, MA Oxon
Timothy Lister, FCA (Safeguarding)
Joseph Mafe, BSc
Nick Preston
James Russell, BA
Mark Russell
Headmaster: Mr D Gabriele, MA Oxon
Deputy Head: Mrs D Graham, GRSM, LRAM
Bursar and Clerk to the Governors: Mr M Adamson, MA Cantab, FCA
Director of Studies: Ms M Schramm, BA, MA
Director of Pastoral Care: Ms Holly Beckwith, BA Hons
Director of Sixth Form: Mr S Drury, BA Hons, MA
Director of Teaching and Learning: Mrs J Sansome, BSc Hons, MSc
Head, Junior School: Mrs M-C Gilfedder-Bonnar, LLB, BSc Hons, PGCE
Deputy Head, Junior School Mrs S Gurr, BA Hons
Director of Admissions and Communications: Mrs K Bridgman, BA Hons
Heads of Departments:
Business, Economics and Politics: Mr Nathan Carter, BA (Head of Faculty)
Classics: Mr H Biggs, MA Oxon
Computer Science: Mrs K Walsh, BA Hons
Creative Art and Design: Mrs N Gudge, BA Hons
Design & Technology: Ms R Mott, BA Hons
Drama: Ms N Maher, BA Hons, Acting Dip
English: Mrs K Guy, BA Hons
Geography: Mrs H Nissinen, BSc Hons, MA
History: Miss M Forbes, BA Hons
Learning Support: Miss A Coode, BA Hons
Maths: Mr K Khalid, BSc, MSc
Media Studies: Mr C Foxall, BA Hons
Modern Languages: Mr M Koutsakis, MA
French: Mrs C Davies, BA Hons & Ms G Walton-Green, BA Hons
German: Mr M Koutsakis, MA
Spanish: Ms G Frate, BA, MA
Music: Mr T Newberry, BA Hons, Dip ABRSM
Outdoor Education: Major C Cherry, BSc Hons
Physical Education: Mrs N Rayes, BEd Hons, EMBA
Religion & Philosophy: Miss Z Kendrick, BA Hons, MEd
Science: Mrs Brooke Smith, BSc Hons, MA
Biology: Dr G Zimmermann, BSc, PhD
Chemistry: Mr T Armstrong, BSc
Physics: Mr J Fishwick, BSc Hons
Psychology: Dr J Lea, PhD, BSc Hons
Combined Cadet Force Mr R Roberts, BSc Hons