The Oratory School

About The Oratory School

School Overview

At The Oratory, we have been providing pupils with a broad and rich education for over 160 years. Situated in a 100-acre Oxfordshire estate, it is a school where each pupil is known, valued and stretched as an individual.

The Oratory is proud of its broad and rich curriculum and strong exam results. The breadth of the subjects on offer, combined with subject-based enrichment, promotes strong academic development. At A Level, the majority of our pupils gain entry to their first choice of university, including many Russell Group universities. They then go on to pursue a wide range of exciting careers. However, an Oratory education is about developing young people in a much deeper sense than exam results alone can demonstrate.

An Oratory education gives our young people every opportunity to draw out and find their individual innate talents and qualities and instills in them a sense of joy and a genuine love of learning.

Boarding Overview

Boarding at The Oratory will provide a foundation for life, success, and personal friendships that last forever.

Our boarders experience a nurturing home environment under the supervision of our outstanding Housemasters and Housemothers. We also offer our boarders a whole host of new social and cultural opportunities that contribute another dimension to their broad Oratory education.

Our school week runs from Monday to Saturday. Sports matches take place on Saturday afternoons; the rest of the weekend is taken up with an array of exciting activities and trips. Our boarding houses are located centrally on our safe and secure campus so pupils also have full use of our amazing onsite facilities during their free time.

All pupils, day and boarding, live in their Houses together. The result is that every pupil is integrated into a cohesive and supportive community in which they have the confidence to thrive.

Extracurricular Overview

We believe in educating the whole person, enabling pupils to become confident all-rounders.

The wide variety of co-curricular activities helps to enrich our pupils’ learning and provides fun, adventure and inspiration all year round. Pupils enjoy an exceptional variety of cultural, physical, and charitable activities that are at the core of a vast co-curricular program that provides exciting opportunities for our pupils to develop and grow outside of the classroom.

There are three dedicated co-curricular sessions within the timetabled week, with over 50 diverse opportunities to choose from for pupils in 3rd Form and above. These allow pupils the opportunity to develop as a whole person within the language of Head, Heart and Hands (Mens, Cor, Manusque). We not only encourage our pupils to develop their existing talents and interests but also to try new things and get involved with as much as they can.