Home : UK Boarding School : Senior (Y7/Y9-11) : Christ's Hospital School
Christ's Hospital School
Co-ed / Co-ed (HMC)
A-Level A*/A%
GCSE A*/A%
Horsham, West Sussex
828 boarders
Information and location
A London-born School, Christ's Hospital moved to its current 1,200 acre campus in 1902. The School was founded in response to one of the Bishop of London's sermons.
Close to the quaint town of Horsham, which older students are free to visit during their free time, there is also swift access to Brighton and other coastal resorts, London and the South Downs National Park. The School has its own train station, Christ's Hospital, which is on the main line to London (Victoria) and Gatwick Airport.
Boarding and three-week blocks
There are eighteen boarding houses on the School's site, 16 of which are single sex while the other two are co-educational. Married couples, who often have their own families, look after each of the houses.
Juniors share rooms with up to three others. Spacious common rooms with snooker tables, airy kitchens and a phone room are in each of the houses. Senior houses are almost luxurious, and reminiscent of university halls of residence, with big windows, a sink in each room, neatly designed kitchens, a small library with a piano, expansive communal spaces and bowls of fruit.
The School operates in three-blocks before a leave weekend. Many children decide to stay for this weekend and pair up with a friend and stay with their family.
Central to the School's ethos are Chapel services. The Chapel has enough space for 840 pupils to come together on Tuesdays and Sundays.
Academic-related issues
The campus is divided up into subject blocks, all of which have plenty of space and equipment. New science and language labs are particularly impressive.
Junior class sizes go up to 25, down to 20 in core subjects at GCSE level and fewer in option groups. A-level and IB courses typically have 10 or 11 students in a group.
The School opted to take on the IB diploma in 2011. The uptake is steadily growing. The average is 35 points.
GCSE and A-level exam results speak for themselves. In recent years, several students from Asia have achieved 12 or 11 A* grades at GCSE level, while 39 A-level students gained three A grades or better in 2014. On average, 10 pupils each year are accepted to read courses at Oxbridge.
Co-curricular pursuits and sport
The School takes pride in its diverse co-curricular programme with an enormous range of societies, clubs and activities to choose from. These include chess, debating and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is also popular. School trips in recent years have taken pupils to The Himalayas and New York City.
The main sports are hockey, netball, football, cricket and tennis. Swimming and squash are also strong.
In addition to the above-mentioned boarding houses and Upper Sixth Form residences, the School also has an art school, modern sports centre, music school and its own purpose-built 500-seat theatre which is modelled on Shakespeare's Globe.