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People sometimes ask what makes a Jesuit school different or distinctive. Saint Ignatius Loyola (the 16th century founder of the Society of Jesus and Jesuit schools) gave the answer that a Jesuit school should be about “improvement in living and learning for the greater glory of God and the common good.”
Jesuit schools strive to give a first class education but they are also places committed to outstanding formation of character, wanting their pupils to develop into well educated adults who will live good and virtuous lives.
Jesuit schools hope that the young people they form, in partnership with parents, will make the most of their God-given gifts and talents and use their education as ‘men and women for others’ to make the world a better place, especially for the least well off and most socially marginalized. This twofold emphasis on living and learning is, if you like, the DNA of Jesuit education.
The eleven Jesuit schools in the UK are part of a network of Jesuit education that stretches back over 450-years, and reaches out around the globe today. The vision of Jesuit education looks with faith and hope to the continued transformation of the world for the greater glory of God and the common good.
A brief introduction to Jesuit education and the Jesuit schools in the UK.
Each of the schools controls its own admissions and has different admissions criteria. In general, the independent schools will require an interview with the child and parents and, in some cases, an entrance examination. Independent schools are fee-paying but will also have scholarships and bursaries.
The Voluntary Aided schools (which are part of state provision of free education) tend to be oversubscribed and will give preference to practising Roman Catholics. Further information is available on the schools' own websites. See below.
Stonyhurst College is the oldest continuously existing Jesuit school in the world. Founded in 1593.
Independent (HMC)
470 boys and girls ages 13-18
Boarding and day
Head: Mr John Browne
Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst
Clitheroe
Lancashire BB7 9PZ
01254 826345 | www.stonyhurst.ac.uk
St Mary's Hall is the preparatory school for Stonyhurst College. Founded 1807.
Independent (IAPS)
220 boys and girls ages 3-13 Boarding and day
Head: Fr Christopher Cann
St Mary's Hall
Stonyhurst
Clitheroe
Lancashire BB7 9PU
01254 826244 | www.stonyhurst.ac.uk/st-marys-hall-prep-school
St Joseph's School is the parish school of Hurst Green in Lancashire. It is the oldest Catholic primary school in England. Founded 1686
Voluntary Aided
75 boys and girls ages 3-11
Day
Head: Mrs Laura Orr
St Joseph's RC Primary School
Whalley Road
Hurst Green
Clitheroe
Lancashire BB7 9QJ
01254 826246 | www.st-josephs-hurstgreen.lancs.sch.uk
Mount St Mary's College is a day and boarding school for 11-18 year olds.
Founded 1842
Independent (HMC)
300 boys and girls ages 11-18
Boarding and day
Head: Mr Dan Wright
Mount St Mary's College
Spinkhill
Sheffield S21 3YL
01246 433388 | https://www.msmcollege.com/
Barlborough Hall School is the preparatory school for Mount St Mary's College. Founded 1939
Independent (IAPS)
165 boys and girls ages 3-11
Day
Head: Mrs Karen Keeton
Barlborough Hall School
Barlborough
Chesterfield
Derbyshire S43 4TJ
01246 810511 | www.msmcollege.com/prep
St Aloysius College is situated in Glasgow city centre.
Founded 1859
Independent (HMC and SCIS)
775 boys and girls ages 12-18
Day
Head: Mr Patrick Doyle
St Aloysius College
45 Hill Street
Glasgow G3 6RJ
0141 332 3190 | www.staloysius.org
The Junior School for St Aloysius College is situated in an award-winning new building in Glasgow city centre. It caters for girls and boys from 3 to 12 years of age. Founded 1954
Independent (IAPS and SCIS)
350 boys and girls ages 3-11
Day
St Aloysius College Junior School
56 Hill Street
Glasgow G3 6RJ
0141 331 9200 | www.staloysius.org/junior_school
St John's Beaumont is a successful boys' day and boarding school to the west of London.
Founded 1888
Independent (IAPS)
300 boys ages 3-13
Boarding and day
St John's Beaumont
Old Windsor
Berkshire SL4 2JN
01784 432428 | www.sjbwindsor.uk
Wimbledon College is a comprehensive school for boys in south west London. Founded 1892
Voluntary Aided
1,300 boys ages 11-18
Day
Head: Mr Adrian Laing
Wimbledon College
Edge Hill
Wimbledon
London SW19 4NS
020 8946 2533 | www.wimbledoncollege.org.uk
Donhead Preparatory School is an independent preparatory school for boys ages 3 to 11. Donhead sends a large proportion of its Y6 leavers to Wimbledon College (whose preparatory school it formerly was).
Founded 1933
Independent (IAPS)
300 boys ages 3-11
Day
Head: Catherine Hitchcock
Donhead Preparatory School
33 Edge Hill
Wimbledon
London SW19 4NP
020 8946 7000 | www.donhead.org.uk
Founded at Stamford Hill in north London, St Ignatius College moved to its present site at the very northern tip of London in 1968. St Ignatius College is a comprehensive school for boys in north London.
Founded 1894
Voluntary Aided
1,150 boys ages 11-18
Day
Head: Mrs Mary O'Keeffe
St Ignatius College
Turkey Street
Enfield
London EN1 4NP
01992 717835 | www.st-ignatius.enfield.sch.uk
These schools were founded, or run for part of their history, as Jesuit schools but are no longer in the care of the Society of Jesus:
(founded 1842; transferred to trusteeship of the Brothers of Christian Instruction 1974)
(founded 1861; closed 1967)
(founded 1865; closed 1981 with the sixth form merged to become Cardinal Newman College)
(founded 1905; merged to become Mount St Mary's Catholic High School 2005)
(founded 1928; transferred to the Society of Jesus 1935; transferred to trusteeship of the Christian Brothers 1948)
(founded 1936; transferred to trusteeship of the De La Salle Brothers 1947; merged with two other Catholic schools under the Diocese of Portsmouth 1980)
(founded 1950; established as an independent trust in 2000 with trustees appointed by the Diocese of Brentwood)
(founded 1962; transferred to the trusteeship of the Diocese of Brentwood 1965)
