Royal Grammar School Guildford

If your son is the kind of boy who chases ideas beyond the syllabus and wants room to be stretched, the Royal Grammar School in Guildford is one of the names parents in this part of Surrey tend to know. It is an academically selective independent day school for boys, currently aged 11 to 18, set right in the centre of town. Its story is a long one. It was founded in 1509, received its royal charter from Edward VI in 1552, and has occupied the same High Street site for centuries. The school has announced plans to admit girls in a phased move to co-education later this decade.

The RGS keeps that long grammar-school character alongside a modern approach built on independence, curiosity and kindness. Its stated values are inclusivity, scholarship, integrity, respect, courage and collaboration, and it runs outreach work with local state schools. Music sits at the heart of the school, with a strong tradition of sport and a wide co-curricular programme around it. The Good Schools Guide, which visited in 2023, wrote that "you'd be hard pressed to match the education on offer here".

Boys here are expected to think for themselves and to engage with ideas for their own sake, not just for the marks. The school suits an able, self-motivated boy who enjoys being challenged and wants that academic stretch matched with music, sport and a busy co-curriculum. It has been led since 2007 by headmaster Dr Jon Cox, in a place that wants a boy to leave it genuinely curious about the world.