Cothill House School
Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
About Cothill House School
Set in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside, just outside Oxford, Cothill House has been providing an inspirational all-round boarding education and unrivalled opportunities for boys aged 8-13 for 150 years. From September 2025 Cothill will transition to a co-educational school.
Established in 1870, Cothill is recognised globally as one of the country’s leading boys’ boarding prep schools with an exceptional record of preparing pupils for the top public schools.
Our aim is to foster every pupil's happiness, confidence and individual passions, helping them to achieve their potential, to cultivate their love of learning and to stimulate their love of life. Cothill pupils flourish in an environment where hard work, integrity and originality are both valued and rewarded.
Our Aims
Cothill House provides an inspirational education and unrivalled boarding opportunities for pupils in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside where:
- Each pupil is treated as an individual, nurtured and encouraged to find his strengths and develop his independence.
- Staff instil a love of discovery and learning amongst the pupils, encourage a growth mindset and build their confidence.
- Pupils are prepared for the challenges they will encounter at the next stage of their education and beyond.
- Pupils are encouraged to embrace teamwork, be happy, busy and polite.
- The qualities of leadership, personal responsibility, kindness, truthfulness and respect for others are nourished.
- A wide range of opportunities are provided to inspire, enable and embolden all pupils, and assist in their personal, social, academic, physical and cultural development.
- To provide a friendly and caring boarding environment that reflects the atmosphere and ethos of home.
- To safeguard and promote the physical and mental welfare of every pupil.
Our Values
Courage - To help pupils to have courage on the sports field and the courage of their convictions in the classroom
Originality - To promote the creative side of every pupil
Teamwork - To create an environment in which teamwork is highly valued
Humour - To ensure the challenges of everyday life are tackled with a sense of perspective and good humour
Integrity - To develop confident, self-disciplined pupils who understand and value integrity
Love of Learning - To instil in pupils a passion for learning about the world
Love of Life - To help pupils acquire knowledge and skills that will enable them to prosper in later life
Location
Cothill recently dedicated a week to the Victorian era. Presumably, students were relieved to get rid of the Victorian food and return to reality. And why wouldn’t they? Today, Cothill boasts a nine-hole golf course and a calendar full of highlights, from the Christmas Feast (when ties are knotted around heads like bandanas) to Fireworks Night. The weekends are enormous fun: boys go on fishing trips or play Saturday cricket in their pyjamas. Pastoral care is central, and the boys are offered mindfulness and have access to a counsellor. ‘The school has so many great strengths I don’t know where to begin,’ one parent gushes. ‘They get the best education both academically, musically and on the sports field whilst not missing out on their childhood.’
- TatlerSo what makes Cothill stand out? It’s traditional, but never stuffy. Posh, but down to earth. Low profile locally, but well known to the cognoscenti. Proudly full-boarding, but surprisingly flexible. ‘There’s no hierarchy in the school’, a beaming parent told us, ‘and that includes among the staff’. The range of sport on offer is immense. If the main games, rugby, football, hockey and cricket, are not your thing, then perhaps golf, polo or the climbing wall? Tennis is a particular strength...
- Good Schools Guide