The Purcell School

The Purcell School is a world-famous boarding and day school in Bushey near Watford, which aims to provide a rounded education with music at its heart.

The school was founded in 1962, and is Britain’s oldest specialist music school. There are currently over 180 pupils aged from 10-18 years, of whom about 30% come from abroad. Over 75% of pupils are boarders. The sixth form currently comprises around 90 pupils with approximately 25-30 pupils joining the school each year specifically for the Sixth Form. The majority of pupils progress to music conservatoires, many of them on scholarships, while a small number each year elect to go to university, often to Oxbridge or Russell Group institutions.

The school has an enviable reputation for the quality of its musical education and performance. Students enjoy individual tuition on one or two instruments, or in composition, from some of the very best teachers available. They take part in over 200 orchestral, choral and chamber concerts, and have opportunities to perform regularly at venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and St Albans Abbey.

In addition to their musical studies, students study for GCSE and A Level. The range of subjects on offer includes all three sciences, art, drama, English literature, modern languages, history and music technology. All pupils take GCSE and A-level Music.

Our students are the liveliest, most committed and self-motivated young people you could hope to meet. Every day, the School’s corridors echo with the sound of extraordinary music as our students prepare for concerts both here at School and in the most prestigious venues in London.