Gordon's School

Gordon’s is a non-selective, co-ed, 11-18 school of circa 1000 students.  Unusually for a state school it offers residential boarding facilities to 280 students. Founded in 1885, its historical links with General Charles Gordon have shaped the ethos and sense of tradition that is present within the school today.

Gordon’s places a strong emphasis on standards, academic success and high expectations. Great importance is placed on the quality of teaching in the classroom because of the belief that schools are first and foremost centres for learning.

In the sixth form there are over 350 students taking BTEC and A Level courses.  There are five residential boarding houses and six day boarding houses for students. This allows for a high level of care and individual support, excellent staff/student relationships, backed by a structured learning and teaching environment, with high standards of courtesy and self-discipline.

In the school there is a wide variety of sporting and co-curricular activities. Daily over forty clubs offer a range from traditional games, rock-climbing and horse riding to tap dancing, music and drama. The Combined Cadet Force and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme are particularly popular and successful. One unusual feature is the marching Pipes and Drums band, which plays at ceremonial occasions at school and for outside events, when the students wear their ‘blues’ - a form of military uniform featuring the Gordon’s tartan.

School facilities are excellent and include over fifty acres of playing fields, a state-of-the art fitness centre, sports hub including all-weather pitches and coffee shop, and refurbished music and drama block.

The school is situated in fifty acres of Surrey parkland a few miles from the M25, M3 and M4 motorways. Day boarders come mainly from the local villages of West End, Chobham and Lightwater.  Residential boarders come for all parts of the United Kingdom and around ten percent from overseas.

The Ofsted Inspection of November 2014 reported, “Gordon’s is an outstanding school in every respect”.  Ofsted inspected 27 areas, 26 of which were given grade 1. In particular: -

“Teaching and learning are outstanding”
“The curriculum provision is outstanding”
“Standards are outstandingly high in national tests and GCSE”
“The effectiveness and efficiency of the boarding is outstanding”
“The quality of care provided by the school for the pupils is exceptional”
“Leadership and management are outstanding”

All of this is a tremendous testimony to the hard work and commitment of both students and staff – and is part of the reason why Gordon’s is the most over-subscribed state school in Surrey with over five applications for every place.