Highgate School

Highgate is one of the UK’s leading co-educational independent schools. Founded over 450 years ago, we welcome pupils, aged 4 to 18, from a range of backgrounds across London.  Highgate offers high-calibre, academically-minded teaching with a focus on scholarship and independence for all, rather than on exam outcomes. Our varied co-curricular activities, and our wide-reaching programme of community service, help our pupils develop interests and hobbies, forge lasting friendships, belong to teams, ensembles and casts, and learn the value of community.

We believe in making the most of childhood and adolescence; we want our young people to leave us intellectually and emotionally prepared for higher study and for work, and for playing a transformative role in their communities. And we want them to make great friends, too.

Highgate offers three schools in one:

Our Pre-Preparatory School is for pupils aged 4-7 (Reception, Years 1 and 2). We have around 180 pupils based at our Bishopswood Road building, overlooking our sports grounds. Our Junior School is for pupils aged 7-11 (Years 3 to 6). We have around 400 pupils based in our building on Bishopswood Road. Our Senior School is for pupils aged 11-18 (Years 7 to 13). We have over 1,220 pupils and most teaching takes place on our North Road site, in the heart of Highgate village. Pupils also have lessons in art, design, engineering and technology in our Mills Centre, on Bishopswood Road.

Highgate promotes learning and scholarship for all, where we:

• Cultivate individual curiosity and intellectual rigour in our pupils to enable their interests to take flight
• Believe in the enjoyment of learning for its own sake, and as a way of living
• Nurture confidence, creativity and risk taking in our pupils as they study, in preparation for higher education, the world of work and happy, curious lives

Learning at Highgate is not about meeting other people’s expectations but discovering and pursuing intellectual passions. Helping pupils pursue subjects they love gives them the experiences of using discretionary effort to succeed, and makes them brilliantly employable: they choose to go beyond to fulfil their own dreams.

Highgate is a welcoming, caring, open-minded community where we:

• Encourage our pupils to look outwards, to play an active part in their community – both within the School and further afield
• Strive for continual learning and improvement, particularly with regards to equality, inclusion, diversity and sustainability
• Facilitate our pupils to use their minds and voices to make a difference to the world around them

We encourage our pupils to take responsibility for themselves and for their role in society. Through community action groups, volunteering, fundraising, bursaries, local school partnerships and sustainability actions, we strive together as a School to make a positive impact on the world around us.

The physical and mental wellbeing of pupils is at the heart of our decision making. At Highgate, we:

• Promote kindness, empathy and friendship
• Nurture self-reflection and celebrate individuality, encouraging our pupils to find and develop their unique skills
• Encourage pupils to develop personal qualities such as self-motivation, collaboration and leadership

We want our pupils to enjoy their childhood to the full, to develop and pursue their academic and co-curricular passions, and to lead fulfilling exciting lives as thoughtful and open-minded young adults. Pupils leaving school will be intellectually, emotionally and practically equipped for the world of work and the challenges of day to day life.