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It’s a big year for this Surrey country prep, which has just introduced Years 1 and 2 into its cohort, with reception and nursery children due to join in September 2026. It’s all part of a growth plan that will offer more children the opportunity to benefit from its sterling all-round, all-through education; it’s an easy and well-trodden step up to the senior school across the road. Indeed, new Will Newman and his counterpart at Cranleigh Senior Samantha Price are both of one mind that ‘Cranleigh is a through school with clear steps in a journey via different sides of the road – one for prep, one for senior, each one a new chapter but all in the same book’.
Where?
Just south of Guildford and an hour’s drive from Wimbledon, the school sits in 280 rolling acres outside the quintessential market town of Cranleigh. It enjoys fabulous views of both the Surrey Hills and the South Downs from its spacious campus with its mix of venerable (the school opened its doors in 1913) and modern facilities. In 2017, the eco-friendly, timber Townsend Building opened – with a striking undulating roof and light-filled classrooms that overlook the cricket pitches. The new Years 1 and 2 have their own building near a copse which was inspired by a safari lodge and another new building yet to be constructed will house reception and nursery when they start next year.
Pupils travel in from nearby towns and villages – Guildford is a 20-minute drive, Horsham 30 minutes – and there’s a weekly bus service from Wimbledon Common for boarders. Plans are afoot to create a daily bus network for local and day pupils.
Head
Will Newman took up the reins as head of the prep in January 2025, arriving here with his wife Liz (also a teacher) and their two children. He previously spent 11 years at Edgeborough School, where he was director of sport and head of boarding.
Admissions
Pupils joining in Year 1 and 2 are invited to a Stay & Play day to meet the staff and experience a typical day at the school. Those shooting for a Year 3 place are invited to a taster event either in the summer term of Year 1 or Michaelmas term of Year 2. Current reports are requested and they sit a maths paper and English comprehension and creative writing. There’s a lot of fun weaved in too, though, with activities including bushcraft, indoor climbing, astronaut training and archery. Most importantly, the admissions process is designed so as not to compare children who come to the school as candidates from wildly different educational backgrounds – instead, it focuses on searching for each child’s potential and teachability.
The school is very popular and often oversubscribed, with more and more pupils joining into a variety of year groups. For Year 7 entry, children must sit the ISEB Pre-Test at their current prep in Year 6 and then attend an assessment day in January. Pupils applying with a view to continuing on to the senior school are assessed by Cranleigh Senior too and only offered a place if both schools are in agreement. They’ll have an interview, take part in a discussion group, do a creative writing paper and enjoy some fun, team-building activities.
There are 11+ scholarships offered in music, sport, art, design and drama, which pupils take with them into the senior school, and at 13+ there are academic and a range of other scholarships available.
Academics and senior school destinations
There is some light streaming for maths and spelling from Year 3, and all the children learn French from Year 3. Latin is introduced in Year 6 and Spanish in Year 7. From Year 5, pupils have specialist teachers and are pulling up seats in the science labs in their first week. The labs are in the fantastic Townsend Building, which also houses D&T, food tech and art rooms. The school stages an annual Townsend Prize which sees children across the whole school running their own projects on a certain theme. Cross-subject working also happens on ‘curriculum collapse’ day when all departments focus on one topic, such as space or film, with amazingly creative results.
A brand-new subject, SPARK, has been introduced for all pupils from Year 1 upwards. Standing for Skills, Passion, Art, Readiness and Knowledge, it’s a forward-thinking, holistic approach to learning that sees younger years honing communication and problem-solving skills, while older years get stuck into financial literacy and careers. Years 7 and 8 have also started a new Foundation Diploma which seamlessly carries on into Year 9 when they join the senior school. Attainment is recognised through effort with reading, communication, collaboration, problem solving, self-management and personal development, all of which make up crucial components of the holistic programme.
Discussions about senior school start in Year 5. While there is no guaranteed place at the senior school for prep pupils (this is only a given for Year 7 entry pupils, who will have sat the ISEB in Year 6 and will have been assessed for senior entry at that time), current Cranleigh Prep school pupils are exempt from sitting the ISEB if they wish to move on up, which helps them avoid stressful senior-school entrance exams. Instead, an individual approach is taken between the head, senior leadership team and parents to ensure the child is the right fit to progress onwards – and many do. Around 60 per cent of the prep school cohort headed to Cranleigh’s Senior School last year, with others leaving for top boarding schools, such as Tonbridge, Wellington and Charterhouse.
Co-curricular
All the pupils have timetabled sport three times a week and the key sports are hockey, netball, rugby, cricket and football. They have swimming lessons all year round, making use of the senior school’s pool. Alternate Saturday matches start in Year 5, with about 50 teams fielded each week so all the children get involved, playing against Aldro, Windlesham House and Hurst, among others. Cranleigh also puts forward teams for the IAPS competitions. More unusual sports include Eton fives, riding, sailing and golf – the senior school has a nine-hole course. A hugely sporty reputation precedes it but sport here is for everyone – children are encouraged to ‘play well, but with humility’ and other co-curricular pursuits are considered equally as important.
The performing arts are very strong at the school too. Drama is part of the core curriculum and, from nativity plays in the lower years to all-singing, all-dancing musical productions as children move up the years, everyone gets in on the act. Year 7 put on a summer show – last year it was
Oliver! – while the Year 8s make a film and host a premiere night which parents are invited to. Last year, they filmed
A Midsummer Night’s Dream using the school grounds as their location.
Music is equally vibrant, with prep and senior music departments managed as one by 11 staff. The music department has recently been decorated, becoming a vibrant, colourful space that is not only informative – walls are covered with biographies of and quotes from key composers – but inspirational. More than 50 peripatetic teachers come on site and pretty much every pupil plays an instrument with guitar and drums (there’s a handy sound-proof practice room) the most popular instruments for individual lessons. Reading music is taught in class, alongside performing, composing and theory. Choirs, orchestras and ensembles mean everyone enjoys music beyond the classroom.
Art and D&T are also outstanding, with extraordinarily life-like self-portraits of last year’s leavers on proud display, and there’s definitely a spirit of innovation at the school with the upper years learning coding and programming. From Year 5, pupils are let loose in an incredible tech kitchen which wouldn’t look out of place on a TV cooking competition. Nothing is off the menu – from treacle tart to sushi – and there is a Masterchef-style competition for Year 8s after CE exams. D&T and Food Tech are taught in rotation, so every child has the chance to try their hand at both.
Children are definitely kept happily busy at Cranleigh. Other clubs include Lego, brain games and stone masonry.
Boarding
Around 20 per cent of pupils board, with weekly, flexi (minimum two nights) and ad hoc boarding on offer from Year 5. Full boarding is four nights a week, with the option to board on Friday night if pupils have a Saturday match (the school is closed on Saturday nights). The boarding house is across two floors in the main building, one for the boys and one for the girls. They were renovated in 2021 and are clean and homely with pin boards and bunk beds, smart TVs and comfy sofas. Flexi boarders have their own bed, and those boarding on the same nights share a dorm so no one is left to sleep alone. A shared common room, called The Hub, has a pool table, air hockey and table tennis tables. There’s also a kitchen where the children can make themselves an evening snack. The three live-in houseparents ensure excellent pastoral care.
School community
‘This is a very, very happy school,’ Mr Newman tells us. ‘The theme of wellbeing runs through everything… there is zero chance of anyone falling through the net.’ To this end, staff meet weekly to discuss the children, ensuring all the pupils’ wellbeing is looked after, with form tutors working with the deputy head of pastoral, matrons and the chaplain. Lottie the school dog is even on hand for cuddles. The SEND department now operates from within the main academic block, so as not to single out children who are visiting the department for help. Red post-boxes, dotted around the campus and known as ‘let me know’ boxes, are provided so children can post their worries or concerns, and children are encouraged to speak up to any staff member, meaning their pastoral care is not just limited to their tutor. Every member of staff is approachable, friendly, and willing to listen to each child.
All pupils, whether day or boarding, are put in one of four houses, and the school has myriad ways for them to earn house points and engage in friendly competition. When it comes to totting up house points, it’s easy to spot which house is in the lead, with that winning house’s flag flown from the flagpole.
Year 8s give back and build on their leadership skills by reading to younger years, and the new Year 1s and 2s have been buddied up with Year 8s who are loving the responsibility of looking after them and reading to them in class. They also serve snacks daily in the dining room. Small gestures like these build on themselves and create the real sense of family and togetherness which runs throughout the school. This extends to the school’s wider community, with many families living locally and actively involved in school events, attending chapel and organising fundraisers.
And finally....
Like its senior school, Cranleigh Prep is refreshingly unpretentious. Happy in its own skin, it focuses on providing a rich education both in and out of the classroom. The result? Grounded, stress-free children, on track to achieve their best.