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Our View
Ambitious, competitive pupils (and parents), splendid buildings, an admirable academic output, towards the top of London’s Central line: Bancroft’s School could be said to have it all. Diversity is key here – economic, cultural, national – with an emphasis on scholarship in the widest sense: CCF and DofE, house drama, jazz band, art and design, a rich tapestry of cultures and backgrounds, and a healthy, happy attitude to learning.
Where is Bancroft's School?
Even with its slightly incongruous situation on an Essex dual carriageway, Bancroft’s woodland-surrounded buildings have enough Hogwarts-esque twisting passageways and spiral staircases to enchant even the most apathetic 13-year-old.
The site is refreshingly spacious for what is essentially a
London senior school. It is a 15-minute walk from the nearest Tube station (Woodford), and the school has recently added three new and extensive bus routes, extending the catchment and bringing pupils from as far afield as Mile End, Epping and Romford. The impressive Great Hall sits beside a courtyard quad with a colonnaded walkway. Facilities are great, with a newly extended sixth-form common room with its own dining space, IT room and library.
Headmaster at Bancroft's
With almost 30 years of independent-school experience under his belt, new head Alex Frazer joined Bancroft's in September 2024. He was previously director of projects at North London Collegiate School and head of Wolverhampton Grammar School.
His background (studying modern languages at Cambridge and a life dedicated to teaching) means that Mr Frazer is unashamedly academically serious, although he’s definitely ‘not banging chalk out of his elbow patches’, as he says with a wry smile. While a strong academic foundation will stand you in good stead, he firmly believes that it must be allied to a broad co-curricular base that brings with it all the skills acquired through service, endeavour and, ultimately, having fun. ‘School should be joyful,’ he says, and pupils should emerge from it with a combination of academic and wider skills, knowing their strengths and having an independence of thought and action that they can use ‘to be a positive influence on the world around them’.
Mr Frazer is keen to continue to promote the benefits of humanities alongside core subjects, feeling that it’s often STEM subjects that get the limelight. Saying that, he is confident that parents already understand the need for a truly rounded and holistic approach. The six core values – curiosity, kindness, integrity, courage, balance and excellence – that accompany the overarching ethos of ‘Being Bancroft’s’ are understood to be vital for life beyond school but also contribute to its being, in the words of Mr Frazer, ‘a very cheerful place’.
The admissions process at Bancroft's School
For entry at 11+, 50 per cent of pupils (about 60) move up from
Bancroft's Prep School, with the rest from local preps and primaries. It’s a competitive process, with lots of tutoring going on in preparation, but the school firmly discourages this. All applicants sit a computer-based reasoning test, English and maths papers, and those who make the grade are interviewed at a later date. For students wishing to join at 16+, there are exams in two subjects (which they hope to take at A-level), as well as a thinking-skills paper and an interview. Offers are made on the basis of achieving grade 9 or 8 in five GCSE subjects. Pupils are broadly local (although the radius is growing), and while some travel from Potters Bar, Winchmore Hill or Cheshunt, most live a 10- to 30-minute drive away.
The highest of high achievers in music, sport, creative arts and academics can apply for awards at both 11+ and 16+ and although these no longer come with any financial discount, recipients of these coveted accolades are expected to make a greater contribution to school life in these areas (music scholars receive complimentary tuition in one instrument). Bancroft’s also offers means-tested assisted places, which aim to offer the school’s opportunities to families who would otherwise be unable to access them.
Academics and destinations
Results are dazzling: 92 per cent of the most recent GCSEs were at grades 9-7; 49 per cent were grade 9; and 27 pupils achieved nine or more 9s. A-levels were similarly punchy, with 92 per cent of pupils achieving A*-B in all their exams and just over a third of the total grades at A-level were A*.
Maths and sciences are popular A-level choices – 30 per cent of girls take physics and most pupils study maths – with stellar results (one maths teacher told us that his department is famously competitive). Computer science is thriving, with plenty of involvement in competitions and challenges beyond school, and there’s a good gender balance here too. Solving real-world problems is high on the agenda with one design, technology and engineering student creating and constructing a wearable desk for children in refugee camps who want to be able to continue their studies.
In a move to embrace a wider portfolio, psychology A-level has been added to the sixth-form curriculum this year, increasing the opportunities for pupils to push beyond family expectations and to choose for themselves. It’s a subject that Mr Frazer is very comfortable with, having introduced it at a previous school, and, along with a wide array of modern languages on offer (German, French, Spanish and Russian), there are plenty of options.
Bancroft's pupils are an aspirational, hard-working bunch, with plenty aiming for and winning places at
top universities including Oxbridge, UCL, LSE, Imperial College London, Durham, Bristol and Edinburgh, with many medics and engineers among them.
The appointment of a head of development and fundraising is also boosting the power of the Bancroft’s network, growing the philanthropic side of the school’s offering as well as developing a sense of what the old Bancroft’s community can do to support current pupils and leavers. ‘It’s a brilliant “Beyond Bancroft’s” reason to be part of Bancroft’s now,’ says Mr Frazer, who feels that ‘school life should be fulfilling and enjoyable – happy and successful as you go through it, and leading to an ability to thrive in adult life’. The school is certainly working hard to support every part of that journey.
Co-curricular
Sport hasn’t always been a top priority, but it is now flying high. Rugby, hockey, netball and cricket are still the biggies, with football offered as a timetabled option from Year 11. The appointment of a very strong director of sport has been the catalyst for a burgeoning sense of competition but firmly under the banner of ‘sport for all’. Breadth of sport is ever-increasing, and the growing interest in football and cricket for girls has been matched only by a flourishing in boys’ football, resulting in the fielding of no less than four separate senior teams on the weekend before our visit.
PE lessons have been re-engineered as ‘physical literacy’, helping pupils to understand what they are being asked to do and why. It’s a broad discipline, which makes the links between physical activity and mental health and supports the physical requirements of all games, whether that’s yoga, cycling or netball.
The newly opened functional-training gym (at the nearby seven-acre West Grove sports facility) is a snazzy nod to the importance of elevating personal fitness at Bancroft’s. With eight lifting platforms, a pull-up station, assault bikes, SkiErgs and more, it legitimises the preference for personal challenge (rather than team sports) expressed by some pupils, while also supporting the new Elite Sporting Programme for those who want to go further. The school also boasts extensive pitches, a superb sports hall and indoor pool on site, while also making use of the pitches and track at West Grove.
There’s
CCF for (almost) everyone – heaps of children were running around in camo on the afternoon we visited. Our pupil guide was hilarious about the challenges of learning to march while carrying a rifle and raved about the joys of ‘Night Ex’ and ‘Sniper Stalk’.
DofE is popular with many pupils too, with plenty gaining their gold awards. But Bancroft’s has taken things up a notch with a spring-term Hunger Games week, beginning with an author visit to talk about dystopian fiction, which leads to discussions about various scenarios and the strategies necessary to lead a small community of survivors to safety. And it’s not only theoretical: lunchtimes are given over to jousting, archery and escape room contests in which Tribunes (house tutor groups) compete to ‘survive’.
Music is another strength, with an annual concert in Drapers' Hall. Drama is a core part of the curriculum in Years 7 and 8 – there are house, school and even Edinburgh Fringe productions. Our visit coincided with an impressive dress rehearsal of Gershwin’s Crazy for You with a cast drawn from across the senior school. The annual interfaith production, Taal, is a highlight of the school year: a song and dance extravaganza staged by the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Muslim Society. The all-faith chapel assemblies are an intrinsic part of school life, with each year group attending weekly.
This is an incredibly busy place, with too many clubs and activities to mention (newcomers are encouraged to join at least a handful at the freshers’ fair), and if a club doesn’t exist, pupils can start their own. The school even has their own IdentiTEA society, their Pride group run by their diversity and inclusion coordinators, with an inclusive Pride week each year.
Bancroft's school community
The Bancroft’s community extends beyond the school gates. The school has close ties to
The Drapers’ Company, while leavers join more than 4,500 other alumni as part of the Old Bancroftians’ Association, and the parents’ association works tirelessly to run a number of fundraising events. Pupils throw themselves into community work too, with senior pupils hosting a weekly social club called Phab for the physically impaired and swimming sessions with children from a local special-needs school. Pupils also run science and modern languages fairs with local primary children and invite members of the local community in to watch matinee performances of student-led productions.
Pastoral care is strong, with the house system providing a solid foundation – tutors and house staff are the daily point of contact and consistency. Older students are encouraged to take responsibility for wellbeing, engage with younger pupils and even present PSHE material in a format that will resonate more profoundly when delivered by peers. Workshops throughout the year teach parents and pupils how to deal with digital technology, handle academic pressures and forge positive mental-health strategies.
And finally....
In our book, this is an exceptional place with brainy, creative children and which feels delightfully low-key for a school that boasts so many accomplishments. One pupil described the school community as the ‘Bancroft’s Bubble’ and we rather liked it: hardworking, ambitious and energetically pursuing the six core values that will unlock the door to successful adulthood. It sounds like a pretty good bubble for these fortunate teens to be in.