Frensham Heights School
Frensham Heights School
Frensham Heights School
Frensham Heights School
Frensham Heights School Farnham, Surrey Visit
school
Frensham Heights School
Farnham
505 pupils, ages 3-18
Mixed
Day and Boarding

Frensham Heights School

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Our View of Frensham Heights School

‘We ditch the lanes other schools make kids walk in,’ says head Ben McCarey of this Surrey co-ed that has been a beacon of progressive education since it was founded 100 years ago. The focus here is on championing creativity and individuality, and with its liberal and non-punitive approach, first-name terms and absence of uniform, it allows children to show up as themselves knowing they’ll be valued and respected for who they are. The school continues to 18, with boarding from Year 7, making it a compelling all-through option.

Where is Frensham Heights School?

Set on the outskirts of the pretty Surrey village of Rowledge, a few miles from Farnham, Frensham Heights sits in a beautiful red-brick Edwardian mansion in 125 acres of glorious countryside. The views of the South Downs from here are blockbuster. The house is jam-packed with stunning original features and grand reception rooms, and each section of the school has its own area on what feels like a really close-knit campus. The all-through ethos is evident, with nursery children beetling about among the sixth-formers – and Frensham’s extensive facilities are available to all of the 500 or so students.  

Most day pupils live in the nearby towns of Guildford, Farnham and Godalming, with an extensive school bus network helping bring them in each day.

School headmaster

Ben McCarey joined the school in September 2024 from his previous post as head of Holyport College, a secondary state boarding and day school, and he’s got stuck in from the get-go – in one term he’s already sung on stage three times, dressed up in drag and tested out the school’s new 150ft zip wire on its refurbished Go-Ape course. He clearly loves the school and tells us becoming head of Frensham Heights ‘felt like fate’, as after 20 years in the state system he’d become ‘disillusioned with the narrow set of hoops the system forces pupils to jump through’. Since his arrival, as well as ‘reintroducing fun’ by modelling it himself, he’s also been fostering pupils’ sense of belonging and community, in part by moving away from the school’s traditional non-competitive ethos. ‘Competition done well unites the community,’ he says. ‘We need to teach kids to win well and lose well.’ A recent inter-house singing competition saw pupils and staff singing, playing instruments and even choreographing dances to the delight of all. ‘I want the kids to drive the direction of travel with house competitions providing it comes with unity, community and joy,’ says Mr McCarey.

Admissions process

Frensham is a truly all-through school offering a holistic approach to educating the whole child from nursery to Year 13. There is currently single-form entry from Reception to Year 3, with numbers increasing higher up the school. Years 7 and 9 are key entry points, and demand has led to an extra class being added in both groups. The school has enough space in most year groups to offer flexibility to newcomers, but places are being swiftly filled by parents leaving London. Some families also welcome a fringe benefit of the all-through model: the opportunity to escape the potential stress of the 11+.  

While the school is selective, it’s not highly academically so. Children joining in Year 7 will sit an exam but they do so alongside Frensham’s own Year 6, which is a good way of informally calibrating the cohort.  

Sixth-form entry is strong – some students move on after GCSEs (perhaps for a change of scene in some cases), but there is always a fresh intake of students looking to finish their educational journey in this progressive environment. Anyone looking to join the school at this stage is expected to achieve at least six GCSEs at grades 9-4.

Academics and destinations

The academic ethos here revolves around critical and creative thinking, and collaboration was a word that sprang to mind repeatedly during our visit to Frensham. Teachers work closely with individuals and groups of students alike, pupils co-operate and confer to get the job done and staff have a mutual respect – partly due, perhaps, to the importance of parity across all subjects. Children are encouraged to find their potential and to thrive but not to be defined by exam results. This deliberate lack of competition is also apparent in the absence of a head boy/girl or prefects, and children aren’t singled out for prizes in a formal speech day. Instead, the aim is to build relationships that spark learning – and using teachers’ first names is one way that Frensham creates an environment of trust. Provided it doesn’t disrupt the class, students are allowed to learn however they wish – be it sitting in a window seat or with their books spread out on the floor. It all helps contribute to the lovely relaxed environment.

In the school's most recent inspection, both the quality of students' academic achievement and the personal development was found to be excellent – and the report commented that students are 'supported by teaching that is strongly focused on the individual' as they 'develop outstanding levels of self-knowledge, confidence, self-discipline and resilience' – high praise indeed. 

Languages are taught from nursery, with the option to choose either French, Spanish or both from Year 7. Streaming starts in Year 7 for maths and Year 8 for English; students have the same tutor in Year 7 & 8 and then in Year 9-11, before moving to mixed-year tutor groups in the sixth form. GCSE choices are very flexible too, with no one obliged to choose subjects that fit into pre-defined blocks (languages aren’t compulsory, for example).

Frensham boasts three ICT suites, and technology is a big focus. Students in Year 10 and above can sign up for a BTEC in Esport, which is highly focused on the business element of gaming (students might try their hand at managing a brand or developing a product) and taught in an incredible gaming room which must be utopia for many teenagers. The library is more comprehensively stocked with publications than many reputable newsagents. It is a buzzy and friendly place, with a hot-chocolate machine and a wonderfully engaging librarian who will source any book for you on the school Kindle if it can’t already be found on the shelves.  

Creative subjects get top billing here, and are among some of the most popular A-level subjects alongside maths and ICT (they were recently runners-up in a national computing competition). Last year the most popular university course was PPE, and the most popular university Exeter. Nearly all the students headed off to Russell Group universities, with the rest choosing an art foundation, a job in industry, even a role performing in the West End.

Co-curricular at Frensham Heights School

Sport is inclusive here and definitely more about the enjoyment of taking part and the benefits of being fit and healthy rather than the need to win, so if your child is highly competitive on the sporting front, this may not be the school for them. There are no Saturday inter-school games (or indeed any Saturday school), although Frensham does arrange a significant number of fixtures across all year groups during the week.

Football is big for both boys and girls and netball is one of the strongest sports. Pupils can play mixed hockey in the spring term, along with badminton, fencing, basketball, tennis and table tennis. Cricket, swimming, dodgeball, high ropes, cycling, athletics and rounders are all on offer too, and students can follow a competitive or non-competitive sporting track. There are plenty of opportunities to get stuck into something a bit different, too – Frensham pupils are currently representing Great Britain in mountain biking, rowing and dance.

The creative arts at Frensham Heights are remarkable – and it’s getting even better: ‘Creative arts have always been a strength, now it’s an acceleration,’ says Mr McCarey. The enormous arts centre is quite something: there’s an impressive darkroom with eight projectors, a dedicated ceramics room with six potters’ wheels and several kilns, a metalworking area and facilities for woodwork and jewellery-making – plus a dedicated exhibition space. Children in Years 7,8 and 9 benefit from a full six hours of creative arts a week, including ceramics, fine art, drama, dance, music and D&T, all overseen by a hugely passionate and inspirational head of faculty. Dance is now timetabled from Year 7 to 9 and offered at GCSE and A level. The school dance troupe was even part of the Dance World Cup – ‘Dance is not exclusive, nor is it a bolt-on,’ Mr McCarey tells us. There are two lovely dance studios with sprung floors, and a new Frensham Heights Arts Awards programme offers intense dance coaching alongside A-levels, helping prepare pupils for a professional career. 

Drama takes place in the huge, professional-standard Aldridge Theatre, which also offers a box office and café where parents can wait while students are finishing off their club activities. Students can get stuck into set design, lighting and sound production. You’ll also find a brilliantly eclectic range of musical groups and bands with rock and pop concerts aplenty; recently, the sixth formers staged a Back to Broadway evening. They were also inspired to perform a cabaret show after a drag artist came in to speak to them. They told the head they ‘want to be more edgy’ and, as mentioned, Mr McCarey got fully involved. Students have the use of a music tech room and recording studio and sometimes unexpectedly benefit from a tune from the ukulele band as they wander the halls. As with everything here, music is student-led but the staff will offer support and help children in any way they can to pick up an instrument and enjoy music. Nearly half of the students play an instrument, which means the timetabling of a whopping 200 music lessons or more a week.  

School clubs are anything but the usual suspects; Years 9 to 11 are expected to take three clubs per term but the challenge may well be deciding which to choose. Contemporary dance, parkour, bike maintenance, creative writing and survival skills all feature, and you’re in luck if you've always wanted to learn the art of ninjutsu.

The plethora of welly racks gave us our first clue to the importance of outdoor learning here. From forest school for the youngest students to camp-outs and Duke of Edinburgh, being out and about here is unquestionably part of creating resilient young people willing to try something new. The big trip for Year 12s is a 10-day outdoor-learning extravaganza to Knoydart, a peninsula on the west coast of Scotland. Students take part in team building, activities and projects designed to enhance their curriculum (local culture, history and language), engage with the community (building otter hides or a giant draughts board for visitors) and challenge them (kayaking, navigation, survival skills). Oh, and it’s a tech-free zone, which in itself may be a challenge for many teenagers.  

Frensham Height's brilliant initiative, The Village – which sees Year 8 pupils head off for two nights wild camping – deserves a shout-out too. It’s brilliantly character-building stuff, with students making tents from tarpaulin, learning about foraging and fire building and eating supper off plates made in their woodwork classes. Frensham has also launched a partnership with Worthy Earth, which has seen students work in tandem with three full-time horticulturalists to lay the foundations of an agro-ecological, sustainable kitchen garden. Designed as an interactive learning resource, it’s the perfect way for them to gain awareness of the social reality of food production and an understanding of sustainability and biodiversity – and working on the farm is now an integral part of the Year 7 and 8 curriculum.

Trips are next level – surfing in Cornwall, outward bound expeditions to Scotland and, for Year 9 upwards the amazing opportunity to go on the biennial outreach trip to the Malawi Schools Trust.

Boarding at Frensham Heights School

Around 100 students board at Frensham Heights; around half are weekly or flexi and around 15 per cent of the boarders are from overseas. There are three boarding houses: Hamilton House for students in Years 7 to 9 (where pupils sleep in small dorms), Main House in the historic part of the school for Years 10 and 11 and Roberts House for sixth form, which is set up like a university hall, with single rooms and two kitchens for rustling up light meals. All have a lovely family feel and bright, welcoming and comfortable common rooms, plus a huge lawn to let off steam on.  

Sian, Frensham’s head of boarding, has worked here for years – and house staff are charming with a great sense of humour. When we visited, she told us the boarding model here gives pupils an important mix of freedom and responsibility. Specialist teachers will often open up facilities for a particular activity at the weekend, but boarders can also enjoy shopping trips to Guildford, walks with the staff dogs, skating or trips to Harry Potter World. Boarders have access to their phones in the evening but at a certain time (depending on age), phones are stored safely in their charging cupboards and internet is switched off.

Frensham Heights school community

The informal environment here is credited for helping to create strong and respectful relationships between students and staff, while a no uniform rule allows children to express themselves. There’s a dedicated pastoral space, The Hub, for students to drop into anytime they wish, and a clever red, amber and green card system helps children discreetly remove themselves from lessons when needed. Counsellors and members of staff are on hand to talk to and Mr McCarey is keen to help pupils feel safe about making themselves more emotionally vulnerable – ‘Teenagers today need to see that it’s okay to not feel okay.’


An extended lunch break gives students plenty of time to chill out, stretch their legs and take part in clubs in the middle of a busy day, and wraparound care means everyone can stay on for homework and supper for a small additional fee. Students eat communally, which feels absolutely right at a school like this. The food is excellent, and Mr McCarey is moving towards the kitchen being self-sufficient in everything from seasonal veg to meat. ‘I want to teach kids where food comes from, the more hands on the better.’   

Parents are an involved part of the community, organising fundraisers, as well as having a voice in all areas of the school. They were recently consulted on whether to ban mobile phones. Pupils also had a say, too, and a ban was brought in. Being Frensham Heights though, this hasn’t translated into searches or handing in of phones. Rather, pupils are trusted to ‘get it right’. Parents, like pupils, are fully invested, says Mr McCarey. ‘They believe in the uniqueness of the school.’

And finally....

This isn’t a uniformed or brand-driven school. It doesn’t rate itself on academic results but instead asks children to be brave, pose questions, be respectful and be themselves. We had a good sense that both students and staff felt empowered and accepted for who they are. If you’re looking for a school that really puts child’s needs first, Frensham Heights ticks all the right boxes.

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  • Academic results

    GCSE results
    A level results
    Download results as PDF
  • Subjects offered

    GCSE

    Art & Design
    Biology
    Business Studies
    Chemistry
    Computer Science
    Design and Technology
    Drama and Theatre Studies
    Economics
    English Language
    English Literature
    French
    Further Mathematics
    Geography
    German
    History
    Mathematics
    Music
    Photography
    Physical Education
    Physics
    Psychology
    Religious Studies
    Spanish
    Graphic Communication
    Fine Art
    3D Design
    Dance

    A Level

    Art & Design
    Biology
    Business Studies
    Chemistry
    Computer Science
    Design and Technology
    Drama and Theatre Studies
    Economics
    English Language
    English Literature
    French
    Further Mathematics
    Geography
    German
    Government and Politics
    History
    Mathematics
    Music
    Philosophy
    Photography
    Physical Education
    Physics
    Politics
    Psychology
    Religious Studies
    Spanish
    Film Studies
    Sociology
    Fine Art
    3D Design/Product Design
    Graphic Communication
    Music Technology
    Dance
  • Fees and bursaries

    Day fees per term

    Year 7£9,066
    Year 8 £9,066
    Year 9 £9,564
    Year 10£9,564
    Year 11£9,564
    Year 12£10,104
    Year 13£10,104
    Boarding fees per term

    Year 7£13,182
    Year 8 £13,182
    Year 9 £14,994
    Year 10 £14,994
    Year 11£14,994
    Year 12£15,768
    Year 13£15,768




    Bursary contact:
    Director of Finance Simone Larkins
    Bursar@frensham.org
  • SEND

    This school currently supports the following kinds of learning needs, health needs and physical disabilities:
    Frensham is open to applications from any prospective student with a physical and/or mental impairment and each application will be considered on its merits within the Frensham’s criteria for selection on the grounds of the student’s ability and aptitude. The registration form will enable the parents to give details of their child's disability and on completion of this form the 3 school will, if appropriate, request from the parents or the previous school full details in the form of medical reports, Educational Psychologist/Specialist assessor reports and any other report which assesses the child's disability so that the school can make an assessment of the reasonable adjustments that would be needed in order to provide adequately for the child's physical and educational needs.

    This school currently delivers the following interventions to pupils in class and outside class to support their learning, health and/or physical needs:
    One to one and group support sessions in English, Maths and study skills.

    This school currently provides the following support for pupils' mental health needs
    Frensham has two counsellors available for the children to consult with if they would like to. Consultations are confidential and children can self-refer.

    Co-ordinator: Mrs Beverley Wrigglesworth admissions@frensham.org
  • Transport links

    School Transport
    School bus service to/from London
    School daily bus network

    Public Transport
    Nearest mainline train station: Farnham
    Journey time to London by train: 50 minutes
    Nearest international airport: Heathrow (45 miles)


  • Parents tell us

    ‘From the minute my daughter saw Frensham she felt as if she belonged, was understood and heard. 

    Academically she is thriving and is predicted top grades, I think this is because she is happy and encouraged. I love the fact that Frensham sees the whole person, they can have friendships across the year groups and it is small. Children are encouraged to learn from any mistakes they might make, see the bigger picture, learn to think creatively and support one another. 

    I'm a fan of the first name and no uniform policy, all beings are equally important within the school - that said, there is mutual respect and people often remark how engaging the students are to talk to. 

    The admissions process was based on an interview with the Headmaster and my daughter was encouraged to ask questions and be herself. The exams she took were guidelines to help the school understand her strengths and weaknesses and were not results-based. We were only told that she had done well, not what the percentage was. 

    For my daughter, the pastoral care has been incredible - there is always someone who she can talk to and I feel that the school knows her extremely well. 

    Frensham doesn’t offer a traditional public school experience - for example, at the end of year nine the entire year group is taken to an isolated part of Scotland for nearly three weeks to do lessons, community work and live with no tech. They learn so much about resilience and what they are capable of by doing this. 

    The school community is quite close-knit in the younger years especially. There is a real sense of community and support for new parents, a Parent Committee who act as a conduit between the year groups and the parent body to facilitate effective communication (both positive and negative) and the Friends of Frensham who are in effect a PTA that organises social and charity events regularly. 

    I wish I had sent all five of my children here! It has definitely lived up to my expectations.

    My advice for new parents would be to remain open-minded and just relax. It’s a massive shock to the system if you have come from a traditional prep school and it does take some time to acclimatise, for parents more than children who usually settle in five minutes.’
  • FAQs

    Does Frensham Heights School have any notable alumni?
    Frensham Heights School has a large amount of notable ex-pupils across a range of professions, known as Old Frenshamians. Examples include Jon Petrwee, known for being the third actor to play ‘The Doctor’ in Doctor Who, comedian Jack Dee, member of parliament for Crawley Henry Smith and Nick Mason CBE, drummer and founder of the band Pink Floyd. 

    What is the ethos of Frensham Heights School?
    As a member of the International Progressive Education Network, Frensham Heights believes in offering children an alternative style of education based on mutual respect, tolerance and generosity of spirit. The school aims to embrace creativity, nurture a strong community spirit and celebrate the authenticity of each child, providing a place where they can be themselves.

School Updates

  • Regeneration Captures the Haunting Reality of War

    Frensham Heights School's recent production of Regeneration, based on Pat Barker's acclaimed novel, has been hailed as a triumph.
    Regeneration Captures the Haunting Reality of War
  • Frensham Heights School Celebrates Outstanding GCSE Results

    Frensham Heights School is delighted to announce exceptional GCSE results across a broad range of subjects, reflecting the school's commitment to offering a dynamic and modern education.
    Frensham Heights School Celebrates Outstanding GCSE Results
  • Frensham Heights Students Soar to New Heights with Stunning A-Level Results

    This year’s A-Level results are nothing short of brilliant and the school is immensely proud of their Sixth Form leavers. The results, an amazing 48% A*-A, 75% A*-B and 90% A*-C, are a testament to the students’ incredible resilience, hard work and passion.
    Frensham Heights Students Soar to New Heights with Stunning A-Level Results
  • Frensham Heights Students Shine Brightly in LAMDA Drama Exams

    Frensham Heights is delighted to announce outstanding results in the recent LAMDA drama examinations. An impressive 41 students sat the exams, with a phenomenal 34 achieving Distinction and 7 securing Merit.
    Frensham Heights Students Shine Brightly in LAMDA Drama Exams
  • Headteacher braves extreme camping challenge to raise funds for Surrey based cancer charity

    Frensham Heights School’s Headteacher Andrew Fisher is in the middle of a week-long extreme camping challenge from Monday 29 January, to raise £5000 for Surrey based cancer charity, The Fountain Centre.
    Headteacher braves extreme camping challenge to raise funds for Surrey based cancer charity
  • See Frensham Heights School in our All-through Schools Guide.

    See Frensham Heights School in our All-through Schools Guide.
  • See Frensham Heights School in our Senior Boarding Schools Guide.

    See Frensham Heights School in our Senior Boarding Schools Guide.
  • Weekly boarding: everything you need to know

    Weekly boarding: everything you need to know
  • All-through schools: everything you need to know

    All-through schools: everything you need to know

Essentials

Address
Rowledge, Farnham, Surrey GU10 4EA

Contact
admissions@frensham.org
01252 792561

Website
frensham.org

ISI Report

Fees

Term Dates


Open Days

Open days and how to visit View Open Days Register for open Day

Whole School Open Evening
09 May 2025
Whole School Open Morning
20 June 2025


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