Tatler crowns the best private schools in Britain: Kate’s alma mater, remote Scottish institution disliked by King Charles and ‘Hippie Hogwarts’ all make the list – as well as places boasting scuba diving lessons, an F1 simulator and ‘no uniform’

Tatler has unveiled its annual pick of the best private schools in the UK – including the Princess of Wales’s alma mater as well as the Scottish institute King Charles grudgingly attended. 

The British society bible’s Schools Guide 2027 is packed with world-class educational institutions for children aged four to 18 – and unsurprisingly, many come with eye-watering fees.

However, none are as pricey as the £69,561-a-year Brighton College, which combines academic rigour with wellbeing in what many feel is a unique approach to education, as one parent noted the ’emphasis on kindness and the individual’.  

Eton College comes in at a close second; after Prince William and Prince Harry, now future heir George, 13, is set to attend the £63,000-a-year boarding school. 

The UWC Atlantic College in Wales, often referred to as ‘Hippie Hogwarts’ and increasingly popular among European royals, also made the cut this year. 

Other notable inclusions were Emma Watson’s alma mater as well as St Paul’s Girls’ School in London, which boasts no uniforms. 

Harrow School (boys) 

Term fees: £21,990 boarding

Since it was founded in 1572, Harrow has been synonymous with excellence in education, but the school that counts Sir Winston Churchill among its alumni has also shaped the early years of Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch and England rugby captain Maro Itoje. 

Students at the prestigious boarding school take an interest in everything from gardening and conservation to skiing, squash and especially music.

That doesn’t mean academia takes a backseat; Tatler reported that 124 students went on to study at QS World Top Ten universities, with ten receiving offers from Oxbridge. 

St Paul’s Girls’ School

Term fees: £12,854 

Life at St Paul’s Girls’ sounds like something out of a dream; an extra-long lunch hour devoted to hobbies like stargazing and scuba diving, school trips to Japan and no uniforms. 

One student confirmed that ‘going beyond the curriculum is not just a slogan’ at the school in Brook Green that was attended by TV presenter Susanna Reid as well as The Crown actress Viola Prettejohn. 

The cherry on top is St Paul’s’ academic record; despite having ‘few rules’, a whopping 49 students have been enrolled at Oxbridge. Even more impressively, nearly 67 per cent were graded A* in the recent A-level results. 

Benenden School (girls only)

Term fees: £15,400 day; £21,300 boarding 

Attended by the Princess Royal, it’s easy to see why this Kent school, set on 240 acres of countryside, appealed to the outdoors-loving royal.

Pupils are encouraged to eschew stereotypes and race self-built cars, earn thousands of pounds in Dragon’s Den-style initiatives, climb mountains and do parachute jumps.

Boarders enjoy weekend pool parties and murder mystery dinners, and Benenden won the 2021 Tatler Schools Best Food Award after it sent brownies to its alumnae who were stuck in university halls during lockdown.

Westminster School (mixed) 

Term fees: day £17,482; boarding £23,094 

Westminster School is currently transitioning to becoming fully co-educational by 2030 after it started admitting girls to sixth form in 1973. 

By September 2030, the school will admit girls to every year in what has been described as one of the most ‘significant and exciting changes’ in the institute’s nearly 500-year history. 

Parents and students alike have praised Westminster’s ‘free-thinking’ approach to education that ‘instils a love of learning’ and translates into stellar academic results. 

Eton College (boys) 

Term fees: £21,892

Perhaps the most famous boys’ school in the world, Eton College is both Prince William and Prince Harry’s alma mater – with Prince George now also enrolled in the Berkshire boarding school. 

Considering Eton is fit for a King, it’s no wonder that the establishment received a spot on Tatler’s ultimate guide.

The institute, founded by King Henry VI in 1440, maintains a 20 per cent acceptance rate (1 out of every five applications is successful), making it highly coveted among parents.

It also offers prestigious scholarships including 12 Orwell Awards given to candidates for whom an Eton education would be transformational.

In 2024, Eton Connect coordinated over 5,000 state school pupils visiting its museums and collections, and the school also sponsors the London Academy of Excellence, a sixth form in Newham.

According to Eton Headmaster, Simon Henderson, the school’s biggest strength is the diversity of opportunities available to pupils.

Wellington College (mixed)

Term fees: day £10,380; boarding £14,210

Founded in 1853, this Berkshire school boasts lessons in Happiness and Positive Psychology which it’s even extended to parents.

Sporty students benefit from 16 rugby and football pitches as well as a climbing wall and nine-hole golf course, as well as an outdoor pool where some take part in the Maniacs challenge, swimming two lengths before 7:30am.

The school even has its own TV channel, WTV, where budding journalists can present news programmes.

St George’s Ascot 

 Term fees: £11,675 day; £14,995 boarding

The exclusive St George’s School in Ascot, which was originally a boys’ school, has an impressive alumni list including Sir Winston Churchill and Princess Beatrice.

The reason it counts everyone from politicians and royals to business leaders among its alumni is St George’s hands-on approach to education that’s designed so every single student receives personalised attention.

Despite being a school based in a town, the institution has a rural feel, according to the publication, with communal allotments for pupils to harvest fruit and vegetables to use for their cookery school lessons. 

Brighton College 

Term fees: day £13,259; boarding £23,187

In 2023, Brighton College was named the most expensive private school in Britain as the Daily Mail reported that parents will have to shell out just under £65,000 a year for a full sixth-form boarder. 

The fees have since increased but the school’s impressive facilities, including a £55 million sports and science building with a rooftop running track and a cinema, academic credentials and ‘a huge emphasis on kindness’ have also earned the school a place in Tatler’s round-up. 

Famous faces that attended Brighton College include England rugby player Marcus Smith, economic historian Lord Skidelsky and Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloe Zhao. 

Headington Rye Oxford (mixed)  

Term fees: day £10,261; boarding £20,688 

Students at this school are encouraged to pursue different extracurricular activities alongside their coursework, meaning days at Headington Rye Oxford are typically packed. 

From gardening and sewing to robotics and artificial intelligence, hundreds of hobbies and interests are nurtured at the prestigious school that counts Harry Potter star Emma Watson among its most famous alumni. 

In addition to producing stellar A-level results, the school also champions student wellbeing with seminars on sleep quality, nutrition, and movement.  

Reigate Grammar School (mixed) 

Term fees: £9,900

Reigate Grammar School has consistently delivered strong A-level results and boasts of several top-notch facilities for sports – including a soon-to-be inaugurated F1 simulator. 

But parents said the thing they find most ‘valuable’ is the quality of pastoral care – from the head teacher Shaun Fenton’s open-door policy to small class sizes and support systems aimed at fostering emotional resilience. 

Marlborough College (mixed)

Term fees: £17,076 day; £21,345 boarding 

Formerly attended by the Princess of Wales, Marlborough students are a well-rounded bunch. One of its pupils recently became an Olympian while two play lacrosse for England and the polo team won the intermediate section of the national championships.

It recently opened an Innovation Centre set to teach STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in a new, more dynamic way.  

UWC Atlantic College (mixed)

Term fees: £19,700

Colloquially known as Hippie Hogwarts, this school in the Vale of Glamorgan is proving increasingly popular among young European royals.

The future Queen of Spain, Princess Leonor, and Princess Alexia of the Netherlands (who is following in her father King Willem-Alexander’s footsteps) were among its most recent cohort, with the college’s 356 pupils coming from 90 different countries.

As such, its attraction to parents is diverse friends and experiences for their children – many of whom go on to an appropriately diverse group of universities across the world.

Oundle School (mixed)

Term fees: day £13,300; £20,385 boarding

Attended by England rugby player Tom Curry, this Northamptonshire school boasts a state-of-the-art sports centre housing a 50m swimming pool as well as a 70 station fitness suite and dance studio.

It describes itself as a school with a big heart, and supports The Exchange podcast in which activists discuss issues such as body image and consent.

The school, which charges between £22,000 for day pupils and £45,000 a year for full-time boarders, values tradition but is also renowned for its art and music, being eco-conscious and with strong pastoral care.

Oundle School is now the third-largest boarding school in England, only behind Eton and Millfield, and has about 820 boarders and 310 day pupils.

It started admitting girls in 1990 and now has a 60/40 male-to-female ratio.

Gordonstoun (mixed)

Term fees: £16,365; boarding £23,000

Attended by both the late Prince Philip and now King Charles – who described it as ‘Colditz in kilts’ – this remote Scottish school appears to place a greater emphasis on fun than it used to. For Movember, a maths teacher grew a moustache in the shape of pi.

Its character-building ethos emphasises helping children find their passion, be that sailing its 80-ft yacht or making furniture. Dance is also compulsory for all students.

The Tatler Schools Guide is available online and at newsstands