Leighton Park School

Leighton Park School/Reading
Location
Shinfield Road

Reading
,
Berkshire
,
RG2 7ED

England
Information
TypePrivate school
Public school
Day and boarding school
Religious affiliationsReligious Society of Friends
(Quaker)
Established1890 (1890)
HeadLuke Walters
Staff~213[1]
GenderCo-educational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment~597
ColoursBlue, Copper, White      
PublicationThe Park
Campus65-acre (260,000 m2) parkland campus
Former PupilsOld Leightonians
Websiteleightonpark.com
Peckover Hall

Leighton Park School is a co-educational private school for day and boarding pupils in Reading in South East England. Founded in 1890 as a Quaker school, its ethos remains closely aligned with Quaker values. The school describes its core values as “The Stripes”, defined as simplicity, truth, respect, integrity, peace, equality and sustainability.[2] It is one of the 10 Quaker schools in the UK.[3]

Overview

The school is based in a 65-acre (26 ha) parkland estate just south of Reading town centre, next to the University of Reading's Whiteknights Park campus.[4] The school has been a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference since 1932. It offers both the International Baccalaureate and A Levels at Sixth Form.

The school won Senior School of the Year in the Independent Schools Association (ISA) Awards 2023, the largest independent schools’ body in the UK. This success came on the back of Leighton Park also being acknowledged as one of the country’s best independent schools in the prestigious TES Schools Awards 2023

Luke Walters has been the headmaster since September 2025.[5]

At A level, in 2019 pupils had a progress score rated “Well Above Average”, with an average gain of +0.6 of a grade per subject.[6]

In 2025 the school reported that 68% of A-level entries achieved grades A*–B (73% for boarders), 40% of grades were A*–A, and 14% were A*. Fifteen students gained straight A*–A grades.[7]

The school was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in November 2024 (report published January 2025) and was found to meet all statutory standards; inspectors highlighted the strength of the school’s Quaker-values ethos and commended its broad and balanced curriculum, pastoral care, and overall educational provision.[8]


There are 27 music teachers covering a range of instruments.[9] The school offers dance with a new studio built in 2020 and a GCSE and A Levels qualifications available. The school's music and media centre opened in 2019. It offers a BTech in Digital Media Production at both level 2 and level 3 and works with nearby Pinewood Studios.

Old School and the attached teaching accommodation at Leighton Park are Grade II listed buildings.[10] Grove House was designed by the Victorian architect Alfred Waterhouse, who also designed the Natural History Museum in London and was himself an old boy of Grove House School.[11]

History

Leighton Park was opened in 1890 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), as a public school for boys. It was founded after Grove House School, also a Quaker school, closed in 1877. Grove House School had educated notable personalities such as Lord Lister, Alfred Waterhouse and Thomas Hodgkin.

Leighton Park grew from four boys in 1890 to 103 in the 1920s. The junior school became the independent Crosfields School, making Leighton Park solely a senior school. By 1970 the school had 300 pupils, and in 1975 girls were admitted to the sixth form. In 1993 the school became fully coeducational. Today the school is home to around 597 pupils, drawn from more than 45 different countries.[12][13]

In 2015, the school celebrated its 125-year anniversary.[14]

Several of the school’s buildings have also marked significant milestones over the years, including Fryer, the centre for pupils in Years 7 and 8, which celebrated its 100th birthday.[15]

In March 2016, the school was granted planning permission to redevelop the main hall and music department into the Music and Media Centre (MMC). The new facility officially opened in March 2019.[16]

In October 2024, the historic Grove House was redeveloped and officially opened as the School’s new Sixth Form Study Centre and whole-school Library. The renovation converted the former boarding house into modern study spaces, a lecture theatre, sixth-form common room, classrooms, silent-study areas, and social spaces — and the Grove building is now fully in use as part of the school’s facilities.[17]

Press

Leighton Park appeared on the BBC One Show in 2020, featuring the school's production of PPE for health workers during the Covid-19 pandemic[18] Leighton Park was featured on the BBC Politics Show, which was hosted at the site in December 2010.[19]

In April 2005, Quaker-based Sunday Worship was broadcast live from Leighton Park on BBC Radio 4. Heard by an estimated 1.75 million listeners, the sequence of readings, music, ministry and silence "reflected the essence of Quaker values to the wider world."[20]

In November 2011 thieves stole Maverick the Harris hawk from a teacher's aviary. Maverick was used "to build a more adventurous curriculum for pupils" and helped students learn physics. Pupils were left distraught after the theft as a core team of pupils had been trained to handle him.[21]

Former pupils

Notable old pupils include:

Arms

Coat of arms of Leighton Park School
Notes
Granted in 1926[25]
Escutcheon
Sable six oak leaves three two and one Or.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Leighton Park School — Charity Commission register". Charity Commission. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  2. ^ "30 Minutes With… Matthew Judd, Leighton Park School". School Management Plus. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  3. ^ "Find a Quaker School". Quaker Education in UK and Ireland. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  4. ^ "The Park". Leighton Park School. 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Leighton Park School appoints new Head from September 2025". Leighton Park School. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  6. ^ "Leighton Park School: Advanced level qualifications (level 3)". Gov.UK. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  7. ^ "Leighton Park Students Reach New Heights with 3% Increase in Top A Grades". Leighton Park School. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  8. ^ "Leighton Park School ISI Report January 2025" (PDF). Leighton Park School. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  9. ^ "Music". Leighton Park.
  10. ^ "School House and Attached Laboratories at Leighton Park School, Reading". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  11. ^ "Recognising Architect Alfred Waterhouse". Leighton Park School. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  12. ^ "International Students". Leighton Park School. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  13. ^ "Leighton Park School – Review". The Good Schools Guide. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  14. ^ "Leighton Park School Celebrates 125th Anniversary". UK Boarding Schools.
  15. ^ "Fryer celebrates its 100th birthday". Leighton Park School.
  16. ^ "A sparkling opening for the Music & Media Centre". Leighton Park School. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  17. ^ "Grove Sixth Form Centre is Officially Open!". Leighton Park School. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  18. ^ "Leighton Park on the One Show". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  19. ^ "BBC Politics Show at Leighton Park School". Berkshire Life. 6 December 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  20. ^ "Worship". Leighton Park. 1 May 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  21. ^ "Thieves steal hawk from Leighton Park School in Reading". BBC News. 10 November 2011.
  22. ^ "The media and the truth: OL journalist Shyam Bhatia inspires Sixth Form". Leighton Park. 24 January 2020.
  23. ^ "Grigor McClelland obituary". The Guardian. 14 November 2013.
  24. ^ "Scientist wins royal award for work in Arctic", BBC News, 23 January 2017.
  25. ^ "Leighton Park School". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 31 January 2021.

Further reading

  • The Leightonian [school magazine] (pub. 1895).
  • The Park [school magazine] (pub. termly).
  • Old Leightonians Club. A list of names and addresses of the old boys of Leighton Park School (pub. 1945, 1957, 1973, 1990).
  • Brown, S. W. Leighton Park: A history of the school (pub. 1952).
  • Leighton Park School, Leighton Park: The first 100 years (pub. 1990).
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