Radley College

South front of Radley Hall – the "Mansion" – with part of the school's main corridor to the right

Radley was founded in 1847 by William Sewell (1804–79) and Robert Corbet Singleton (1810–81). The first pupil was Samuel Reynolds, who in 1897 wrote his reminiscences of school life.

The school was originally housed in Radley Hall, now known as "Mansion". Radley Hall was built in the 1720s for the Stonehouse family. Later in the 18th century the estate passed to the Bowyer family, who commissioned Capability Brown to re-design the grounds. After the school was founded, extensive building work took place, beginning with Chapel (replaced by the current building in 1895), F Social and Octagon (the earliest living accommodation for the boys), Clock Tower, and in 1910 the dining hall (Hall). Building work has continued throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, with three new Socials, a weights-room/gym, a rowing tank, a theatre, and a real tennis court being completed since 2006. The Science Block was also expanded and refurbished in 2019. The grounds include a lake, a golf course and woodland.

On 31 August 2017, The Daily Telegraph[7] reported that a whistleblower had suggested that teachers had helped their students in an art GCSE exam. Investigations by the exam board found no fault beyond a minor technical breach of exam regulations. Radley College issued a statement expressing full support for staff and procedures both within the art department and across the school.

On 6 July 2018, a plane trailing a banner reading "Make Radley Great Again" was flown over the school, in protest against Warden John Moule's campaign of modernisation. The £750 cost of the plane hire was raised by pupils at the school.[8]

There are three academic terms in the year:

• The Michaelmas term, from early September to mid-December.
• The Lent term, from early January to late March.
• The Summer term, from mid-April to late June or early July.

Like Winchester, with its Notions, Radley has its own specialised terminology and formalities.[12] For example, all teachers are referred to as "dons", and female teachers and members of staff are addressed only as "ma'am"; the headmaster is known as the "warden"; boarding houses are known as "socials", with their masters being known as "tutors" and their head prefects as "pups"; ties earned by pups, top sportsmen, and other distinguished boys have flat bottoms and are known as "strings" ("social strings" if earned for distinction within the social, "college strings" if earned for distinction within the wider college); and the five year-groups, from first to last, are called "shell", "remove", "fifth", "6.1", and "6.2". During the Michaelmas and Lent terms, gowns are worn over uniforms, while during the summer term, shirts are worn without ties, jackets, or gowns (known as "Summer Dress" or, more officially, as "Shirt-Sleeve Order"). A formal house meeting is held once a week, known as "social prayers" (an assembly usually with a talk or presentation); an informal house meeting with food, known as "cocoa", takes place every evening; a weekend which a boy would usually stay in school for but has been allowed to leave on is known as a "privi" (short for "privilege weekend" as these can be cancelled if a boy is subject to disciplinary proceedings); and the final day of the academic year is known as "gaudy", from the Latin gaudē meaning 'rejoice thou!'

There are 11 socials at Radley, each housing approximately 70 boys and distinguished by the colours of their members' ties. They are each known by a single letter, although they are formally named after their tutor (e.g., H, formally May's Social). When the college opened, most boys were living together in College, but they were under the care of six "social tutors" and the term "social" then referred to all the boys under the care of one tutor. When D Social was built in 1886 all the boys and their tutor were united in their own living quarters and so the word "social" came to mean the building and all of its inhabitants.[13] Similar to Eton's houses and their dames, each social at Radley has a matron known as the "PHM" ("pastoral housemistress"), whose role is central.[14]

West front and spire of the College Chapel

The school was inspected by the independent schools' Inspectorate in February 2008. The inspection report rated the school's standard of education as "outstanding", the highest rating.[15] There was a subsequent inspection by ISI in 2013.[16]

In 2012, the Independent review of A level results, based on government issued statistics, ranked Radley 31st in the UK, ahead of Malvern (32nd), Harrow (34th), Winchester (73rd), Tonbridge (74th), Eton (80th) and Wellington (89th)[17] By 2019 they were still in the top 100 but had dropped to 75th place.[18]

Radley College Boat House on the Thames

Sports played at the College are rugby football in the Michaelmas Term, hockey, rowing and football in the Lent Term and cricket, rowing, lawn tennis, and athletics in the Summer Term.

Other sports played include badminton, basketball, beagling, cross-country, fencing, fives, lacrosse, rackets, real tennis, rugby sevens, squash and water polo.[19]

The school lent its name to the thirty-first steam locomotive (Engine 930) in the Southern Railway's Class V of which there were 40.[26] This Class was also known as the Schools Class because all 40 of the class were named after prominent English public schools. "Radley", as it was called, was built in 1934 and was withdrawn in 1962. A nameplate from 930, Radley, is now displayed in the stationery department of Shop (the College's shop).

• R C Singleton (founder) (1847–1851)
• W B Heathcote (1851–1852)
• W M Sewell (founder) (1852–1861)
• R W Norman (1861–1866)
• W Wood (1866–1870)[27]
• C Martin (1871–1879)
• R J Wilson (1880–1888)
• H Lewis Thompson (1888–1896)
• T Field (1897–1913)
• E Gordon Selwyn (1913–1919)
• A Fox (1919–1925)
• W H Ferguson (1925–1937)
• J C Vaughan Wilkes (1937–1954)
• W M M Milligan (1954–1968)
• D R W Silk (1968–1991)
• R M Morgan (1991–2000)
• A W McPhail (2000–2014)
• J S Moule (2014–)

• Hibbert, Christopher (1997). No Ordinary Place: Radley College and the Public School System 1847–1997. London: John Murray General Publishing Division. ISBN 0-7195-5176-5.
• "William Burdett-Coutts". Rhodes University Trust. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Radley College.

• Official website
• Reviews and ratings
• Profile at the Good Schools Guide

51.69304°N 1.25150°W / 51.69304; -1.25150