Age Range. 2.5–4 years (Nursery); 4–7 years (Junior House); 7–13 years (Senior House).
Number of Boys. 272 Day Boys.
Fees per term (2023–2024). Nursery: £3,220 for 5 half days or £5,520 for 3, 4 or 5 full days; Junior House: £7,555 including lunches; Senior House: £7,795 including lunches.
Founded in the 19th century and now set in the heart of Hampstead village, St Anthony’s is an academically selective IAPS co-educational nursery and preparatory school for boys between the ages of 2.5 - 4 years and 4 - 13 years respectively. It is Roman Catholic, but welcomes boys of all faiths and cultures. Boys transfer at both 11+ and at 13+, via scholarship or CE, to leading independent senior schools (both day and boarding) with transfers to Westminster, University College School, Habs, St Paul’s, Highgate, Eton, Harrow, Bedford, Dulwich and Oundle topping the list, amidst many other top UK schools. A number of boys also transfer to leading state Catholic schools. It is part of the prestigious Inspired Education Group which is a leading group of premium schools across the world. The co-educational nursery opened in September 2023 and offers places to children from the age of 2½ to 4 years. Children feed directly into the prep school via an assessment at 4+ and the school provides an excellent education.
The boys’ school is housed in two large Victorian buildings situated in close proximity to each other. Both have their own grounds and separate playgrounds. There are six forms in the Junior House, where boys range in age from four to eight, and eight forms in the Senior House, where boys range in age from eight to thirteen. The specialist Design and Technology room, Music Rooms, Dance & Drama Studios, Computer Suites, Science Laboratories and the swimming pool are all contained within the Senior House but are accessible by both the Juniors and the Seniors.
Religious Education follows the Catholic curriculum set by the Diocese of Westminster which includes learning about world religions. The subject also introduces boys to philosophical discussions on religion, beliefs and faiths of all cultures and communities. Mass is attended by the boys once per term.
St Anthony’s aims to educate the whole person so that each individual child can fulfil their potential. We value growth in knowledge and virtue within a pastoral context. The school is focused on excellence in all its endeavours and tapping into the potential of every child. The school curriculum is stimulating and challenging: for example, it is possible for boys to study five foreign languages. All pupils study French from Year 1; Latin and Greek are available from Year 6 and pupils can study Philosophy from Year 4 upwards. The arts have an important place in the school with a majority of boys learning to play a musical instrument and all boys involved in drama. Sport is a further strength of the school with many pupils achieving success on a national stage. The school has use of a superb local sports club at Brondesbury, with extensive facilities. It has recently introduced Computer Programming and Robotics courses which have been very successful. There has, in fact, been a significant increase in co-curricular provision recently which includes coding, public speaking and debating, karate, chess, table tennis, boxing, fencing and a host of others. Full details of co-curricular provision is available on the school’s website. Children also take part in academic competitions such as the Primary and Junior Maths Challenges.
Furthermore, enhancing communication, we feel, has been key to academic success and the school now reports on progress in Maths, English and Science every six weeks by issuing Learning Snapshots. Full reports and parents’ meetings have also been made more effective but the most important change has been to emphasise the role of the Form (or Class) Teacher as the main link between home and school. All teachers’ email addresses are shared with parents who are encouraged to get in touch with any queries or concerns. The sooner a problem is raised and discussed the sooner a solution can be reached.
St Anthony’s still retains its famous commitment to fostering individuality, with alumni such as David Suchet, Anthony Gormley and Bombay Bicycle Club underlining its notable commitment to the liberal arts. Recently, pupils have been awarded Music, Arts and Academic scholarships to many of the leading academically selective top-tier UK secondaries. Boys have also achieved Sports awards at several leading secondaries – all information can be found on our website.
The school works hard to instil in its pupils a sense of social responsibility and charity fundraising is a key feature of school life. It has a long tradition at the school and the boys raise thousands of pounds each year for the Catholic Children’s Society, Mary’s Meals, The Passage and the Cardinal Hume Centre (to name a few). A former pupil was awarded the Gusi Peace Prize (Asian equivalent of the Nobel).
St Anthony’s Boys is maintaining a steady climb up the league tables and values being more of a greenhouse than a hot house. We believe that there is nothing mutually exclusive between being a kind school and delivering fantastic outcomes for the boys, whether that is academically or in sport or co-curricular activities, and the fantastic leavers’ results bear witness to this. The school sets a high standard for its pupils within a context of a kind and caring community and boys flourish here on so many levels because they are happy.