Emanuel School was founded in Westminster by Lady Anne Dacre in 1594 and moved to its present site on the north side of Wandsworth Common in 1883 as one of the five schools of The United Westminster and Grey Coat Foundation.
Emanuel is a fully co-educational day school for ages 10–18. We have approximately 1,080 pupils across the school.
Admission. Each September, 48 pupils are admitted into Year 6 (10+), 96 pupils into Year 7 (11+) and 30 into the Sixth Form.
Applicants will be required to submit their last full year school report. We will also request a reference from their current headteacher (or equivalent) and they will sit entrance exams. A number of pupils are then invited back to interview with a member of staff.
Registration for all entry points closes in mid-October the year before entry.
Prospective parents are warmly encouraged to visit the school and there are many opportunities to do so. Please see our website for details. Fees per term (2023-2024). £7,687 covering tuition, books and lunch. Extras charged are for individual instrumental tuition and some external visits and trips.
Site and buildings. Emanuel School is located on a beautiful, leafy, 12-acre site in Battersea, on the north edge of Wandsworth Common, only 10 minutes’ walk from Clapham Junction rail station. The original Victorian building is the core of the school, with teaching and learning space, a large and well-stocked library, theatre and a beautiful chapel. The Dacre building opened in 2017, with outstanding art and design facilities and a film studio, and the newly extended and improved sixth-form centre reopened in the autumn term 2022. The school has begun work on a masterplan to improve and further develop teaching and learning facilities over the coming years.
The school’s playing fields adjoin the school buildings together with a sports hall, full-sized indoor swimming pool and fives courts. The school has a boathouse on the Thames by Barnes Bridge and a further 16-acre off-site sports ground near Raynes Park, where a new all-weather pitch for hockey, netball, tennis, cricket and football, as well as 3 new cricket practice nets were added for use this autumn term.
Scholarships and assistance with fees (bursaries). Academic and co-curricular scholarships are available and pupils may hold more than one type of scholarship. The fee remission for scholarships is typically 10% but in exceptional circumstances, can be up to 25% or 50%.
All applicants are considered for academic scholarships, which are awarded on the basis of outstanding performance in the school entrance examinations.
Applicants applying for Music, Art, Drama and Sports scholarships must pass the entrance exams before a scholarship can be awarded. Thereafter, each department has specific criteria for their scholarship requirements.
As well as awarding academic and co-curricular scholarships, Emanuel School is committed to widening access by offering fee assistance. Fee-assisted places (bursaries) are available dependent on financial need and can hold the value of up to 100% of the school fees, including covering the costs of uniform and school trips.
Please see our website for more details about scholarships and fee assistance. Organisation. There are two forms for pupils who join at Year 6 (10+). Pupils joining at Year 7 (11+) are placed into six forms. Primary responsibility for their care rests with the form tutor and the head of year, under the overall supervision of the Head of Lower School, who deals with Years 6, 7 and 8. As all pupils move from Year 9 into Year 10 there is a regrouping along the lines of the subjects chosen for GCSE examinations. The tutor system continues throughout the school.
Pupils are placed in houses when they join the school and they stay in these houses throughout their school career. Although originally intended as a means of fostering competition in games, these houses have developed a strong community spirit over many years. Pupils join a house-led peer mentoring group which meets fortnightly and is led by at least two students from the Upper Sixth. Specially trained, the Sixth Form mentors, with the support of the heads of house, organise discussions and short activities designed to help pupils with day-to-day school life, make friends across the years, and informally share advice on future academic plans.
Times. The normal school day runs from 8.25 am to 3.50 pm, but many activities take place after school. Some school activities, especially sports fixtures, but also music and drama rehearsals, take place at the weekend.
Curriculum. Pupils in the Lower and Middle School study a wide range of subjects, including English, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (as separate sciences), Geography, History, Religious Studies, Computing, Design and Robotics (CDR), Music, Art and Design, Drama, Latin and Modern Languages (French, Spanish and German). There is a double period PE lesson, a Games afternoon and a Life Education lesson each week. Pupils also have a weekly lesson called ‘Ethos’; this is an introduction to critical thinking, informed discussion and debating, aiming to develop independence and resilience in our younger pupils.
In the Sixth Form, pupils choose three A Level subjects from 26 on offer (including additional options such as Psychology, Politics, Economics and Photography) and also complete the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). Sixth Form leavers go on to a variety of institutions, including Oxbridge and Russell Group universities, art college, music and drama conservatoires or universities overseas.
Art, Music & Drama. Emanuel has a long-standing tradition of excellence in Art, Music and Drama and all pupils are encouraged to participate in the breadth of opportunities available.
The music department caters to a wide range of musical interests, from choral and orchestral to contemporary music. Pupils take part in concerts, workshops and ensembles including rock and pop concerts, house music competitions and DJing workshops. The music department collaborates with the drama department to produce an annual whole-school musical.
Drama is taught throughout the school with many pupils continuing through GCSE and A Level. There are many opportunities for co-curricular participation through year-group productions and trips. Every other year, the Emanuel Theatre Company takes over 20 students to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to perform two shows.
Art facilities include specialist paint and print studios, a dark room for photography, a ceramics room with dedicated kiln and glazing rooms and a sculpture studio. Pupils follow a broad syllabus where they can develop a range of creative skills. There are plenty of extracurricular opportunities for budding artists to enjoy, including trips, drawing masterclasses and exhibitions. Emanuel students gain places to study at some of the best art colleges in the country.
Sport & Activities. Rugby, cricket, rowing and football are the main school games for boys. For girls, the main activities are netball, cricket, hockey and rowing. Many other activities become available as a pupil moves up the school. Each pupil will have one games afternoon each week and other opportunities for physical education and swimming. The school has its own playing fields, sports hall, mini astro, swimming pool, fives, netball and tennis courts and boathouse on the Thames.
There are over 50 weekly clubs and activities taking place over lunchtime and after school as well as over 40 subject clinics. The most popular clubs include Film and Media Club, Bouldering Club (on our climbing wall), Costume Making Club, Junior Equality Club and Dr Who Club, as well as a number of sports and performing arts clubs.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme is offered to pupils from Year 9 upwards. Community outreach is arranged for senior pupils and can involve hospital visiting or voluntary work in local primary schools, charity shops or our local hospice.
Partnerships and Outreach. A central point of our ethos is the cultivation of an altruistic, caring and outward-looking community. All Lower Sixth students are involved in our award-winning outreach initiative, Primary Ambitions. Each Friday, our students spend one hour teaching a variety of subjects to Year 6 children from our local partner schools. Students gain confidence as well as developing their leadership and organisational skills. In turn, we hope that the programme will inspire and challenge young people within our community to develop some new skills, relish newfound opportunities and explore new friendships – and most importantly, have fun!
Careers. Careers and higher education advice is readily available from an experienced team. There is an annual careers convention for senior pupils where many representatives from a wide variety of industries and professional areas visit the school to talk about career options.
More formal work experience is offered as part of an extensive careers and further education advice programme from Year 9 upwards. There is a very strong Young Enterprise programme in the Lower Sixth; Emanuel has a good record and has been within one round of the national finals for the last two years.
Old Emanuel Association. Membership Secretary: oe@emanuel.org.uk
Charitable status. Emanuel School (administered by The United Westminster and Grey Coat Foundation) is a Registered Charity, number 1181012.