Rishworth is an exceptionally friendly, caring community, in which pupils are as strongly encouraged to rejoice in each other’s achievements as to take pride in their own. The School succeeds in combining a disciplined environment with a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.
Rishworth’s magnificent buildings, extensive grounds and superb Pennine location, which chart a 300-year heritage, provide all members of this friendly community with a physical environment which is conducive both to the clarity of mind required for academic study and to pursuits which provide for a full and balanced development of personal character.
At Rishworth, students develop:
•a lifelong love of learning, curiosity and discovery;
•a sense of responsibility, purpose and ambition;
•a capacity for both self-reliance and cooperation; and
•an appreciation of personal virtues and spiritual values, such as honesty, dependability, perseverance, commitment, humility and respect for others.
General organisation. Founded in 1724, Rishworth is a co-educational day and boarding school comprising a nursery for children from age 3, a Preparatory School, Heathfield, which has its own separate site where children are taught up to the age of 11, and the Senior School up to age 18. Rishworth is a Church of England foundation, but welcomes children of all faiths, or of none. Numbers stand at over 400 pupils.
Facilities and location. Superbly located in 140 acres of a beautiful Pennine valley, the School has a mix of elegant older buildings and excellent modern facilities including: a capacious sports hall with fitness suite, a separate sports club with 25-metre indoor swimming pool and squash courts, a large expanse of games pitches, a music block, 3 modern ICT suites, wireless (and cabled) internet and intranet connection across the whole site, a Performing Arts Theatre, a centre dedicated to sixth-form study, cosy and friendly boarding houses and science laboratories.
Access to the School by road is easy, with the M62 within five minutes’ drive. School buses run to the Halifax, Todmorden, Rochdale, Oldham and Huddersfield areas.
Welfare and pastoral. The unusually high degree of attention afforded to pupils by small teaching groups, the careful monitoring of progress, coordinated pastoral support and a close working partnership with parents enables pupils to build on their strengths and allows specific needs to be addressed. Each boarding pupil is under the direct care of a Houseparent, who is ably supported by assistant staff in each boarding house.
Teaching. Taught by a dedicated staff of qualified specialists, the curriculum, both academic and non-academic, is broad and stimulating, and offers every pupil the chance to be challenged and to excel. A general curriculum, broadly in line with the National Curriculum, is followed until Year 9, after which pupils select GCSE options in consultation with their parents, tutors and subject teachers. A Level, Diploma and BTEC options are also selected via consultation.
Support is given by qualified specialists for certain special needs including dyslexia and English where this is not the pupil’s first language.
Academic. In 2023, Nearly 85% of GCSEs were achieved at grades 4–9, well in excess of both national and regional levels. Noteworthy results were recorded in Mathematics and English, in which Rishworth students achieved over 20% above national average. Similarly, the traditional strength in STEM subjects was exemplified in grades which were also more than 20% above the national average.
Results in Humanities subjects have been exceptional this year, seeing Rishworth students continue to perform well in Art, Design Technology, French, Food and Nutrition and the Performing Arts, with students attaining 100% achievement in the highest possible grading bands in these subjects. In the Higher Project Qualification (HPQ), 100% of grades awarded were A*–B.
A Level grades of A*–C were well above national average, securing students places at university to study subjects ranging from Economics and Psychology to Medicine and Accounting and Business Management at Russell Group Universities including York, Manchester, and Leeds.
The proportion of top grades awarded between A* and B was almost 15% above national average, which demonstrates a consistent trend over the past four years.
Our students’ success this year ensured the school maintained its traditional strengths in STEM subjects. Students obtained 100% A*–B success in: Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science, while performing equally well at A*–B in Art and Design, and International Languages including: Spanish, Italian, and Chinese.
Those studying BTEC and Vocational qualifications including Sport and Food Science and Nutrition, celebrated 100% achievement, with 96% of grades being within the higher grading boundaries of Distinction* to Merit.
Further success was celebrated by students who achieved their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), with 100% of grades awarded at A*–B.
Enrichment and extension. In order to help our pupils to become the confident, balanced and considerate young men and women we wish them to be, we encourage participation in a wide range of activities because at Rishworth we understand that learning doesn’t just take place in the classroom.
Sports are well appointed and well taught, and each term boys and girls enjoy excellent results. The School also has a justly high reputation in music and drama.
Additionally we have nearly 90 enrichment and extension activities! From Duke of Edinburgh through to our Medical Society, from skiing through to podcasting. There really is something for everyone.
Boarding. We have no dormitories. Boarders (from age 9) are accommodated in individual study-bedrooms, almost all single occupancy which allow pupils their personal space. These are located in spacious houses, overseen by house staff. The boarding houses are cosy and family-centric, the secure havens needed by young people away from home. The character of the historic buildings has been retained, alongside the provision of top-rate modern amenities. A full programme of activities is arranged for the evenings and weekends, and there are good recreational facilities reserved for the boarders, including dedicated social areas.
Admission. Places in the Junior School, Heathfield, are given, subject to availability, on individual assessments appropriate to each applicant’s age and previous education. Entrants for Rishworth at Year 7 are asked to sit the School’s entrance assessment, which also forms the basis for the award of scholarships.
Those who wish to join the School at other stages are assessed individually.
Fees per term (2024-2025). Reception to Year 2: £2,900; Years 3 to 6: £4,000; Years 7 & 8: £4,800 day, £11,100 full boarding, £10,100 weekly boarding; Years 9 to 13: £5,250 day, £12,000 full boarding, £10,950 weekly boarding. The School operates a number of schemes, including monthly payments, to ease the financial burden on parents. Fees are subject to change; please refer to the website.
Scholarships and bursaries. Scholarships & bursaries are available, the former on merit, the latter for demonstrable financial need. The extent to which these awards can be offered will also be determined by other factors, such as the School’s own circumstances and the nature of a given cohort of applicants.
Scholarships may be awarded, up to a value of 30% of Tuition fees, for excellence in academic work, sport, music or drama.
For Year 7 entry scholarships, applicants are formally assessed. For Year 12 entry, awards are made on the basis of an individual’s past record (including examination results).
Most awards are made to applicants on entry to Year 7, 9, or 12.
Substantial discounts are available for siblings of pupils in the School, for children of serving members of the Armed Forces and of ordained members of the Church of England. Bursaries may also be available in cases of financial need.
The Old Rishworthian Club maintains a fund for the grant of scholarships to children of ORs.
For more information contact the Bursar.
Charitable status. Rishworth School is a Registered Charity, number 1115562. It exists to provide education for boys and girls.