Address: Merchant Taylors’ School, Sandy Lodge, Northwood, Middlesex, HA6 2HT
Website: https://www.mtsn.org.uk/
Founded: 1561
Number of Pupils: 900
Ages: 11-18 years
Fees:  £20,698 per annum, which includes lunch (40% Autumn £8278, 30% Spring £6210, Summer £6210). Music fees are additional.
Head Teacher: Mr Simon Everson
Religious Affiliation: Christian
Entrance Procedures: About 400 boys apply for entry at 11+ by the end of October (September for subject scholarships and bursary applications) and sit a qualifying examination (maths, English and a general paper) in the following January, following which some 220 are interviewed. Offers, as well as academic and all-rounder scholarships, are made on the basis of examination results plus interview. Sports, music, art, design & technology and drama scholarships are offered on the basis of an assessment day held in November of the year preceding entry. Currently, at 13+ some 200 boys apply by February (year seven) and are interviewed between May and June, following which either unconditional or conditional offers are made (we offer before the written exams), the latter dependent on passing all of the school’s own (subject-based) 13+ examinations in late January.
Contact: Gregg McCann
Email: [email protected]
School Visits: There are two Open Mornings every year and private tours can be booked anytime

The Curriculum

Whilst MTS offers all the traditional academic subjects these are delivered in anything but a traditional way. Innovation and the latest pedagogical methods are at the heart of the school’s academic life.

Games & the Arts

MTS has a proud tradition of music and drama, having produced actors such as Boris Karloff, Riz Ahmed and Nigel Lindsay as well as composers such as Bob Chilcott. The school partners with local private girls’ schools (mainly St Helen’s) for drama and music productions (recent productions include Grease, Guys & Dolls and Les Miserables). The music department has 21 orchestras, choirs and bands and there is an annual concert at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall in the City. In sport, the three major sports of rugby, hockey and cricket take priority. The rugby 1st XV were unbeaten last season, the hockey team reached the National Finals of the English Schools’ Cup Plate and the U18 cricket team also reached the National T20 Finals. There are many minor sports available and the water sports option runs over all 3 terms with windsurfing, dinghy sailing, kayaking and canoeing all taking place on the school lakes.

Pastoral Care

Merchant Taylors’ has a unique tutorial system. Each boy is assigned a personal tutor from the teaching faculty. This tutor oversees his entire passage through the school, helping him to choose a rich, rewarding life outside the classroom, and taking a particular interest in all he does. This system leads to the development of close relationships between the tutor, the boy, and parents. Successes are celebrated immediately: problems nipped in the bud swiftly. Parents feel secure in the knowledge that there is always a single point of contact and that the daily well-being of each pupil is at the heart of Merchant Taylors’.

Recent Scholarships OR University Places

84 per cent of last year’s cohort secured places at Russell Group universities.

Head Teacher’s Philosophy

I believe in a broad, liberal curriculum, in the traditional sense of the phrase, founded upon the principles of the Enlightenment. My vision of this education is founded upon strong relationships, in which pupils can thrive as individuals. Academic discipline is reinforced by a broader flourishing of the mind through music, drama, sport, charitable work and travel.

Outstanding Characteristics 

The school offers an exceptional academic education, boarding school level extra-curricular activity and the very highest level of pastoral care. The campus is set in 300 acres of stunning green space providing boys with the perfect environment in which to thrive.