4646 Tatler Schools Guide 2020 tatler.comBLUNDELL’S
Blundell’s Road, Tiverton,
Devon EX16 4DN
Website blundells.org
Head Bart Wielenga, BCom, since
2018; previously Second Master at
Blundell’s Pupils 607. Day: 135
boys, 83 girls; boarding: 218 boys,
171 girls Faith C of E Ages 11–18
Term Fees Day: £7,470; boarding:
£12,320 Oxbridge 2%
Registration One year before entry;
£100 fee Admission CE or school’s
own exam and interview Alumni
RD Blackmore, former Archbishop
of Canterbury William Temple,
rugby player Jack Maunder
PREP Head Andy Southgate
Pupils 223 day: 133 boys, 90 girls
Ages 2½–11 Term Fees £4,185
There are a million and one reasons
why a family will choose a school,
but one Blundell’s parent insists a
quick perusal of the car park tells
you all you need to know. ‘At some
Dorset schools parents drive newBLUNDELL’SS o u t h We s t& Wa l e sPUBLIC
BADMINTON
Westbury Road, Westbury-on
-Trym, Bristol BS9 3BA
Website badmintonschool.co.uk
Head Rebecca Tear, MA, since
2012; previously Deputy Head of
Wycombe Abbey Pupils 490 girls:
310 day, 180 boarding Ages 11–18
Term Fees Day: £5,612; boarding:
£12,995 Oxbridge 16%
Registration At least one year
before entry; £50 fee for day, £150
fee for boarders Admission School’s
own exam, interview and previous
school’s report Alumnae Indira
Ghandi, Princess Haya Bint
Hussein, Dame Iris Murdoch,
Rosamund Pike, artist Mary Fedden
PREP Head Emma Davies
Pupils 151 day and boarding girls
Ages 3–11Term Fees Day: £3,039;
boarding: £8,627
Life at Badminton is a unique
combination of academic rigour,
sporting opportunity, tradition and
fun. Students are encouraged todevelop their own personalities.
Indeed, individuality is valued and
encouraged – pupils attest to this.
Head Rebecca Tear (described by a
student as ‘the best Badminton
could dream of ’) is currently study-
ing entrepreneurship at Cambridge
and filtering what she learns back
through the school. The education
model is based on the belief that
what happens outside the class-
room is as important as what
happens inside it, and the aim is to
develop the whole person. Tear de-
scribes her ideal pupil as ‘definitely
curious, because then they willenjoy all that goes on at the school’.
There is certainly a lot happening:
from twice-weekly Prue Leith cook-
ery courses to jewellery-making.
The school is committed to
remaining small, with no more
than 500 students, ensuring that it
can maintain its pledge to support,
empower and nurture each and
every girl. Exam results continue to
impress: in 2018, the GCSE
computer science pupils gained
10 per cent of all grade 9s
awarded to girls nationally by
Edexcel and the percentage of A*
grades at A-level was up on 2017.10-19-Schools-Guide-PublicSouthWestNEW.indd 46 14/08/2019 13:38