Leighton Park School（雷顿帕克学校）is an independent co-educational day and boarding school in Reading, Berkshire, England. This guide pulls together what the school’s own website publishes for international families — the programs on offer, how entry is assessed, the application and visa steps, the fees published for the 2026/27 academic year, boarding life and financial support — as checked on 5 August 2026. The school’s official pages were read through the Internet Archive because the live site is bot-protected; every figure below is tied to the archived official page and snapshot date listed in the fact notes.
Leighton Park School: a Quaker school between London and Oxford
Leighton Park Schooldescribes itself as located between London and Oxford — 25 minutes on the train to London Paddington, 20 minutes to Oxford, and about 30 minutes by taxi from London Heathrow. The campus sits in 65 acres of parkland, and the school’s boarding and international pages highlight a safe, calm environment with students forming a strong part of the community.
Two features define the school’s character. First, it is a Quaker school: the website says Quaker values sit at the heart of its learner profile, with regular silent reflection (Collect) and Quaker meeting built into school life. Second, it is deliberately international: around 20% of students come from outside the UK, representing roughly 45 countries, and the school reports being recognised as excellent in all areas by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). The school also holds national Independent Schools Association awards — Senior School of the Year 2023-24, Future Readiness 2024-25 and Excellence in Pupil Personal Development 2022-23 — all as self-reported on its own pages. Families should treat such claims as the school’s own account, not independent verification.
Programs at Leighton Park School for ages 11 to 18
Leighton Park Schoolwelcomes students from age 11 to 18 and organises its academic programs by age, as listed on its international admissions page:
- Ages 11–13: Lower School (Years 7 and 8, known as Fryer), with about 60 students in each year group and average class sizes of 16.
- Ages 13–14: the Year 9 programme, the first year of Senior School.
- Ages 14–16: the two-year GCSE programme; students usually take nine or ten subjects, with English Language and Literature, Maths and Science as core, plus around 26 options including Dance, Engineering, Global Perspectives and Food Preparation and Nutrition, and a BTEC in Creative Digital Media Production.
- Ages 15–16: the one-year Pre-Sixth programme, leading to five to seven GCSEs (English, Maths and Combined Science, plus an optional Humanities choice such as Geography or EAL, and optionally a language) — a route the school says is ideal for international students preparing for Sixth Form.
- Ages 16–17: A Levels — three or four subjects chosen from a range of 18, with Further Maths available as a fourth if Maths is one of the three — or the IB Diploma, whose average class size the school puts at six students.
Short stays are possible in some year groups: a one-term stay in Years 7, 8 or 9, and an academic year in Years 7 to 10, Pre-Sixth or Lower Sixth. For Sixth Form, the school encourages an Extended Project Qualification alongside A Levels and supports students aiming at competitive university applications through its Aspiring High programme.
Entry requirements and how Leighton Park School assesses applicants
Leighton Park Schoolis a selective school. Its main entry points are Year 7 (11+), Year 9 (13+) and Lower Sixth (16+), and it says it also considers applications for other year groups. Assessment differs slightly by stage:
- Years 7–10 and Pre-Sixth: students sit tests in Maths and English, and an EAL (English as an Additional Language) test if English is not their first language. Entrance tests are based on what students are learning in Year 6 (for 11+ entry) or Year 8 (for 13+ entry), and the school notes it does not use 11-plus exam preparation as a criterion.
- Lower Sixth: candidates should be predicted a minimum of five GCSE passes or equivalent at grade 6 or above, and grade 7 in any subject they plan to study at A Level or as part of the IB Diploma. A grade 8 is required to study Further Mathematics at A Level or Higher Level on the IB. Applicants not studying GCSEs or IGCSEs sit Maths and English tests.
- All applicants: an interview with a senior member of staff, plus a confidential reference from the current school; new students cannot start until the reference has been received.
For students overseas, the school allows the Maths and English tests to be sat under strict examination conditions at their current school (or at an agent’s office, where families apply through one), and arranges the interview by Zoom.
Applying to Leighton Park School: process, deadlines and visa
Applications to Leighton Park Schoolrun through the school’s Admissions Portal, which hosts two registration forms — one for families resident in the UK and one for overseas families. For international applicants the process is in two steps: first an Admissions Enquiry for International Students form, then, once the admissions team has reviewed it, the relevant registration form on the portal, with the non-refundable registration fee paid by card.
The dates published on the school’s admission pages come from the 2024 entry cycle: registration deadline 1 November for 16+ entry and 15 November for Year 7 and Year 9, with assessment days on 20 November 2024 (16+), 27 November 2024 (Year 9) and 11 January 2025 (Year 7). Overseas applications are considered on a rolling basis and the school advises applying between September and March of the year before entry; early registration is advised because demand for places is high. These dates are for the cycle shown on the site and will shift each year, so the current official pages are the reference.
On the visa side, the school states it can issue a CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) for the UK student visa application, and that students cannot begin their studies without a valid visa. For students who require a study visa there is an additional charge of 480 pounds per term, added to the school bill.
Costs at Leighton Park School for 2026/27
Leighton Park Schoolis a registered charity and publishes its fee structure transparently on its fees page. Annual fees are split into three equal termly payments and include VAT. For the 2026/27 academic year the published termly fees are:
- Junior (Years 7 & 8): day student 9,750 pounds; weekly boarder 13,580 pounds; full boarder 15,670 pounds.
- Senior (Year 9 and above): day student 11,890 pounds; weekly boarder 16,480 pounds; full boarder 19,500 pounds.
Registration and deposit: the registration fee is 150 pounds for families in the UK or EEA and 225 pounds for families outside the UK/EEA (non-refundable). The acceptance deposit is 1,500 pounds for UK-based parents, 5,000 pounds for EEA-based parents, and one term’s fees for parents outside the UK/EEA; the deposit is credited to the final account when the student leaves, with 100 pounds retained for lifetime membership of the Old Leightonians alumni community.
The fees cover a long list of items that other schools often charge extra for: three meals a day, snacks, nearly 100 co-curricular activities, supervised prep, a wraparound day from 7.30am to 9.00pm for day students (7.30pm in Years 7 and 8), routine medical care from onsite nurses, and trips and excursions. Optional extras for 2026/27 include EAL tuition at 70 pounds per individual lesson or 52 pounds per group lesson (not charged where EAL replaces a subject option), music lessons at 46 pounds per 30 minutes, LAMDA at 285 pounds per term, Individual Learning Centre support at 2,490 pounds per year, overnight stays at 73 pounds (Junior) or 94 pounds (Senior) per night, and school transport at 890 pounds per term for a full bus service. Fees are payable in advance on the first day of each term, with a monthly payment option via SchoolFeePlan; a 20% sibling discount applies from the third child in full-time education at the school.
Boarding at Leighton Park School: houses, care and weekends
Boarding at Leighton Park Schoolcurrently houses around 150 boarders from roughly 45 countries, with full-time and weekly boarding options and flexi-boarding in Years 7–9 (Friday and Saturday nights at 20 pounds). The three boarding houses are Fryer House (Years 7–9, newly refurbished with separate wings and shared en-suite rooms), Reckitt House (senior girls, Year 10 and above, with single rooms in the Sixth Form) and School House (senior boys, Year 10 and above). Five teachers live in each house, which the school credits for the strong relationship between boarding students and staff. Facilities include recording studios, art and filmmaking studios, a 25-metre swimming pool, sports fields and strength and conditioning suites; weekend programmes include trips to London, Oxford and West End theatre, and professional sport. The school’s boarding FAQ notes that around 40% of boarders are UK-based.
Scholarships, bursaries and English support at Leighton Park School
Leighton Park Schooloffers merit scholarships across Academic, Art and Design, Dance, Drama, Music, Sport, Ethical Changemaker, STEAM and the IB Diploma, plus means-tested bursaries. The Head’s Scholarship carries between 5% and 10% remission of day fees (with two free music lessons per week for Music Scholars), and Exhibition Scholarships carry a 500-pound award; the school notes that significant fee remission is only offered in exceptional circumstances. For international students whose first language is not English, the EAL programme develops academic English — group EAL lessons are included free of charge where they replace a subject option — and every student has a personal tutor who sees them daily.
Planning your application to Leighton Park School
A sensible sequence for international families is: decide between the GCSE, Pre-Sixth, A Level and IB routes; check the published academic predictions for your child’s age; submit the international enquiry form early (September to March of the year before entry); sit the Maths, English and EAL tests and the interview; accept the offer with the deposit; sort the CAS and UK student visa; and plan arrival around the orientation day and induction. The school’s own pages report strong outcomes — 68% of A Level grades at A*-B and an IB average of 36 points in 2025, with 95% of Sixth Form leavers getting their first-choice university programme — but these are the school’s self-reported figures, and fee levels, dates and entry criteria all change from year to year. Every family’s case differs: our advisers can walk through how these requirements and costs map onto a specific child’s year group, English level and budget.
All facts in this guide come from the official Leighton Park School website (leightonpark.com) and its sports portal (leightonparksport.com) as of 5 August 2026, with archived official pages read via the Internet Archive. Where the school has not published a figure, none is invented here; for anything time-sensitive, the current official pages are the reference.