This guide is for international families considering Ratcliffe College（拉特克利夫学院）, an independent Catholic day and boarding school in Leicestershire, England, taking pupils from age 3 to 18. International students are welcome as boarders from Year 6 (age 10) upwards, and the school describes international boarders as about 12% of its student body. Everything below comes from the school’s official website as seen on 5 August 2026; the school’s own statements are used only to describe the school itself, not as rankings or comparisons with other schools.
Ratcliffe College at a glance
Ratcliffe College was founded in 1847 by the Institute of Charity (the Rosminian Fathers), founded by Blessed Antonio Rosmini, and its Victorian Gothic buildings were designed by A. W. Pugin. The school’s motto is Legis Plenitudo Charitas. Girls were first admitted to the Sixth Form in 1979 and the College became fully co-educational in 1984. Today Ratcliffe College describes itself as a co-educational day and boarding school of 900+ pupils, educating children continuously from Nursery (6 months to 4 years), through the Preparatory School (ages 4-11), the Senior School (ages 11-16) and the Sixth Form (ages 16-18) on a single campus set in over 200 acres of grounds. The address is Fosse Way, Ratcliffe on the Wreake, Leicester LE7 4SG. For travel planning, the school quotes 15 minutes to Leicester train station, 45 minutes to Birmingham International Airport, 75 minutes to London St Pancras and about 2 hours to London Heathrow. Boarding life is organised around two boarding houses (one for boys, one for girls), with a community the school says spans 20+ nationalities.
Programs and curriculum
Ratcliffe College’s Senior School offers a broad GCSE curriculum. Core subjects are English Language, English Literature, English as an Additional Language (EAL), Mathematics, Religious Studies, Science (Single, Double or Triple Award), PSHCE and Games. Options include Art, Craft and Design, Photography, Computer Science, Design and Technology, Drama, Food Preparation and Nutrition, Geography, History, ICT, Media Studies, Music, Academic Physical Education and Modern Foreign Languages covering Cantonese, Latin, French, German, Mandarin, Russian and Spanish; students who already speak one of these languages sit an additional GCSE in it. The school lists 25 GCSE subjects in total. The main route is a three-year GCSE course across Years 9, 10 and 11, taught in classes averaging just 14 students, while a two-year GCSE pathway lets students join at the start of Year 10. For international students on the two-year programme, the school requires a minimum English level of B1 and aims for B2 or higher by the end of Year 11, which it describes as the level needed to progress into Year 12. In the Sixth Form, Ratcliffe College runs A Levels with a flexible subject choice, and reports 45% of A Level grades at A*/A, 71% at A*/A/B and 90% at A-C in 2025, with several students receiving Distinction BTEC grades. University guidance covers UCAS, Oxbridge and overseas applications, and an Aspiring Future Early Applicants Programme supports candidates for Oxford, Cambridge, Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science.
International entry requirements
Ratcliffe College welcomes international students as full-time boarders, or for one-term stays, from Year 6 (age 10 upwards). The school states that a good level of spoken and written English is essential, and that it limits the number of students from any one language group each year to keep the community diverse. English levels are checked with the Password English test, with these minimums by entry year: Year 7 Password 3.0 or above, Year 8 Password 3.5 or above, Year 9 Password 4.0 or above, Year 10 Password 4.5 or above, and Year 12 Password 5.5 or above; the school maps Password 5 to CEFR B1 and Password 6.5 to B2. Applications start with registration (see costs below), and for GCSE or A Level entry the subject options must be agreed with the school’s admissions team before the application is processed. All applicants take entry tests online in English proficiency, Maths and Science, which can be invigilated at the student’s current school, by their educational agent, or online, and a personal interview with the Headmaster is required, held online or during a visit. One-term applicants sit the Password English test online and provide a recent school report with English translation. Families are asked to send recent school reports (with English translation) before registering.
Costs: fees from September 2026
Ratcliffe College publishes its fees from September 2026 on its official fees page. Registration fees are £99 for Nursery, £120 for day places and £150 for boarding places, all non-refundable. Deposits are £1,000 for a day place, £1,000 per term for one-term boarding, and £5,000 for boarding places of one year or more. Day fees are £8,562 per term (£25,686 per year) for Senior School Years 9 to 13 and £7,266 per term (£21,798 per year) for Years 7 to 8. Full boarding costs £16,782 per term (£50,346 per year); weekly boarding is £12,498 per term for Years 9 to 13 and £11,172 per term for Years 6 to 8; part-time boarding is charged at £84 per night (two or three nights a week) or £78 per night (four nights a week), and occasional boarding at £90 per night. Day fees include a midday meal and afternoon tea, and full boarding fees include all meals, the programme of boarding weekend trips, and EAL lessons. Half-term stays on campus are offered for boarding students during the October, February and May half terms at £660 per week for Ratcliffe students and £900 per week for non-Ratcliffe students (VAT included). Fees are reviewed annually and are payable termly in advance.
Visa, guardianship and support
Ratcliffe College states that it is fully licensed by UK Visas and Immigration to sponsor international students, and that it works with an appointed immigration advisory partner to help families through the UK visa process after a place is offered. All international students whose parents live overseas must appoint a UK-based educational guardian, who must be over 25, have a clean safeguarding and criminal record, and act as a 24-hour emergency contact; Ratcliffe College is a member of AEGIS, the UK guardianship association. Students whose first language is not English may be required to take EAL lessons; the EAL programme is British Council accredited, prepares students for Cambridge English or IELTS examinations, and Ratcliffe College is an approved Cambridge Assessment English centre where students can sit Cambridge English exams on campus. The school notes that scholarships and bursaries are not currently available to international students. For families wanting a shorter experience first, the Immersion Programme offers two to four weeks in term time at £1,422 per week (VAT included), with at least 20 hours of EAL teaching each week, full-board accommodation and twice-weekly excursions.
Practical planning
For the 2026-27 academic year, the school’s published term dates are: Autumn Term from Monday 7 September to Friday 11 December 2026, with half term 19-30 October; Spring Term from Monday 4 January to Friday 19 March 2027, with half term 15-19 February; and Summer Term from Monday 12 April to Friday 9 July 2027, with half term 31 May-4 June. The school advises international families to apply early, as boarding places are in high demand, and registration is open all year round. For a September start, families typically register in the preceding months, complete assessments, accept the offer and pay the deposit, then build in visa processing time. Every figure in this guide comes from the official website of Ratcliffe College, accessed 5 August 2026; fees, entry levels and dates change with each academic year, so the official site is the reference for current information. If you would like to work through how the school’s programmes, entry steps and costs apply to your child’s own background and timeline, our advisers can help you map the options.