Stephen Perse Foundation is the historical name of the Cambridge-based independent school family that now operates as Stephen Perse Cambridge. For an international family the name matters less than what it is: a single organisation running nurseries, two junior schools, a senior school and a Sixth Form across Cambridge and Saffron Walden, educating pupils from age 1 to 18. This guide sets out the programs on offer, the entry requirements at each stage, the 2026/27 cost picture and the application support international applicants can expect. All facts come from the official website, checked on August 5, 2026, and the school’s own claims are presented as its claims, not as guarantees.
Who Stephen Perse Foundation Is
Stephen Perse Foundation was founded in 1881 as the Perse School for Girls, renamed in 2008, and now officially brands itself Stephen Perse Cambridge; the FAQ on its website lists Perse School for Girls, Stephen Perse Foundation (SPF) and Stephen Perse Cambridge as names for the same family of schools. It is a registered charity (Charity No 1120608) based at Union Road, Cambridge CB2 1HF, and describes itself as a forward-thinking co-educational family of schools that does not conform to traditional private-school stereotypes. A point international families often trip on: the school is completely separate from The Perse School in Cambridge — the two share only a historical origin in the will of Dr Stephen Perse, and Stephen Perse Foundation states clearly in its FAQ that they are independent institutions.
The organisation’s own framing is a “1 to 18 journey”: nurseries and early years, two junior schools, a senior school for Years 7 to 11, a Sixth Form for Years 12 and 13, and full boarding available in the Sixth Form only. Campuses sit in central Cambridge — within about 12 to 15 minutes’ walk of the railway station for the junior and senior schools — plus a rural nursery site at Madingley and the Dame Bradbury’s junior school in Saffron Walden, whose site history goes back to 1522 and which joined the family in 2013.
Programs: One Family of Schools, One Journey
The programs at Stephen Perse Foundation run from nursery care to A Level. Early years split into Baby (0 to 1), Toddlers (1 to 2), Rising 3s (2 to 3), Kindergarten (3 to 4) and Reception (4 to 5), with nurseries open 7.30am to 6pm and Forest School provision at the Cambridge sites; the Saffron Walden junior school has its own Forest School at Castle Grove Woods, Elmdon. The junior schools use thematic teaching and a “Thinking Toolkit” approach, with flexible care from 7.30am to 6pm for working families.
The senior school (Years 7 to 11) teaches across six domains — languages, mathematics, science, humanities, creative and performing arts, and sport. Years 7 and 8 share a common core that includes separate sciences, Latin, humanities and two modern foreign languages; Year 9 narrows the core to 10 subjects with 5 chosen options; and Years 10 and 11 typically take up to 10 GCSEs/IGCSEs with English language and literature, mathematics and science at the core. The Sixth Form offers more than 25 GCE A Level subjects — including Economics, Politics, Psychology, Sociology and Film Studies — with students normally taking 3 or 4 A Levels plus the optional Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). The final IB cohort finished in summer 2023, and the Sixth Form now runs exclusively on A Levels while keeping the IB-era breadth: the school points to the option of 4 A Levels plus EPQ as a way to match IB-style breadth, alongside an in-house critical thinking programme.
Entry Requirements and Assessment
Entry to Stephen Perse Foundation is by assessment at every year group, with results determining the offer, and applications are submitted online through the school’s Admissions Portal. Early years and junior school assessments happen individually or in small groups rather than on fixed exam days. For the senior school, the published 2026/27 dates are: application deadline Friday 20 November 2026, entrance assessment day Saturday 9 January 2027, with a standalone testing session on Thursday 7 January 2027 for candidates with unavoidable clashes; the school partners with Quest Assessments and provides a bespoke preparation site. The Sixth Form application deadline for 2026/27 is Friday 30 October 2026.
For overseas applicants, assessments can be arranged outside the UK: at junior level they cover English and mathematics and can be done online with an optional in-school experience day later; at senior and Sixth Form level they cover verbal and non-verbal reasoning and problem solving, English, mathematics, and English as an Additional Language (EAL) assessment where language level requires it. The website does not publish a single minimum English score or academic threshold for every stage, so the honest summary is that specific requirements sit with the current official guidance. Scholarships for senior and Sixth Form entry cover academic, music, sport, drama and art, typically starting at a 5% fee reduction and combinable with each other; financial assistance is means-tested independently by an external provider.
Costs: The 2026/27 Fee Picture
Fees at Stephen Perse Foundation are published per term for 2026/27 and include VAT where applicable. Nursery fees are daily and year-round: £108.75 per day for ages 1 to 2, £106.00 for ages 2 to 3 and £97.00 for Kindergarten (ages 3 to 4), including 7.30am to 6pm care, meals and nappies. Junior school terms: Cambridge Junior School at £6,185 per term (Years 1 and 2) and £7,895 (Years 3 to 6), with lunch at £310 per term mandatory; Dame Bradbury’s runs from £5,795 (Reception) to £7,495 (Years 5 and 6) per term.
The senior school and Sixth Form day rate is £9,145 per term, with lunch optional at £357 for the senior school and mandatory at £357 for Sixth Form boarders. Sixth Form full boarding, including tuition, is £19,865 per term — the only boarding option, open to A Level students aged 16 or over. Admissions fees add a £200 application fee, £360 acceptance fee and £500 deposit for day places; overseas parents of Sixth Form boarders face a £200 application fee, £600 acceptance fee and a deposit of one term’s fees. Public examination fees are billed in the summer term, music and speech lessons are charged directly by teachers, and the bus service is billed separately per term. These are the published 2026/27 figures; the current version of the fee page is the authority.
Application Support for International Families
Stephen Perse Foundation’s own support structure is a useful map of what application involves. The Admissions Portal handles applications, enquiries and event bookings under one account, and the website carries a Key Dates page plus a dedicated assessment preparation site in partnership with Quest Assessments — both aimed at helping candidates arrive prepared. For families who can travel, visiting is possible before applying; the school’s pages frame this as the best way to test fit. Because Sixth Form boarding exists only for ages 16 and over and only for A Level students, an international family targeting boarding should weigh that constraint early: a younger international pupil would come as a day student, which presupposes a parent or guardian in Cambridge rather than a boarding place.
Beyond the application itself, the school describes its Sixth Form support as including mandatory non-examined curriculum time for Research Skills/EPQ and enrichment, student leadership roles, and university application guidance; EAL assessment is built into the process for pupils whose language level needs it. The school’s own reported 2025 results — 20.5% of A Levels at A*, 55.5% at A* to A, and 27% of GCSEs at grade 9 — are its claims about itself, useful as a self-portrait rather than a prediction.
Planning Your Move to Cambridge
A practical planning sequence for Stephen Perse Foundation looks like this. First, fix the year group and campus: nurseries at three Cambridge sites, junior schools at Cambridge or Saffron Walden, senior and Sixth Form in central Cambridge. Second, hold the deadlines — 20 November 2026 for senior school and 30 October 2026 for Sixth Form for 2026/27 entry — and book the assessment window, overseas if needed. Third, build the budget from the 2026/27 fee page, remembering application and acceptance fees, deposits, lunch where mandatory, and the separately billed exam and transport items. Fourth, decide the boarding question: Sixth Form boarding at £19,865 per term is the only residential option and is limited to ages 16 and over, so younger pupils need a day-pupil arrangement. Finally, treat the school’s website as the living source: deadlines and fees change, and the version checked here is the August 5, 2026 one. For help mapping this school against your child’s age, current school year and family situation — including how the assessment, deadlines and fee structure interact — the advisers on this site can work through the details with you.