Cothill House
| Cothill House, Cothill | |
|---|---|
 | |
Cothill , , OX13 6JL England | |
| Information | |
| Type | Private day and boarding school Preparatory School |
| Motto | Dum spiro spero ("While I breathe, I hope") |
Religious affiliation | Church of England |
| Established | 1860 (moved to present location in 1870) |
| 123297 Tables | |
Head Master | George May |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Age | 8 to 13 |
| Enrolment | 204 |
| Publication | The Cothill Magazine |
| Former pupils | Old Cothillians |
| Website | http://www.cothill.net/ |
Cothill House is a day and boarding coeducational private school for preparatory pupils in Cothill, Oxfordshire, which houses around 160 pupils from the ages 7–13.
History
The school was started in 1860 in Dry Sandford, before moving to its present location in 1870. Previously a boys' school, it began to move towards co-education in 2024. The school was operated by the Prep Schools Trust, a charity registered in England. and in September 2025, became part of Radley Schools Group.
In 2024, the school was listed by the Oxford Mail as one of 45 Oxford schools with stories of sexual harassment and abuse collected by the website Everyone's Invited.
Cothill is situated on a 26-acre site is just a short drive from central Oxford, and the school is widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading prep schools. For the last 150 years Cothill House was almost exclusively for boarders, yet this changed in September 2023 when it opened the door to day pupils. This coincided with the arrival of a new headmaster, George May, who was previously a housemaster at the nearby Radley College. In September 2025, the school began to accept girls.
Present school
The school is academically successful, and the class sizes are small, with an average of 14 pupils per class. Cothill House routinely sends boys to destinations such as Eton, Harrow and Radley.
Cothill write that they are a day and boarding school committed to helping every child discover their strengths. The school has a core values rooted in kindness, humour, teamwork, curiosity and respect.
Headmasters
- 2023: George May
- 2011 – 2023: Duncan Bailey
Notable alumni
- Gaj Singh of Jodhpore, diplomat and politician
- John Bradbury, 2nd Baron Bradbury
- Hugh Stockwell, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe
- James Charles Macnab of Macnab, Chief of Clan Macnab
- Rupert Thorneloe, British Army Officer[citation needed]
- Richard Dinnick, BAFTA nominated writer
- Alexander Gordon, 7th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
- Jeremy Thorpe, British politician, leader of the Liberal Party 1966–76[citation needed]
- Richard Symonds, civil servant[citation needed]
- Hugh Pym, British journalist and author[citation needed]
- Archie Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, British aristocrat[citation needed]
References
- ↑ "Cothill House". Get Information about Schools. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
- ↑ "Cothill announces transition to co-education starting 2025". Herald Series. 21 April 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ↑ "Prep Schools Trust, registered charity no. 309639". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
- ↑ "All 45 Oxfordshire schools named in 'rape culture' list". This is Oxfordshire. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- 1 2 "Cothill House, Abingdon, United Kingdom - Spear's 500 School Profile". spears500.com. Retrieved 27 September 2026.
- ↑ "Aims & Ethos | Cothill Boarding Prep School". cothill.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2026.
- ↑ Dhananajaya Singh, The House of Marwar (Lotus Collection, Roli Books, 1994), p. 204
- ↑ George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom: extant, extinct, or dormant, vol. 13 (The St Catherine Press Ltd, 1940), p. 408
- ↑ 'General Sir Hugh Stockwell' in Patricia Burgess & Trish Burgess, eds., The Annual Obituary 1986 (Chicago & London: St James Press, 1989), p. 677
- ↑ 'MACNAB of Macnab, James Charles', in Who's Who 2012 (London: A. & C. Black, 2012)
- ↑ 'Aberdeen and Temair, 7th Marquess of' in Who's Who 2012 (London: A. & C. Black, 2011