St Edward's School, Oxford


St Edward's School is a public school in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'.
Approximately sixty pupils live in each of its thirteen houses. The school is a member of the Rugby Group, the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, and the Oxfordshire Independent and State School Partnership. Termly fees in 2025/2026 are £18,932 for boarding and £15,866 for day pupils. The school is also affiliated to the Church of England.
The school teaches the GCSE, A Level and International Baccalaureate qualifications. The sixth form is split evenly between pupils studying A Levels and the IB Diploma.
WWW stedwardsoxford.org𝕏 TeddiesOxford

History

The school was founded in 1863 by Thomas Chamberlain, student of Christ Church, Oxford, and vicar of St Thomas the Martyr's Church, Oxford. The school carries the name of St Edward the Martyr, King of England from 975 to 978.

Early history

The original school building was Mackworth Hall, which at that time stood on New Inn Hall Street in central Oxford.
In 1873, after a storm damaged the school buildings and in anticipation of growing numbers, A. B. Simeon, the first Warden, moved the school to Summertown. At the time, the site was on the boundary of Oxford and surrounded by farmland, and Simeon bought a large plot for the school. The school remains on that site today, with the Quadrangle and playing fields on opposite sides of Woodstock Road.
Simeon created an independent school with monastic-style buildings around a quadrangle. The original buildings were designed by William Wilkinson. The north range was built in 1873 and 1886, the gatehouse in 1879, and the east range, including Big School and the library, in 1881. Wilkinson's most significant building at St Edward's is the chapel, built in 1876.

Henry Ewing Kendall

The Rev. Henry Ewing Kendall was Warden from 1925 to 1954. George Mallaby taught at the school in the period 1924 to 1935, and gave his views of Kendall in Each In His Office. At the beginning of the book he listed Kendall with Norman Brook, H. W. Garrod and Jack Adams as "four remarkable men".
Kendall succeeded the Rev. William Harold Ferguson, who had moved to Radley College to take over as Warden there from Adam Fox. St Michael's College, Tenbury and the choir school at All Saints, Margaret Street were feeder prep schools, which had kept up musical standards; and there was an Anglo-Catholic tradition. The fees were low. Yet the retention of staff and the teaching were not good. Kendall's attitude was that "if the right standards were established and the right facilities offered, more boys could certainly be attracted from professional families."
As Warden, Kendall concentrated entirely on the school, was "human, friendly, humorous, convivial"; on the other hand he retained complete control of its running. He gave it 29 years of "incessant activity and unswerving devotion".

Later history

The whole school became fully co-educational in 1997.
In 2016, the school announced a new building project to complete the school's main Quad. The new development, designed by architect Nick Hardy and completed in 2020, includes a purpose-built Library, a university-style academic centre, and a new hall, with a capacity for 1,000 people.
July 2007 marked the official opening of The North Wall Arts Centre. The centre was built on the site of the old school swimming pool, which was the oldest swimming pool in the country. The North Wall Arts Centre is run by Ria Parry and is a producing theatre.
The North Wall Arts Centre won several major architectural awards for its design, including a RIBA award.
The Martyrs Pavilion, designed by architect John Pawson, was opened in 2009 and won the 2010 Oxford Preservation Trust award in the New Buildings category.

Sport

The sports on offer for girls include rowing, cricket, hockey, football, netball and tennis, while the main sports offered for the boys include rowing, rugby, hockey, cricket, football and tennis. The school has over of playing fields in North Oxford.
In rowing the St Edward's School Boat Club has won The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta on five occasions, more than any other British school except Eton College and St Paul's School, London. In 1984 the 1st VIII became the first ever crew to achieve the 'Triple', winning all three school events that year: The School's Head of the River; The Queen Mother Cup at the National Schools Regatta; and The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. In 2013 the boys 1st VIII boat rowed in the fastest Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup final ever seen at Henley, chasing the holders Abingdon School down to within half a length. Both crews beat the existing course record, having dispatched other leading international schools on the way to the final. In 2014, the boys 1st VIII were again the losing finalists. Having won Henley events eight times, and been the losing finalist seven times, St Edward's School is one of the most successful boys' rowing schools. In 2023, St Edward's School became the first co-educational school to win Gold in Championship events for both boys' and girls' crews in the same National Schools' Regatta, winning the Jim Mason Plate for Girls Coxed Fours and the Queen Mother Challenge Cup for Boys Eights.
The Steeplechase is the school's annual cross country race and is held once a year with the seniors running a race across Port Meadow, the floodplain of the River Thames.

Notable alumni

Former pupils of St Edward's are known as Old St Edwardians, abbreviated to OSE.
Notable OSE include:

Notable masters

Notable masters of the school include:

International links

The school has built up links with a number of schools around the world, which include:
; Mayo College, India.
; The Gilman School Baltimore, USA.
; Roland Park Country School, Baltimore, USA.
; The Doon School, India.
; The King's School, Parramatta

Arms

The school received a grant of arms in December 2017.