THE GOOD SCHOOLS GUIDE REVIEW
October 2023
(Updated November 24)
Head Master
Since September 2024, John Davies, previously senior deputy head and vice principal of Kingswood School, Bath, has also been director of teaching and learning at Abingdon School, and assistant director of studies at Shiplake. He read English language and literature at Oxford and has a master’s in educational leadership from Buckingham University.
‘...his passion for the performing arts extends to a number of cameo-stage roles in recent school productions.’
Keen to be involved in all aspects of school life, he has experience refereeing rugby, football and, more recently, netball. He also plays guitar and percussion and his passion for the performing arts extends to a number of cameostage roles in recent school productions. He is an ISI inspector. He is joined by his wife, Hannah, and two children Ben and Ella.
Entrance
‘Selective – but ‘not overly so’.
11+ The most competitive entry point is 11+, with 80 to 100 day and boarding places. It’s over-subscribed most years but every child is interviewed and sits written and on-line assessments in English comprehension, maths, verbal reasoning and problem-solving. Pupils come from up to 70 schools, half from local state primaries like Woodborough and Holy Trinity, half from preps like St Margaret’s Prep in Calne, St Francis in Pewsey and Heywood Prep in Corsham.
Exit
13+ At 13+ (boarding places only), 30 to 40 pupils join from preps across the south and south west, including Farleigh, Port Regis and Pinewood. Eight per cent are international, from places like Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and the US. Entrance is via the ISEB common pretest and interview or Dauntsey’s exams (English and maths), followed by an interview and taster day in year 6 or year 7.
At 16+, a handful leave (15 in 2023), usually for vocational courses (a recent one to study beekeeping at Hartpury College) but their places are filled by new joiners. At 18+, 99 per cent progress to university, with two-thirds to the Russell Group. Exeter, Oxford Brookes and Cardiff the most popular destinations in recent years. A huge variety of subjects, from motorsport engineering and games design to computer science and AI. One to Oxbridge in 2023, and four medics. Usually several overseas – a talented athlete headed to Harvard in 2023. Many choose to study art (eight in 2023), with choices including the Ruskin School of Fine Art, Central Saint Martins, Kingston University and Charles Cecil Studios in Florence. The occasional one or two do degree apprenticeships – one scooped an engineering degree apprenticeship with the MoD in 2023.
16+ At 16+, up to 40 join the sixth form from local state schools and independents. Newcomers and existing pupils alike need at least three 7s and three 6s at GCSE, including 9-7s in subjects to be studied at A level. Overseas candidates take the school’s own exams (English, maths and general paper) and are interviewed online.
Latest results
In 2024, 64 % 9-7 at GCSE; 42 % A*/A at A level (75 % A*-B). In 2019 (the last pre-pandemic results), 42 % A*/A at A level.
Learning support & SEN
Five-strong learning support team provides one-to-one support (at additional cost) for needs such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and slow processing speeds. Sessions last 35 minutes and pupils don’t have to miss any school lessons to attend them. Around 115 pupils receive some form of learning support. ‘It made such a difference to our son,’ a parent told us. ‘The support he got was very personalised and helped him get As in his A levels, which was beyond our wildest dreams a few years ago.’ Another said: ‘It’s been transformative in helping our son get the grades he’s capable of.’
The arts & extracurricular
The school prides itself on its performing arts provision – and rightly so. A quarter of pupils play at least one musical instrument and there are 19 ensembles, everything from jazz and folk to choirs, orchestras and a dance band, plus a Rock Fest event every year. Up to 20 take GCSE music but smaller numbers for A level.
‘the school’s dance programme is streets ahead of rival schools.’
Lots of drama (pupils were gearing up for Chicago at the time of our visit) and the school’s dance programme is streets ahead of rival schools. All year 7 and 8 boys and girls do dance, from street dance to ballet, 150 pupils took their production of Billy Elliot to the West End for one night only and while boys at other schools sometimes shy away from strutting their stuff
Dauntsey’s has an all-boys’ dance group called GNI (Girls Not Invited). ‘Our approach is very much that everyone can dance and that dance is for everyone,’ says the head of dance. Performances take place in the Memorial Hall although a couple of parents told us they’d like the school to have its own theatre. Stunning art and ceramics on display throughout and large numbers take art at GCSE and A level. The art school, with separate studios for years 12 and 13, classrooms, photographic studio and dark room, buzzes with activity.
Outdoor education is the icing on the cake. ‘The adventure side really captured our imagination when we visited,’ said a parent. ‘It encourages them to step outside their comfort zone.’ Dauntsey’s is the only school in the country to have its own 24-metre tall ship, Jolie Brise, which is moored on the south coast. ‘She’s universally loved by the students,’ says the head of adventure education (what a great
title). Over the years pupils have sailed the ship across the Atlantic six times, crossed the Bay of Biscay 10 times and navigated 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle.
‘More than 80 different clubs – board games, computing, cookery, fencing, Lego, you name it, they do it.’
There’s a real have-a-go philosophy at Dauntsey’s – year 8 pupils get the chance to stay in a cabin on the edge of the Arctic Circle in sub-zero temperatures, year 9s take part in the weekly Moonraker Adventure Programme, trying their hands at kayaking, climbing, river crossing and survival skills, and year 10s spend 24 hours on Jolie Brise. Ultrahardy year 12s volunteer to take part in the Brecons Challenge every June – a 10-kilometre run across
the Brecon Beacons, followed by a 21-kilometre mountain bike ride and a seven-kilometre kayaking paddle in one day. Experiences like these clearly have a lifelong impact – the head of adventure education had just received an email from a former pupil saying: ‘Hi Sir, I’ve just cycled from Kilimanjaro to the Cape of Good Hope.’
DofE (lots of gold awards) is popular but there’s no CCF. More than 80 different clubs – board games, computing, cookery, fencing, Lego, you name it, they do it. After GCSEs, year 11s do a ‘lessons for life’ programme –learning skills like first aid, sewing and how to jump start a car. Outreach, community service and charity programmes are big too; the school has raised more than £350,000 for good causes over the past decade.
Teaching & learning
Everyone takes three A levels (28 on offer), plus an EPQ, the school’s own leadership, sport and adventure qualification, a maths for science course or a philosophy module. Around a third do an EPQ and a similar number take A level maths (other top choices include geography, business studies and chemistry). This year saw stellar performances in maths, art and design, drama and theatre studies, English lit and photography.
Most take nine or 10 GCSEs – maths, English lang, English lit, and either triple or combined science are compulsory. Other options include a language (French, Spanish and German on offer), Latin, computing, dance, drama, PE and more.
The small class sizes mean that pupils ‘can’t shy away and hide at the back’, says a parent. ‘They know they will be pushed.’ Average class size is 19 in years 7 to 9, 16 in years 10 and 11 and nine in the sixth form. Setting for maths only. ‘They push
‘They push you but they don’t expect everyone to be a genius,’
you but they don’t expect everyone to be a genius,’ a girl told us. Others said teachers are happy to help if they don’t understand something and there are clinics for subjects like maths, biology and languages. Careers talks begin in year 7 and by the sixth form pupils have regular UCAS briefings, drop-in sessions and interview practice. All pupils have digital devices – mostly Surface Pros or iPads. Parents buy these but the school supplies them for pupils on 100 per cent bursaries.
Sport
Dauntsey’s is undoubtedly a very sporty school, with at least two 75-minute games sessions for all each week, plus matches on Saturdays and after-school sporting clubs and societies galore. Options outside the main sports include Pilates, yoga, aerobics, dance, kayaking, swimming, cross country and basketball. More than 800 matches every year – parents say the only problem is that while Dauntsey’s can field A to D teams in many sports other schools can’t. Seven pairs a year take part in the gruelling 125-mile Devizes to Westminster canoe race.
‘The sports facilities are impressive’
The sports facilities are impressive – a stunning new sports pavilion with a raised viewing lounge, 25-metre indoor pool, two Astros, eight rugby pitches, vast gym, climbing wall, dance studio and a new athletics track. Director of sport has been at the school for 24 years but says that despite notable successes in rugby,
hockey, netball, football, tennis, athletics and cricket ‘we don’t allow any sport to dominate’. Girls’ rugby is growing in popularity, more so than girls’ football.
Boarders
Thirty per cent of pupils board in year 9 but the ratio gets closer to 50:50 by the sixth form. Seven day houses and five boarding houses – four single-sex boarding houses in the upper school (two for boys and two for girls), plus The Manor, a co-ed boarding house for year 7 to 9 pupils, a charming Victorian mansion in 65 acres of grounds a 12-minute walk from the main site. Pupils walk to and fro in groups of three although in winter the school shuttle bus ferries them back. ‘It’s like something out of Enid Blyton’, a parent told us. ‘At weekends they mess around in the stream and climb trees. They are safe and are given boundaries but it’s great that they can be children for a bit longer.’ Much to their delight The Manor pupils are allowed to bring their own hamsters and gerbils from home. ‘It’s a real icebreaker when they arrive,’ says a parent.
‘At weekends they mess around in the stream and climb trees. They are safe and are given boundaries but it’s great that they can be children for a bit longer.’
The upper school boarding houses are all on the main site. Sixth formers are in rooms of one or two, many with en-suites, while younger ones are in twos and fours. The girls’ house we visited was wholesome and welcoming, with lots of motivational pictures,
dorms decorated with fairy lights, balloons and jazzy duvet covers, a kitchen to make snacks and charging cupboards for phones. The boys’ house we saw was more utilitarian but we’ve rarely met any teenage boys who want to spend time decorating their dorms. Plenty to do at weekends, from quizzes to play rehearsals to shopping trips to Devizes and Salisbury. Youngsters can visit each other’s houses –but only at certain times and in common rooms only. Everyone eats in the main dining hall and boarders told us there’s plenty of food. ‘It’s pretty good, with lots of variety,’ said one.
Saturday morning lessons and lunch for all, followed by team sports. The school doesn’t empty out at weekends but apart from a few weekends when boarders have to stay at school, they’re allowed to go home after matches and return on Sunday night or Monday morning.
Ethos & heritage
Founded in West Lavington in 1542, thanks to the largesse of William Dauntsey, who was master of the worshipful company of Mercers, the school moved to its present site in 1895, when it became Dauntsey’s Agricultural School. The Mercers’ Company, which supports 17 schools, including St Paul’s, St Paul’s Girls’ and the Royal Ballet School, still provides five governors and generous financial help and lends its name to the school’s annual Mercers’ Lectures. Open to all, they’re welcoming speakers like sailor Pip Hare, weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker, fertility treatment pioneer Lord Winston and broadcaster Clare Balding this year.
Surrounded by far-reaching views of Salisbury Plain and with 165 acres of grounds, the school’s original buildings have been vastly added to over the years, a mix of old and new. Pupils clearly enjoy having so much space, playing basketball and table tennis outside at breaktime and wandering up to the outdoor gym and wellbeing area. Smart uniform for years 7 to 11 but sixth formers wear outfits ‘suitable for a business environment’ (no skinny jeans, trainers or canvas shoes). Sixth formers are allowed to paint their nails and have two piercings in each ear if they so choose.
Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline
Every pupil has a tutor (they keep the same tutors in years 7 to 9 and in years 10 to 13) and a housemaster/ housemistress but younger ones are mentored by trained older students too. Year 13 students volunteer to support those who may be having difficulties and would prefer to talk to a fellow pupil than an adult.
Behaviour is very good – very few detentions and out of the upper sixth cohort that left last year there was just one suspension in the year group throughout their time at the school. ‘Pupils are very on-side,’ says the school. ‘We have traditional values but it’s a very happy, laidback place. Teenagers like to know where the limits are and as long as you’re consistent and fair they’re content.’
Parents say the school handles any issues that arise well. ‘If you raise something they aren’t defensive,’ said one. ‘They say “let’s talk about it” and come back with a grown-up response.’ Another parent described it as ‘holistically very strong’, praising the school for the way it rallied round when a problem arose. ‘I can’t speak highly enough of the teachers,’ he said. ‘Everyone was united and on the same page. The school listened, made a plan and stuck to it.’ Firm rules on alcohol, smoking and drugs but no transgressions in recent years.
‘If you raise something they aren’t defensive,’ said one. ‘They say “let’s talk about it” and come back with a grown-up response.’
A mother whose child attended a state comprehensive before Dauntsey’s said she couldn’t believe the difference in behaviour. ‘At her old school it would take 10 minutes for everyone to settle down but at Dauntsey’s they start learning straight away.’ There was a consensus that the school suits all types of children – ‘whether you are an IT whizz, an academic superstar or keen on sport, there are opportunities for all.’ Pupils reckon the best thing about the school is the community. ‘There’s no hierarchy and no cliques here,’ said one.
The school has a host of partnerships with local state primaries (Dauntsey’s pupils teach languages and dance to younger peers) and has gifted the Teen Tips resource to nearby Lavington School, giving pupils and families access to its online wellbeing hub. Student voice is important – pupils can air their views and/or concerns via an online portal and there’s a school council too. A raft of prefects – 36 this year, including head boy, head girl and two deputies. We attended a lively prefects’ lunch of bao buns and cakes, where sixth formers got the chance to quiz the head – and they did. Sixth formers have their own space – the 17 Club, where they are allowed an average of two alcoholic drinks per week.
Pupils & parents
Day pupils come from up to an hour away (the school subsidises a vast network of buses six days a week), from as far afield as Andover, Salisbury, Swindon and Warminster. Boarders from all over, mainly the south and south west, but also from London. A fair number of military families. ‘It’s a very good all-round school, especially when you have more than one child and they’re very different,’ said a parent. Others praised the school’s communication with parents. ‘At my daughter’s old school the teachers took a long time to get back to you but if you email teachers at Dauntsey’s they get back to you that evening,’ said one.
Parents are very involved, attending matches, lectures and lunches. Notable former pupils include Thomas the Tank Engine creator Wilbert Awdry, novelist Andrew Miller, actor Daniel Ings, composer Simon May and sisters Guin and Miriam Batten, who won silver medals in the quadruple sculls event at the 2000 Olympics.
Money matters
The school runs a 100 per cent bursary place scheme for 11+ and 16+ entry. Three a year are awarded and at the time of our visit 21 pupils were on 100 per cent bursaries. Academic scholarships of up to 10 per cent on offer at 11+, academic, sport and music scholarships, all-rounder boarding award and head master’s awards in drama, dance and art at 13+ and academic, sport and performing arts scholarships at 16+.
The last word...
A big-hearted, unpretentious country school that manages to be traditional yet forward thinking at the same time – no mean feat. Academic results are good, the extracurricular programme is exceptional and we can’t think of many teens who wouldn’t jump at the chance to crew Jolie Brise.
T. 01380 814500 admissions@dauntseys.org www.dauntseys.org