Burford School is a long-established state boarding school with a reputation for academic balance, pastoral strength and a grounded, purposeful boarding community.
Located in the Cotswolds with excellent links to Oxford and London, Lenthall House offers a calm and structured environment where students can focus, develop strong habits and enjoy the routines that support successful study. Our boarders benefit from the breadth of opportunity across the school, from academic enrichment to sport, music and outdoor activities, while also experiencing the independence that boarding life naturally brings. What distinguishes Burford is its balance: the standards and expectations associated with leading independent schools, delivered within the accessibility of the state sector. Quietly ambitious and firmly pupil-centred, Burford provides a boarding experience designed to give young people the skills, confidence and direction to move into the next stage of their education with clarity and purpose.
Burford School has been commemorating 100 years of girls’ education this year with a series of events organised by The Old Burfordian Association. The school, which was first founded in 1571, is the only state boarding school in the Cotswolds with 1400 students and 100 boarders. It opened to girls in 1925 after local philanthropist, Emslie John Horniman MP, donated a number of buildings in the town to be converted into the schoolrooms for the girls. Female boarders were later allowed to join in the 1970s. A commemorative plaque to mark the centenary has now been unveiled on these buildings, which still remain part of the school today as the modern girls’ boarding house. The ceremony was attended by headmaster Matthew Albrighton alongside former pupils, staff and members of the Burford community.
Eileen Baglin-Jones, who taught at Burford between 1966 and 1983, had the honour of unveiling the plaque and highlighted the dedication and commitment of staff in the 1920s who promoted the cause of equality and girls’ education. The unveiling was followed by afternoon tea in the Boarding House, where photos of times gone by were displayed. Ruth Hogg, Head of Boarding, explained, “We had a lovely afternoon together and it was so inspiring to hear about the hard work of those staff who first made it possible to girls to join Burford. It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how much things have changed over the last 100 years.”
The first Old Burfordian of the Year Award also celebrated the contribution of girls at Burford and was awarded to Zoe Roberts in September, Zoe, a former pupil of Burford, is a writer and theatre-maker whose show Operation Mincemeat is currently being performed on Broadway.
