Eastbourne College

Only 70 miles from London (90 minutes by train), Eastbourne College is an educational community as opposed to an academic institution and provides an exceptional educational experience. The College nestles at the foot of the South Downs National Park, a five minute stroll from the sea and minutes from the train station, with direct links to Gatwick and London Victoria. It is a place where children experience outstanding teaching while growing up at the right speed in a wonderfully healthy environment by the sea. They enjoy full social and co-curricular lives surrounded, all day and every day, by others their own age. First class teachers understand their roles extend far beyond excellence in the classroom and preparation for examinations. They are fully committed to the College’s ethos.

Academically, the College has maintained an average of 78% of A level grades at A*-B over the last 10 years. This has been achieved without offering vocational qualifications and confirms that all sixth form pupils at the College are able to excel in gold-standard, enabling qualifications that are suited to their aspirations. In 2024, sixth form pupils achieved excellent A-level results with over three quarters of all grades being A* to B and at GCSE more than half of grades were 9 to 7 (A* or A). A fantastic 85% of sixth-form leavers will be heading off to their first-choice university to study courses as diverse as engineering, medicine and music. Scholarships are offered for Year 9 and Year 12 entry.

Year on year the College is ranked in the top 4% of schools in the country, on the basis of ‘value added’ by the level of teaching and commitment to helping every child unlock their full potential.

The College is renowned for its full boarding, excellent pastoral care and sense of community and now offers flexible boarding options for day pupils.

The importance of family life cannot be under-estimated and the College responded to this by introducing a new boarding model that accommodates greater weekend flexibility. The “flexi” weekend enables pupils to choose whether they remain at school or return home for part of the weekend. These are in addition to traditional exeat weekends. Pupils who stay at school are encourages to participate in and take ownership of designing their own enrichment programme, selecting from an extensive list of academic learning and co-curricular opportunities.

Project 150 

In 2019, Dame Katherine Granger DBE officially opened Eastbourne College’s Project 150 (P150). The £33 million P150 development places the College at the forefront of learning environments in the UK. Our ground-breaking, environmentally friendly, state-of-the-art development marks a pivotal point in the College’s history. Some of the new facilities include: 32 state-of-the-art classrooms; two technology suites; cricket pavilion; dance studio; six-lane 25m indoor swimming pool with full Swiss touch-pad timing system (Sport England compliant); fitness suite – cardiovascular and strength and conditioning areas (elite and inclusive); large sports hall (rare 5 badminton courts in length) with Merlin bowling machine and full-length run-ups (cricket), offering year-round multi-sport training (Sport England compliant); two glass-backed squash courts; dining hall and Tim’s, the Wi-Fi Cafe; stunning entertainment and exhibition areas.