Notes from the Head - Senior School Outcomes

'As we near the end of term, I reflect with pride on the performance of our Year 6 boys. The senior school outcomes, this year, have been outstanding. It is very pleasing, yet again, to see an increase in offers from some of London’s (indeed the UK’s) most academic schools. The 2024 Offers can be found here.

UCS and MTS have issued a record number of offers to St Anthony’s boys and offers from City, Westminster and Habs remain strong. It is worth noting that nine out of ten applicants to Habs were successful including the award of a major academic scholarship.

Mill Hill, after a slight hiccup last year, has once again issued a bumper number of offers, which is particularly encouraging given competition for places is much more intense than just a few years ago. Wetherby Senior School continues to be a reliable and solid option. I am very pleased that our links with Forest School are growing stronger; this year there were four applicants with all four securing offers. Four out of five boys won places at St Albans, and my prediction is that the link will St Albans will strengthen over the next few years, especially as their new Head, Joe Sylvester, is currently Head at Wetherby Senior. I am already lobbying him to introduce a 13+ route for Year 6 applicants. Maida Vale School, viewed until recently as the ‘new-kid-on-the- block’, is building a positive reputation and, for the small coterie of boys we send each year, MVS offers the perfect balance of academic and pastoral support.

As I write, there are two boys into Brighton College, one into Radley and another into Eton. Felsted, Magdalen College School and St Edward’s Oxford (Teddies) also appear in this year’s results. We are still waiting to hear from Harrow, Eton and Oundle.

There is no doubt that there has been a step change in the academic climate of the school, and St Anthony’s is now holding its own against not just Hampstead’s, but also London’s best prep schools. I believe the boys are doing so well because of their exposure to high quality teaching and a range of co-curricular activities and, perhaps most important of all, because of the kind and caring environment that allows boys to be the best version of themselves.

I’d like to close by thanking Year 6 families for all their support and forbearance through the application process. I am sure they will be a source of reassurance to Year 5 families who are at the start of the cycle.I wish you all a very happy Easter.'

Richard Berlie
Headmaster

April 2024