Colfe's School
11+ Admissions Guide 2026

Colfe's School is an independent day school for boys and girls aged between 11 and 18, and is one of the oldest schools in London, having been established in 1574. The school was entrusted to the Leathersellers' Company in 1652 under the will of Reverend Abraham Colfe, Vicar of Lewisham, and although it became independent in 1977, it retains a close association with the Company to this day. Governance is provided by a governing body, the majority of whose members are members of the Leathersellers' Company. The school became fully co-educational in 1999. The school is situated on the same site as Colfe's Junior School and is home to around 671 pupils, of whom 180 are in the sixth form. Pupils come from families with a range of professional and business backgrounds, mostly living in the boroughs of Lewisham, Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich. The school aims to promote excellence in all areas and to develop each pupil's abilities and character to the full. It seeks to do this by fostering learning and scholarship of the highest quality and providing a wide range of cultural, sporting and extra-curricular activities within a purposeful and disciplined atmosphere, whilst nurturing an awareness of spiritual and moral values and encouraging pupils to use their talents for the greater good of the community and society as a whole.

In the senior school, mobile phones may not be used by pupils on-site until after school finishes at 3.40pm (except for sixth formers in designated areas). Mobile phones will be confiscated if seen on site before 3.40pm and a third confiscation will result in a detention. At junior school, phones must be switched off and handed in to the office on arrival, collected at end of day