Dean Close School
11+ Admissions Guide 2026

Dean Close School is a co-educational day and boarding school for pupils aged 13 to 18, set within 50 acres of parkland near the centre of Cheltenham. Founded in 1886 as a boys' boarding school, it became fully coeducational in 1972 and is now part of the Dean Close Foundation, a registered charity governed by a board of trustees. The school shares its parkland setting with its preparatory and pre-preparatory schools, and boarders are accommodated in six single-sex boarding houses, including two for sixth-form pupils. The school's ethos is rooted in its Evangelical Christian foundation, with community, respect for others, relationship and service at its heart. It aims to provide every pupil with a well-rounded education, encouraging independent thinking and the self-confidence to challenge the status quo. Pupils come predominantly from professional and business families, with most day pupils living within a 20-mile radius of the school. Boarders join from across the UK and from a wide range of countries, including those in Europe, the USA, the Caribbean, Dubai and the Far East. The school supports pupils with a range of needs, including those with special educational needs and disabilities and those for whom English is an additional language, and provides further challenge for its most able pupils through extension activities, individual tutorials and competitions.