Oxford summer schools ranked among the fastest-growing companies in Europe

Oxford Royale Academy and Oxford Summer Courses have been ranked among Europe’s fastest-growing companies, according to the 2026 Financial Times’ FT Top 1000: Europe’s Fastest-Growing Companies. The annual ranking, which is compiled in partnership with Statista, lists the companies with the highest compound annual growth rate between 2021 and 2024. Oxford Summer Courses came in at 151st place, closely followed by Oxford Royale, which ranked 156th, securing them places in the top 16% of the fastest-growing companies on the continent, alongside companies like Bio&Me, Moneybox, Popeyes, and Healf.

Founded in 2010 by Oxford graduates Robert Phipps and Harry Horton, Oxford Summer Courses offer two-week residential courses for 12- to 18-year-olds, priced just shy of £8,000. The courses on offer range from architecture to creative writing, with small class sizes of up to 15 students advertised.

Oxford Royale Academy was founded by Oxford graduate William Humphreys in 2004, and has since attracted more than 50,000 students to its courses. Initially exclusive to Oxford, the company now offers students insight into a range of universities, including Imperial College London, Cambridge, Yale, and Columbia, and is currently gauging interest for a Dubai programme set to begin in 2027. Charging £6,995 for a two-week Oxford residential programme, Oxford Royale offers students talks from exclusive guest speakers, which have previously included Chancellor William Hague and Professor Brian Cox. The company has also launched an AI education programme this summer, which was developed by MIT’s Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education (RAISE) initiative. The two-week residential course is based in Oxford, costing £9,995.

In October 2025, Oxford Royale Academy featured as one of FT’s Europe’s Long-Term Growth Champions, recognising its sustained revenue growth between 2014 and 2024.

The summer course company was previously taken to court by the University of Oxford in a ‘name battle’ in 2023. The University asserted that it had suffered substantial damage because of the word ‘Oxford’ in the company’s title and was seeking a High Court injunction which would have forced Oxford Royale to change its name.

Both companies market their programmes in part on the promise of an admissions advantage. Oxford Royale’s website tells prospective students its courses offer “a clear advantage for university applications”, while Oxford Summer Courses presents its certificate and letter of recommendation as evidence that will support future applications. The University makes no reference to external summer schools in their guidance for strong applications. The University has previously stated, regarding Varsity Education, that it does not “endorse any commercial operations or publications offering advice or training on our admissions process, nor do we guarantee the accuracy of any such company’s information”.