Reading Blue Coat marks 380 years with scholarships and open days

The setting is a large part of the school’s character. The school’s early years were spent in Reading itself, first at a former inn known as The Talbot near Silver Street, then at Brunswick House on Bath Road from 1852.

The move to Sonning after the Second World War gave the school the room to expand that has shaped everything since. Pupils arrive each morning at Holme Park, the country house estate that has been the school’s home since 1947, with space for the kind of outdoor learning that wasn’t achievable within the previous town-centre site.

The most significant change in its modern history is happening now. Having welcomed girls into the Sixth Form for decades, Reading Blue Coat admitted girls into Year 7 for the first time in 2023 and is on course to become fully co-educational next year in September 2027.

Academic standards remain the anchor. In the summer 2025 examinations, 84 per cent of A Level grades were awarded at A* to B, while at GCSE 61 per cent of grades were 9 or 8 and 94 per cent fell within the 9 to 6 range.

Behind those numbers is a scholarship programme designed to recognise pupils who show real promise in a particular field. Academic scholarships are offered at Year 7 and Year 12, with specialist awards available in Art, Dance, Drama, Music and Sport at various entry points through the school.

The awards are honorary and do not carry any funding or fee remission but scholars are given a distinct programme of mentoring, trips and enrichment intended to stretch them. The deadline for admission and scholarship applications for September 2027 entry is Friday, October 30, 2026. Although scholarships are honorary rather than financial, Richard Aldworth’s commitment to educational opportunity remains. Each year, two Foundation Awards are offered to enable exceptional young people to thrive at Reading Blue Coat.

Life outside the classroom is valued as highly as life inside it. The co-curricular programme runs a busy performing arts calendar, including full-scale school productions, to a strong sporting fixture list and an adventure education strand that takes full advantage of the river, expansive site and outdoor facilities, including a high and low ropes course and shooting range. A Combined Cadet Force, a range of clubs and societies and the school’s Aldworth Partnership community and service programme sit alongside.

For prospective families there are several ways to see the school in person. A Whole School Open Morning is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2026 and a Sixth Form Open Evening for Tuesday, October 13, 2026, with smaller daytime tours led by the admissions team running through the year and including tea with the headmaster, Pete Thomas.

As Reading Blue Coat approaches its 380th year, what stands out is not its age but its ambition. It is the combination of deep-rooted history and continual evolution that gives the school its distinctive character.

Further information on admissions, scholarships and open events is available on the school’s web page.