Leighton Park School

Leighton Park was opened in 1890 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), as a public school for boys. It was founded after Grove House School, also a Quaker school, closed in 1877. Grove House School had educated notable personalities such as Lord Lister, Alfred Waterhouse and Thomas Hodgkin. Leighton Park grew from four boys in 1890 to 103 in the 1920s. The junior school became the independent Crosfields School, making Leighton Park solely a senior school. By 1970 the school had 300 pupils, and in 1975 girls were admitted to the sixth form. In 1993 the school became fully coeducational. Today the school is home to around 597 pupils, drawn from more than 45 different…

The school is based in a 65 acre parkland estate just south of Reading town centre, next to the University of Reading's Whiteknights Park campus. The school has been a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference since 1932. It offers both the International Baccalaureate and A Levels at Sixth Form. The school won Senior School of the Year in the Independent Schools Association (ISA) Awards 2023, the largest independent schools’ body in the UK. This success came on the back of Leighton Park also being acknowledged as one of the country’s best independent schools in the prestigious TES Schools Awards 2023 Luke Walters has been the headmaster since September 2025. At A level, in…