Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate

Now set in more than 220 acres of beautiful North Yorkshire countryside, Queen Ethelburga’s has provided students with a vibrant and supportive school community since 1912. Steeped in history, Thorpe Underwood Estate supported a stewpond that fed monks on their way to and from Fountains Abbey. The site was also home to literary great, Anne Bronte.

The present Thorpe Underwood Hall, which sits at the heart of the campus, was built by renowned York architect Walter Henry Brierley as ‘a fine modern mansion of Elizabethan design’.

QE began its life in 1912 in Harrogate and moved to its present site in 1991, bringing with it a number of fun traditions. These have remained firm favourites of QE students, such as the annual School Ghost Production, celebrating QE’s birthday, battling it out in the annual School Quiz and singing carols round the huge Christmas tree outside Thorpe Underwood Hall before sitting down for Christmas dinner. QE traditions bring students together from the four schools and from one generation to the next, uniting them in a common heritage and shared memories.

Blending these traditions and family values with modern facilities and a global outlook is central to the QE approach, we welcome girls and boys from 3 months and support them through four schools - Chapter House, King’s Magna, The College and The Faculty – to become successful independent adults who are well prepared for the future.

Queen Ethelburga’s is known locally, nationally and internationally as a Collegiate of four schools that promotes the highest standards in all that it does. Our mission is for all members of the QE community to aspire to the Hill Standard:‘To be the best that I can with the gifts that I have’.

We have a vision to be recognised, consistently, as one of the strongest educational institutions worldwide in all aspects of our endeavour. Our broadly Christian ethos, welcoming all faiths and none, instils the virtues of mutual respect and support, tolerance and compassion. We aim to:

• Nurture, educate and equip our students to become considerate, self-assured, independent and resilient adults, respecting and celebrating cultural diversity and ready to take their place in the society in which their future lies.
• Create a safe, happy and caring community in which students take pride in their endeavour and thrive, both mentally and physically.
• Promote the highest academic standards for all, by providing a challenging, stimulating and varied curriculum, which fosters confidence, enthusiasm and curiosity.
• Provide an enrichment programme that complements the academic curriculum, building resilience, responsibility, self-belief and skills, and promotes a sense of fulfilment and achievement in its widest sense.