Stoke College

We are an independent day and boarding school based in Suffolk for boys and girls aged 4-18. We are set in tranquil parkland overlooking the River Stour, equidistant from Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds, Colchester, Braintree and Saffron Walden.

In November last year, education investors bought the school and are investing heavily in staffing, facilities and technology.

Since the end of February, we have been operating Stoke College Online, virtual classrooms and lessons. You can find out more about how this works in our ‘News Section‘ The future is very bright for Stoke College. We looking forward to welcoming you.

Stoke College has ambitious new investors with deep pockets and the determination to forge a new, 21st century school campus while reviving the traditional school as its foundation.

Stoke-by-Clare is close to Cambridge, to Stansted and not a million miles from London itself. Yet it remains impeccably an ancient Suffolk village within a picturesque pastoral setting. On our country house estate are a church, riverside walks and playing fields and the woodlands for a Forest School. It is a hub for families from miles around, not only in Suffolk, but in Cambridgeshire and North Essex.

The future is coming fast, and the world is being transformed both by technology and global competition. We want the stability and tranquility of our setting for making young people feel secure and happy but we also need new buildings and state-of-the-art technology to ensure the education they receive prepares them for a radical future.

Our intention is to begin building as soon as our designs are approved (we already have planning permission in principle). The quaint terrapins will soon be replaced with additional boarding houses and a higher standard of classrooms, including laboratories and a theatre.

Our key investor Mark Wang is a significant figure in the United World College movement and a passionate believer in bringing sixth formers from around the world together. But we want the school to be fundamentally English and to ensure that our local children come right through the school to join and lead a Sixth Form which we are determined will become a market leader with an international education.

We are a non selective school with high academic ambitions. We are set in tranquil parkland overlooking the upper reaches of the river Stour. We pride ourselves on providing a forward thinking and holistic education. Our new investors bought the school and are investing heavily. This includes introducing an affordable, transparent fee structure.

Stoke College is led by Dr Gareth Lloyd, who was previously Head of Ratcliffe College and St Joseph’s College. Dr Lloyd is leading the school at an exciting time. Alongside our new investors, he is determined to transform the education we offer, providing innovative and exciting opportunities for all our pupils and establish ourselves as a model of high quality, affordable independent education.

Alongside embedding ourselves in the local community, we will develop an innovative international outlook, which will include having an international sixth form. Our investors are committed to investing millions in the success of the school, including new buildings, infrastructure and technology.

We normally hold a number of admissions events throughout the year. However, these are extraordinary times. Instead of on-site open mornings, we will be holding regular online symposiums, talks and activities. You will be able to meet our Principal Dr Gareth Lloyd, as well as our pupils and staff.

Grab a coffee from the comfort of your kitchen, settle down and let us tell you what makes Stoke College so special.

• The College traces its name back to 1415, when a college for priests was founded on the site.
• The College served as a pleasant rural retreat and an extra source of income for senior churchmen, who usually held livings elsewhere or were fellows of Cambridge
• The last Dean was Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury under Elizabeth I, and effectively the founder of the Anglican church. For Parker, his College at Stoke-by-Clare was his favourite residence for 12 years.
• Stoke College “can lay claim to a place of honour in British history,” says Suffolk architectural historian Leigh Alston in a recent study. “For it was here that Parker developed the ideas that allowed him, as one of the major figures of the 16th century . . . to create a stable Church of England from the chaos of the Reformation.”

• Until Mr Alston’s investigation, the Dean’s Lodging, 70 feet long, two stories high and built of stone, had lain unsuspected for centuries inside this large country house.
• Stoke College, set in tranquil parkland overlooking the upper reaches of the river Stour, also has a 15th-century dovecote “that preserves some of the finest decorative medieval brickwork in Britain,” according to Mr Alston. The park wall is possibly one of the earliest brick walls in the country, dating back to the 1460s.

We believe that high quality education doesn’t need to cost the earth. Our ambition is to offer a forward-thinking approach to education that is competitively priced.

Here is our commitment to parents.

• Affordability
  We know that families often have to make sacrifices to afford school fees. We commit to offering the most competitive fees within a 20 mile radius.
• Transparency
  Planning for the future is essential for families, so there are no hidden charges in our fees. Additionally, our price freeze commitment means no inflationary increases within each educational stage of the school.
• Loyalty
  We think loyalty should be rewarded. Families will receive discounts the longer they are in the school.

• Family focussed
  We are a true family school, taking boys and girls of all ages with a wide range of academic ability. Our siblings discount supports entire families.
• Fairness
  We will approach all fees with fairness and openness. We do not do under the table deals or hide charges. Our pricing structure is competitive, fair and transparent.
• Excellence
  We offer scholarships of up to 30% to children who have exceptional ability in valued disciplines.

It’s crucial that a child should love being at school.

Too often, schools are places where children survive rather than thrive. In some, class sizes are too big for individual pupils to get much attention or praise; in others, there are counter-productive pressures around test outcomes; in a few schools, the behaviour of children can be cliquey and even tribal.

At Stoke College we do know that unless children love their learning school can become a chore. If children are to feel happy, friendship and community are key. If children are to feel special, a school needs to look at the whole scope of each child’s talents and keep finding strengths to celebrate and reinforce.

These are the basics. We must also inspire achievement. At Stoke we create an environment where success is possible because children are happy, interested and take pride in what they achieve. Excellence, in whatever field, is the product of opportunity, guidance, perseverance and character.