Bruern Abbey is a specialist, mainstream school for pupils aged 8-16 who are bright, capable and ambitious, but who need a different approach to learning in order to thrive.
Across its Prep and Senior Schools, Bruern combines high academic expectations with exceptional expertise in supporting pupils with dyslexia, dyspraxia and other neurodivergent learning profiles. Small classes, specialist teaching and a highly individualised approach enable pupils to build confidence, understand themselves as learners and fulfil their academic potential.
Bruern offers an educational journey from 8-16, while recognising that the right pathway is different for every pupil. At the end of the Prep School, some pupils move successfully to other independent senior schools; others continue into Bruern Senior School, where they build on the same specialist approach while working towards GCSEs and preparing for their next step at 16.
Bruern pupils leave as confident and increasingly independent young people, ready to flourish in the next stage of their education.
Bruern Abbey Prep School: ages 8-13
Bruern Abbey Senior School: ages 13-16
Day and weekly boarding
Head's welcome
Bruern is academically ambitious for its pupils. We recognise that difficulty with literacy, written expression, organisation or other aspects of learning should not place a ceiling on what a young person can achieve. This is evidenced by our Common Entrance and GCSE results.
Teaching is designed around the way our pupils learn. Classes are deliberately small, with no more than twelve pupils, allowing teachers to know each pupil exceptionally well and adapt their teaching accordingly. There is a strong emphasis on literacy and numeracy, while specialist support is embedded within everyday classroom practice wherever possible.
The curriculum becomes increasingly broad as pupils move through the school. Alongside a strong academic core, pupils have opportunities to develop strengths and interests across the creative arts, sport, technology, enterprise and practical subjects. At Senior School, this leads to an ambitious combination of GCSE and vocational qualifications, designed to recognise different strengths while keeping future pathways open.
But a Bruern education is about much more than what happens in the classroom. School should be enjoyable, and pupils are given an unusually rich range of opportunities to find the things they love and at which they can excel. Sport, music, drama, debating, trips, outdoor activities and practical experiences sit alongside the academic curriculum, while weekly boarding gives pupils the chance to develop friendships, independence and confidence in a supportive and sociable environment. The result is a school that is busy, purposeful and, importantly, fun: a place where pupils are encouraged to have a go, get involved, and discover strengths they may not previously have known they had.
Just as importantly, Bruern gives pupils the opportunity to rediscover confidence in themselves as learners. Children who may previously have associated school with frustration or underachievement are supported to recognise their own strengths, while developing the confidence and strategies to tackle the things they find more challenging.
Across Prep and Senior, the principle is the same: to know each pupil, connect with the way they learn, and challenge them to achieve more than they may previously have thought possible.
Bruern welcomed girls to the Prep School in September 2026, with the Senior School becoming co-educational from September 2027.
We very much look forward to welcoming you to Bruern Abbey Prep and Senior Schools
Hilary Phillips, Prep School Head
Kate Walker, Senior School Head
The key differences between Bruern and other schools are essentially fourfold. All pupils come to Bruern with a laptop, which is used in most lessons. For those who have difficulty in expressing themselves as swiftly or as coherently on paper as they do in speech, this is an absolute godsend.
There is a clear focus on literacy and numeracy, with nine periods each of English and Mathematics a week.
All junior classes have eleven pupils or fewer and senior classes have twelve pupils or fewer – allowing pupils more individual attention in class. Pupils are rarely taken out for remedial support, as their needs are met in class.
We are steadfast in the teaching of those traditional values which are dear to us all, and we place an emphasis on good manners and self-discipline and encourage boys to share their aspirations and their anxieties.
Boarding school for boys and girls
Ages 8-16
Number of pupils 230
Average class size 12