Cheltenham College - Work and Service

Work and Service

675 Old Cheltonians (former pupils) were killed in the service of their country in World War I, and 363 in World War II. Cheltenham's military past is recognised by the fact that it is one of only three schools in England (the others being Eton College, founded in 1440, and the Duke of York's Royal Military School, founded in 1803) to have its own military colours (last presented in 2000 by The Princess Royal). Queen Victoria School in Dunblane, Scotland, also has Colours.

The names of those Old Cheltonians killed in the first world war are recorded in the College chapel, completed in 1896, which to a degree resembles King's College Chapel in Cambridge and is one of the chapels of an English public school. Those killed in the second world war are displayed on the memorial in the College's dining hall.

Cheltenham has approximately 600 pupils (150 being day pupils) between the ages of 13 and 18. The fees are about £30,000 a year, making it amongst the most expensive schools in the country. The school is now co-educational and maintains a strong academic reputation, with the majority of pupils going to The Russell Group Universities, and around 7% going on to Oxford and Cambridge universities. Both GCSE and A Level results are among the highest in Gloucestershire.

There is also a prep school, Cheltenham College Junior School, most of whose pupils go on to the senior school.

Cheltenham also runs an annual exchange program with the Wynberg Boys' High School in Cape Town, South Africa; an all-boys boarding school which coincidentally was established in the same year as Cheltenham, 1841.