DULWICH COLLEGE

Dulwich College is a world-famous boarding school founded in 1619. Located in a well-to-do enclave in South East London, Dulwich College attracts pupils from across South London, the United Kingdom and overseas and has forged a global reputation for academic and sporting excellence. Today, Dulwich College represents the very best of the English public school model, a model which it has successfully replicated with partner schools established in various new markets under the Dulwich International brand.

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ABOUT

Dulwich College is a renowned independent school in the British Public School tradition. It boasts a strong boarding tradition but has long maintained a day school too. The school was founded as the College of God’s Gift on lands owned by notorious thespian, Edward Alleyn. An extremely well-connected man, Alleyn invited the Archbishop of Canterbury to consecrate the chapel that would become the foundation for the College in 1616. The College has established a global reputation as one of the world’s leading boys’ schools with a glittering list of famous alumni and, despite being one of the largest independent schools in the country, is heavily oversubscribed and is highly selective.

History

Edward “Ned” Alleyn was an esteemed actor of the Elizabethan era who had curried much favour with the Court and who, through marriage and business, accumulated great wealth. His father, also Edward Alleyn, had been a porter to HM Queen Elizabeth I and maintained an inn in London. His mother, Margaret Townley, claimed ancestry of the prominent Townley family. Alleyn’s father died young and his mother remarried a stage actor who is credited with inspiring the young Ned Alleyn to tread the boards in later years.

He garnered a reputation as one of the greatest actors of his generation, having first come to the public eye as a young performer in the Earl of Worcester’s troupe of travelling players when he was only sixteen years of age. He would quickly become the most popular actor in the country with sell-out shows across Great Britain vying with his great rival, Richard Burbage, for recognition as the greatest actor of the Elizabethan age. Burbage Road in Dulwich Village, on the lands once owned by Alleyn, is named in honour of his great rival. The two men would be the stars of the shows put on by their great friends, the playwrights William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. Amongst Alleyn’s many fans was Queen Elizabeth I herself who is alleged to have requested the great thespian return to the stage after his retirement.

Alleyn earned a sizeable income from his acting career, however, it was through a lucrative partnership with his father-in-law that he would earn his fortune. Alleyn married Joan Henslowe, stepdaughter of the renowned theatre impresario, Philip Henslowe. Henslowe had been an actor himself before moving into business. He had extensive commercial interests ranging from money-lending to the fur trade. His love of theatre led him to a successful business venture with James Burbage (father to Richard) which saw them co-owning several celebrated theatres. Their partnership would dissolve before Burbage would erect the Globe Theatre in Bankside. Alleyn, having married Joan Henslowe, would join his father-in-law’s business as a partner.

Their business interests would expand to the ownership of several entertainment venues, including animal showgrounds, bear pits and various theatres. They would also invest in a substantial rental portfolio. Rumours abounded that the partners also invested in several less-than reputable businesses which were their most profitable of all. Alleyn’s zoological interests would earn him fame nearly on a par with his acting credentials and he was apparently appointed to the office of ‘Chief Maister, Ruler and Overseer of the King’s Games of Beares, Bulls, Mastiff Dogs and Mastiff Bitches’.

Alleyn’s increasing wealth allowed him to acquire a large personal estate in Sussex. He would acquire the great estate in Dulwich from Sir Francis Calton in 1605 with the intent of founding a great school. The lands at Dulwich consisted of a sizable acreage of common agricultural land, together with a number of small hamlets, including Dulwich Village. The land historically had formed part of the Great North Wood, a preferred hunting ground for Kings and aristocrats and which had been one of England’s famed oak forests. It had been owned in the past by the Whitehorse family before being acquired by the Archbishop of Canterbury from whom the land was confiscated by Oliver Cromwell. The wood’s population of ancient oaks would be heavily depleted over the years to be used in the construction of warships for the use of Britain’s large and powerful navy and to support the burgeoning tanning industry in Bermondsey and surrounding manors. Little of the ancient woodland remained when Alleyn took possession of the lands at Dulwich and much of the land was used for cattle grazing and farming.

Many commentators have suggested that Alleyn was plagued with remorse and guilt about some of his unsavoury business endeavours and had attempted to seek salvation through charitable efforts in his later years. It has even been suggested that Alleyn was visited by an apparition of the devil which had spooked him such that he vowed to establish a charitable foundation to support a school. It was this mission that inspired his decision to found a charitable school along the lines of those at Winchester, Sutton’s Hospital (now Charterhouse) and Croydon’s Hospital (now Whitgift). He is also said to have been inspired by his friend’s, Christopher Marlowe, experience as a scholar at the King’s School, Canterbury. These schools, historically, were established through charitable foundations specifically for the purpose of educating young men from poor families.

Alleyn set about building a school along similar lines with ambitions to attain a similar reputation. Whilst preparing himself towards founding his school, Alleyn would be appointed as a member of the corporation of wardens of St Saviour’s, Southwark where he had financed the establishment of almshouses for the poor and a new grammar school, which would become St. Olave’s Grammar School.

The chapel that would serve his great school was consecrated in 1616 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, on whom the honour of Visitor would be bestowed (and all future Archbishops of Canterbury would also be Visitor to the college). Alleyn would petition King James I to award Letters Patent for his school (a requirement at that time and standard for many of the United Kingdom’s ancient schools). However, he did not share the relationship with the King that he had enjoyed with his predecessor, Queen Elizabeth I (who died in 1603) and his efforts were continuously vetoed by the Lord Chancellor, Francis Bacon (the same Francis Bacon who some scholars have suggested was the actual author of many of the plays attributed to Shakespeare). Bacon, a documented sceptic with regards to how charitable school foundations actually worked, would repeatedly insist that an amount of the endowment to be directed to Alleyn’s foundation must be applied to support any one of the Oxbridge colleges. Finally, Alleyn’s lobbying would prove fruitful as Letters Patent were awarded in 1619 and the school was formally established with Bacon as one of the witnesses to the signing of the foundation’s legal documents.

The school’s foundation was established as the College of God’s Gift and was endowed by Alleyn with his Dulwich Estate. The name was apparently chosen to celebrate the gift that the Almighty had bestowed upon Alleyn in respect of his acting and financial success. He stipulated that the estate lands could be leased for terms of up to twenty-one years and that the foundation was also to support another school foundation with which he had previously been involved –  the St Olave’s & St Saviour’s Schools Foundation (which maintains St. Olave’s Grammar School and St Saviour’s and St Olave’s Church of England School). This foundation and the various institutions that once formed the College of God’s Gift are still the beneficiaries maintained by the Dulwich Estate today, alongside another school foundation that the Dulwich Estate would be directed to support at a later date.

Alleyn had precluded himself from being a member of the foundation which he established, however, he remained an active participant in school life in those early days. Alleyn also stipulated that the school would educate young men until the age of eighteen and that pupils entering the school were to “be prepared for university or for good and sweet trades and occupations”. Curiously and famously, the foundation’s terms would also require that the Master and Warden should always be unmarried and be of Alleyn’s lineage by blood relation (unless no such person existed) and that they must bear the Alleyn name. The original foundation, which specifically set out that the school would educate twelve poor scholars (orphaned boys over the age of six), would also make provision for fee-paying pupils to enter the school in addition to the scholars entering on charitable terms. Fee-paying pupils would, per the terms of Alleyn’s foundation, be divided into two separate categories with separate fee structures – one for boys of local Dulwich families (essentially fee-paying day boys). From the outset, the school was commonly known and referred to as Dulwich College.

Alleyn would actively encourage pupils at the school to engage in artistic pursuits and performances alongside the education that they would receive from professional Masters instructing in the classics. He would continue to be involved in Dulwich College until his death in 1626, some three years after the death of his wife, Joan Woodward (the same year in which Alleyn would remarry). Both he and his first wife, Joan, are buried in the Christ’s Chapel of God’s Gift in Dulwich Village (where the school was initially located).

As with many other schools of similar foundation and history, the College of God’s Gift struggled after Alleyn’s death and it wouldn’t be until the late 1800s and the resurgence of Britain’s Public Schools in the Victorian age that Dulwich College would establish itself as one of England’s great schools. Until that time, the school would experience periods of great financial difficulty, strategic misdirection and conflict between the members of the school. The school’s official Visitor, the Archbishop of Canterbury (and the various men who would be enthroned as such) would be forced to act to ensure that the school would properly execute the functions set out in its foundation. Francis Bacon’s scepticism regarding the success of a school with such divided purposes and no tenuous link to an Oxbridge College would prove justified in Dulwich’s case as these have been cited as reasons as to why the school struggled to draw in the pupils and demonstrate the success that Alleyn had envisioned. The relatively low receipts realised from the Dulwich Estate lands would also hold back the school’s growth as compared to some of its great rivals.

However, during those two centuries, various Alleyns would take up the mantle in accordance with their eminent predecessor’s wishes. James Allen (who was of Alleyn’s lineage but of a line that had dropped the “y” in the spelling of the family’s surname) was the most famous of them all and his name lives on in Dulwich College’s sister school, James Allen’s Girls’ School, also a beneficiary of the Dulwich Estate. He became Master of the College of God’s Gift in 1723. In 1741, he would endow a new Dulwich school, the Dulwich Reading School, which was to accept girls and boys with a view to teaching useful skills to girls for future life and teaching reading to boys for entry into Dulwich College. This school would come to be known as Dulwich Free School before later changes to its structure saw it becoming the eponymous girls’ school which bears his name today. Another notable Allen to take the helm was John Allen who served as Master in the early 1800s. He was considered a great Master but one who favoured the fee-paying aspect of the school to the neglect of the school’s initial charitable purpose (a common complaint made of the many ancient Public Schools in England at that time).

Nonetheless, a number of changes would take place during these years that would sow the seeds for Dulwich’s future growth. In 1805 the College successfully petitioned for an act of legislation to allow the school to requisition a sizeable portion of common land on the Estate for the use and development of the school (the site on which the school currently stands). This had been necessary to address the school’s dilapidated original buildings which were no longer fit for purpose. Shortly thereafter, the Dulwich Estate successfully lobbied for the Dulwich College Building Act (1808) which would allow the Estate to change the terms on which leaseholds would be arranged extending the maximum tenure to eighty-four years and thus making parcels of land in Dulwich immediately more valuable and more attractive to wealthy families seeking to build large residences. This would begin to turn around the Estate’s fortunes and, by extension, the funds distributed to the College of God’s Gift as beneficiary. Today, Dulwich is one of London’s most prestigious and expensive neighbourhoods.

The increased wealth of the Estate and the College triggered an investigation by the Charity Commission as to whether the other schools founded in Dulwich by Alleyn’s successors should also be in receipt of the Dulwich Estate’s greater prosperity. The Dulwich Free School (formerly the Dulwich Reading School) had been established 100 years previously by James Allen who had directed that the school should be a beneficiary of the Dulwich Estate. In 1841, the Master of the Rolls, Lord Langdale, rejected the petition on the grounds that Allen did not have the authority to amend the original statutes of the foundation of the College of God’s Gift. He did, however, express great dissatisfaction with how the College of God’s Gift was performing relative to the quality of its education provision and its meeting the terms of the original foundation.

The College of God’s Gift would need to change. In response to the criticism that the College faced during the Charity Commission’s enquiry and the negative attention that this had garnered, the College restructured and established the Dulwich College Grammar School in 1842. This school would serve poor boys from Dulwich and the surrounding area. The boys from Dulwich Free School were transferred to this new establishment leaving Dulwich Free School to become Dulwich Girls’ School, educating girls only. The new grammar school would be built opposite the College at the southern end of Dulwich Village. The poor scholars for whom the College of God’s Gift was initially established would continue to be educated at the College with meagre boarding provision, much to the chagrin of the Archbishop of Canterbury who still maintained a degree of oversight as the school’s official Visitor.

Indeed, there was great public debate about the quality of education in England throughout the 1850s and 1860s. Widespread concern about the mismanagement of charitable foundations and the obvious negligence of poor scholars in favour of fee-paying pupils from outside of a school’s locality had resulted in many calls for intervention and resetting of the education market. The Charitable Trusts Act was passed in 1853 empowering the Charity Commission to carry out enquiries into the management of charitable educational trusts with the powers to force changes where their investigations had determined that such changes were necessary. The consternation regarding Dulwich College, in particular, resulted in yet another enquiry by the Charity Commission in 1854, this time with significantly greater consequences.

The Commission’s findings that the College was failing its original mission resulted in the passing of the Dulwich College Act of 1857 which effectively dissolved and replaced the original foundation. The College of God’s Gift was to become the Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift and the ownership and management structure initially specified by Alleyn would be abandoned in favour of a two-body management structure. The stipulation that an Alleyn of blood descent was to be appointed Master was removed.

Reverend Alfred Carver was appointed Master of the College, the first Master in more than two hundred years who was not an Alleyn/Allen. He immediately set about advocating for a further restructuring of the College arguing that the Old College should become a great Public School akin to illustrious peers like Eton, Harrow, and Winchester. In order to achieve this and maintain the Dulwich College Grammar School function, the college was split into a Lower and an Upper School. The Upper School would be a great academic school, instructing fee-paying boys from the ages of 8 – 18 in science and classics and preparing them for entry into the great universities and for a life of public service and leadership. It would be known as Dulwich College and would become the famous school that we know today. The Lower School would absorb the functions of the Dulwich College Grammar School, providing technical and industrial education to boys of lesser means from the ages of 8 to 16. The Lower School would bear the name of the foundation: Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift. Both schools would effectively operate from the same original location and would rapidly expand. Reverend Carver had been greatly inspired by the regime of Thomas Arnold at Rugby School and the embodiment of the “Muscular Christianity” ethos which had come to define the Public School tradition. He hoped to emulate this at Dulwich College and began implementing his reforming agenda.

The need for reform was precipitated by wider reforms to the education sector in Victorian England. Reverend Carver’s tenure would coincide with the launch of the Clarendon Commission enquiry into how endowed grammar schools were managed and how they might interact with the state’s efforts to introduce universal and comprehensive education. The Commission set out to define what a Public School was and carved out a number of schools from the government’s reforms that would see many endowed grammar schools redirecting portions of their funds to support the establishment of girls’ education and schools for poorer pupils. The restructuring of the College of God’s Gift had been, in part, an effort to head off these challenges. The Clarendon Commission’s findings resulted in the enactment of the Public Schools Act of 1868, a controversial piece of legislation that gave a specific subset of endowed schools a special status in law that their peer schools were not afforded. Carver would have his work cut out for him in order to establish Dulwich as a peer to such schools.

At the same time, the school’s notorious crumbling buildings were undergoing extensive renovations and new facilities were being built for the purposes of the Upper School. The Upper School would move to its new facilities at its present site in 1869, officially opening the following year. The new purpose-built facility on the requisitioned lands that once were part of Dulwich College, would become known as “New College” and was officially opened on Founders Day by the Prince and Princess of Wales. The grand buildings were designed by Charles Barry Jr, son of THE celebrated Victorian architect and standard-bearer for the gothic and ecclesiastical revival style, Charles Barry. Barry is particularly well-known for his architectural triumph, the Houses of Parliament at Westminster Palace and his son maintained his father’s design aesthetic with Dulwich College.

1869 was also the year in which Reverend Carver would be invited to join a select group of Heads of peer schools by Edward Thring, Headmaster of Uppingham School, to attend the inaugural meeting of the Headmasters’ Conference. Dulwich College is one of the founding members of that association which is today considered to be the arbiter of what constitutes a Public School.

The Lower School would remain in the Old College until 1870 when new facilities were built on Townley Road in East Dulwich where the school continues today as Alleyn’s School. Dulwich Girls’ School would change its name to James Allen’s Girls’ School (JAGS) in 1878 and would relocate to its own new purpose-built campus opposite Alleyn’s School in East Dulwich in 1886. Both Alleyn’s and JAGS are amongst England’s most academically successful schools, often being considered as amongst the top feeder schools to Oxbridge Colleges.

Dulwich College too would experience a period of great success with Carver at the helm and having been freed of its original obligations under the initial foundation. The school still welcomed a community of pupils from wealthy families, however, most of them entered on a day basis from well-to-do local families, one of whom would become, arguably, the school’s most famous alumni – Major Sir Ernest Shackleton, the celebrated polar explorer. Carver sought to expand the capacity of the boarding school and to encourage more boarding admissions in order to raise the status of the school. A number of new boarding houses were founded when the school was refounded in 1857. They were to be associated with the school and would be under the stewardship of capable and respectable Housemistresses (typically known as Dames). Over the years, depending on the makeup of the student body, new boarding houses were opened and/or closed as the case may be. Nonetheless, the school has always had a majority of day pupils, unlike many other great Public Schools which, typically, were full or majority boarding. Indeed, the Clarendon Commission had specifically omitted St Paul’s School from the definition of what constitutes a Public School on the basis that it was not a boarding school and thus could cater only to applicants from its local community and not from the public at large.

Dulwich College had greatly expanded its student numbers and had achieved great success in sending boys up to the major universities and to senior roles in military and Imperial service thereafter (many of whom distinguished themselves with great honour during World Wars I and II in which the College lost many current and former pupils – a large number of past pupils have been recipients of the Victoria Cross or George Cross and are solemnly remembered at Dulwich College). Old Alleynians (as Dulwich Old Boys are known) were prominent in the arts, academia and professional classes and the school had developed a robust reputation in Public School sports. Indeed, Dulwich had attained the status that Alleyn had been so keen to reach when he endowed the College of God’s Gift. In Howard Staunton’s ’The Great Schools of England’ (1877), the school was explored in detail as one of 15 schools considered to be the greats. Dulwich College was featured as one of the first schools listed in the 1^st edition of the ‘Public Schools Yearbook‘, published in 1889, listing 30 such schools.

Nonetheless, Dulwich College would not escape the government-driven reforms of the Victorian era and its having been ignored in the Clarendon Commission enquiry would see the school being one of a number of charitable foundations targeted by the Charity Commissioners and those who sought to adhere to the original terms of Alleyn’s foundation. Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift remained under enormous pressure to divert portions of its funds to support other schools and projects, particularly in those parishes stipulated by Alleyn. The Charity Commissioners’ intent was to redirect funds to support various new schools across London which would greatly benefit the realisation of universal education but which would likely destroy the school’s capacity to continue as the great school that it was becoming. In 1882, following much arbitration and a lengthy legal battle, an agreement was reached that would see the foundation effectively splitting. The Lower and Upper Schools would formally separate in 1882 and, alongside James Allen’s Girls’ School, the three schools would act as independent schools, whilst remaining beneficiaries of the Estate. The foundation and the receipts from the Dulwich Estate would continue to support the three schools and St. Olave’s and Saviour’s Grammar School and the Central Foundation Schools in London. Both Alleyn’s and Dulwich College would continue to be governed by the same board of College Governors and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s formal role would become honorary only. With the three schools now in their own facilities, the Old College and Old Grammar School buildings would become the offices of the administrators of the Dulwich Estate. Reverend Carver would retire.

He had overseen the great rejuvenation of Dulwich College and had set the school on a footing that would rival the great and famous public schools of England. His successor, Arthur Herman Gilkes, would continue that mission and would implement further initiatives to bolster the College’s reputation and capacity to attract pupils, including many international admissions. Under his watch, the school would excel in the arts, particularly creative writing. Notable pupils of this chapter in Dulwich’s history included P.G. Wodehouse, Raymond Chandler and C.S. Forester. These men would become some of the most celebrated writers in English literature and helped forge the school’s reputation as the “cradle of writers”. Gilke’s son, Christopher Gilkes, would also serve as a later Master of the College and introduce a revolutionary new scheme to support admissions of pupils from the local area who may not otherwise have been able to afford to attend Alleyn’s or Dulwich College. His experiment would lead to the rolling-out of a nationwide “Assisted Places” scheme (later the Direct Grant Scheme) that saw many independent schools admitting pupils from the locality with fees being met by local authorities. Dulwich would work with a number of other leading independent schools from across London in the London Fee Assistance Consortium and still continues to support admissions with full bursary or substantial scholarship schemes. The school would implement a competitive House system in 1919 with all pupils, day and boarders alike, being assigned to one of the Houses and preparing boys for life in the collegiate system of the ancient universities.

Such measures saw Dulwich setting new records for Oxbridge admissions and the school was very much considered, in the public eye, to be one of a select few elite schools in England. Dulwich would become a member of the prestigious Eton Group of schools, initiated by Eton College and open to a limited number of peer schools. The school’s revered status was glorified in the Edwardian era when Public Schools and their ilk had acquired something of a cult status, occupying a unique place in the public imagination. Dulwich College was regularly featured in publications like ‘The Boy’s Own Paper‘ and the ‘Chums Annual’ (in particular the 1922-24 edition of Chums which includes a feature on the British Public Schools and which includes Dulwich College amongst an exclusive list of 30 schools and the ‘Grammar School Coats of Arms’, ‘Arms and Devices Used by Our Public Schools’, ‘Rugby Football Colours of Our Public Schools’, ‘Cricket Caps of Famous Clubs and Schools’, and ‘Football Colours of Our Public Schools’ features in ‘The Boys’ Own Paper’). Dulwich was also included in a number of collectable series’ from postcards to cigarette cards, including: the ‘Football Colours of Some of Our Public Schools’ and R.P.P.C. ‘Arms of the Public Schools of England’, 1st Series (1910) and ‘The Arms of the Great Schools of England’ postcards which are popular amongst collectors; and in Sunripe’s ‘Public Schools and Colleges’ series of cigarette cards (1923), the John Brumfit (Kenmore) ‘The Public Schools’ Ties’ series of cigarette cards (1925), the Godfrey Phillips ‘School Badges’ cigarette cards series (1927), Cavanders’ ‘Public Schools’ cigarette card series (1928), the Wills’ ‘Public Schools’, 2nd Series (1933) cigarette cards, and the Carrera’s (Black Cat) ’School Emblems’ cigarette card series (1929) (cigarette cards being inserts into cigarette cartons and that were highly sought after as collectable trading cards).

Tribute was also paid to Dulwich College with the SR V class of steam locomotives commissioned by Southern Railway. The class is commonly known as the Schools class and were designed by Richard Maunsell between 1930 and 193. The naming convention was chosen as a number of the great Public Schools were served by Southern Railway and because the Public Schools were so mythologised in popular media at that time. Engine number 907, one of the earlier engines, was named for Dulwich College and pupils of the school were invited to attend the naming ceremony for the locomotive on its launch into service. Dulwich was also listed as one of the independent Public Schools for the purposes of the government-commissioned Fleming Report of 1944 that would result in the Education Act and which would explore how the funding of places in the private sector by local authorities would work. Dulwich was also recognised in various important academic studies, including ‘Tom Brown’s Universe: The Development of the English Public School in the Nineteenth Century‘ (1977) by J.R. de Symons Honey in which the school is categorised as a Tier Two public school; and Gregory Walford’s ‘Life in Public Schools‘ (1986) in which the school is noted as a major public school. 

The school has grown from strength to strength in the years since. It further expanded with the addition of a pre-school and junior school in 1992. The Dulwich College Kindergarten and Infant School (otherwise known as DUCKS), has dedicated facilities on the Dulwich College campus and educates boys and girls from six months old to seven years old, acting as a pre-preparatory school to Dulwich College’s Junior School.

The foundation underpinning the Dulwich schools was reconstituted in 1995 with the three schools incepting their own legal identity and structure. This marked a new turning point for Dulwich College with the school embarking on a new strategy, expanding overseas and launching an overhaul and modernisation programme at home. At the behest of parents in China who had been seeking a first-class education for their children, Dulwich College entered into a partnership with Fraser White and Karen Yung to found Dulwich College International, with the enthusiastic backing of the Chair of Dulwich College’s Board of Governors, Eddie George, Baron George (then the Governor of the Bank of England and an Old Alleynian). The first overseas school in the Dulwich College International family opened in the Pudong area of Shanghai in 2003 (Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong), marking the first overseas school established by a British Public School and starting a trend that many of their peers would follow. A second branch opened in Beijing in 2006 (Dulwich College Beijing). These were followed by Dulwich College Suzhou in 2007, Dulwich International High School Zhuhai and Dulwich College Seoul in 2010, Dulwich International High School Suzhou in 2012, Dulwich College Singapore in 2014 and Dulwich College Yangon in 2016 (now closed).

Student Life

Dulwich College is a big school with a long history. It has seen many celebrated men walk its hallowed halls and has made a significant contribution to British life. This proud heritage has greatly shaped life at the school which is rich with tradition. The school is a leading example of the British Public School model and yet, unlike many of its peer schools (particularly the Rugby Group schools), it has always maintained a majority of day pupils and has been a major part of the Dulwich community with many prominent Dulwich families having a strong connection to the school.

This notwithstanding, the school has a significant boarding community and a long pedigree as a boarding school and boarders are an integral part of the school community and a key part of the school’s identity. Indeed, since the school’s first foundation in 1619, it has been home to a cohort of boarders. The schedule and pastoral needs of boarders fundamentally determine many of the activities and events at the school and, of course, the academic schedule.

Historically, Dulwich College offered boarding from the age of eight and up (as was once common with preparatory schools) but, today, it is limited only to boys aged thirteen or over in the Upper School. Boarders (or “Boarder-bugs” – a largely obsolete slang term from Dulwich College’s own unique idiolect) reside in one of the two historic Boarding Houses at the school, Old Blew and The Orchard. Senior boarders have the option of boarding at Blew or Ivyholme. Junior boarders tend to share a bedroom with one or two other boys from their year group. Senior boys tend to have their own bedrooms with dedicated study facilities. Many boarders at Dulwich come from overseas, including many who have prepped at another Dulwich College International school. Indeed a significant majority of Dulwich’s boarders hail from Far East Asian countries. Between 120 and 140 boys board at the College.

The boarding houses (once called Dame Houses), are well-equipped to ensure boarders have a home away from home and are well looked after. Each is under the stewardship of a Housemaster and supported by a number of staff and a resident Tutor. The boys have access to a range of facilities and have their own common room which is the heart and soul of each House. Free time for boarders is generally given over to study or to Activities organised by the school or by the Housemaster’s team.

The Boarding Houses at Dulwich are distinct from the Day Houses, or rather the Athletic Houses as they are known at DC. All boys at the school are assigned to one of the competitive Athletic Houses. The Athletic House system was introduced in 1919 by the school’s Rugby coach. Six Houses were founded, each named after a distinguished gentleman of Alleyn’s era (the Elizabethan era). Rather than allocating each boarder to a House randomly, Dulwich has assigned a Boarding House to each of the Athletic Houses thus all of Blew House are members of Grenville, all of The Orchard are members of Drake, all of Elm Lawn are members of Spenser and all of Ivyholme are part of Sidney. The other day houses are for day boys only. Each House has its own colours and award tie which may be worn by boys who have been awarded “Colours”. Boarders may also wear their Boarding House tie.

A house system also exists at Dulwich College Kindergarten & Infants School (DUCKS) named for trees common to the area: Chestnut; Elm; Oak; and Willow. Boys who move into the preparatory division at Dulwich College Junior School will be reassigned to one of the primary Day Houses. The House system at Dulwich College and at DUCKS sees the various Day Houses competing against one another for honours in various athletic and academic competitions. The winning house is known as the “Cock House” – a tradition common to the leading Public Schools. The Houses also maintain their own members’ events and traditions and senior boys may be appointed House Prefects.

Inter-house competition has long been a feature of life at Dulwich College, particularly among the various Boarding Houses. The Gordon Bowl has been an athletic competition between the Boarding Houses since the pre-war era, with the trophy having been the biggest sporting accomplishment at the school during the 1930s. After something of a hiatus, it is competed for amongst the Boarding Houses again today. The popularity of the Gordon Bowl marked a particular resurgence of sporting prowess at the College over a decade or so following the First World War. This was a conscious effort by the school to reverse the declining status of sports at Dulwich. This agenda underpinned the decision to introduce the Athletic House system, including Day boys in the competition and rivalry that otherwise had only existed amongst the Boarding Houses. Until that time, intramural sporting competition was largely limited to a few major sporting fixtures that saw teams formed from specific groups of the student body (games such as Boarders vs Day-Boys or Prefects vs The Rest.

The Athletic Houses today compete in a broad range of sporting, academic, musical, artistic, and gaming competitions. In many of the sports, the Houses field both a Big Side and a Little Side. They compete for the prestige of the Cock House trophy, awarded at the end of the year to the House with the most points accumulated through competition and the efforts of individual members. Colours or Half Colours are awarded to boys who have performed significantly well or have made a significant contribution to the House in designated competitive fields. Boys may be eligible to wear their House Colours accordingly.

Being awarded Colours is a prestigious honour at the College, with many boys having the privilege of wearing Colours or Half Colours bestowed upon them. The awarding of the privilege of wearing a white blazer was the ultimate Colours prize and was only available to boys who had attained Colours in two Major sports and at least one Minor sport. Typically, boys who had represented the school’s First XI (cricket) and First XV (rugby union) and a Minor sport (fives for example) would be considered by the Field Sports Committee for this great honour. Many Dulwich boys have distinguished themselves in their respective sports with many well-known sports personalities having attended the school. The school maintains some of the best sports facilities and amenities in the country and is a welcoming environment for elite-level student-athletes seeking to combine an excellent and rigorous academic curriculum with a high-performance sports programme. The school has a particularly strong pedigree in Cricket and Rugby Union with many First-Class cricketers and international representatives in both sports having honed their craft at the school.

Sports at Dulwich College are divided into Major and Minor sports with the Major sports being those in which the college fields a varsity team in national competition and in which Full Colours may be awarded to boys. These include: Association Football (Soccer); Athletics (Track & Field); Cricket; Cross Country; Golf; Hockey (Field); Rowing (Crew); Rugby Union; Sailing; Swimming; Tennis; and Volleyball. Minor sports (for which boys may be awarded Half Colours) with a strong heritage at the school include: Archery; Badminton; Basketball; Cycling; Equestrian; Fencing; Fives; Squash; Table Tennis; and Water Polo. Boxing and Rifles were once popular Minor sports at Dulwich but have much less prominence today. The Captains of Sports (the Head Boys of each sanctioned Major and Minor Sport) collectively comprised the Field Sports Committee alongside various sports Masters. The hugely popular playground sport of Patball/Downball (allegedly a derivation of the game of Fives) is said to have originated at Dulwich College and has grown to become a common breaktime pursuit, particularly at schools across Asia and Australasia).

Dulwich College also boasts a strong artistic and theatrical tradition, having built upon the proud legacy of the school’s thespian founder. The school offers LAMDA-approved dramatics and performing arts courses to augment the creative arts programme at Dulwich. Pupils may participate in a number of major productions that are put on by the drama department throughout the year, many of which have been performed at venues across London and the United Kingdom. The school maintains its own fully-equipped performing arts centre – the Edward Alleyn Theatre. Dulwich College also welcomes talented musicians to join any of a variety of choirs, orchestras, and musical ensembles that have been established at the school. Dulwich College musical groups have performed at landmark venues, cathedrals and arenas across England and have attained accolades and awards in various national competitions.

Pupils at Dulwich are also able to explore their artistic talents by taking advantage of the school’s Artist in Residence initiative, which sees an accomplished, mixed-media capable, visual artist taking up residence at the school and being on-hand to support the creative exploits of the boys. Pupils may display their pieces at Exhibitions at the school throughout the year.

The school has established a revered status as a creative writing hub with many Old Alleynians having pursued extremely successful writing careers. Past pupils including Raymond Chandler, C.S. Forrester, and P.G. Wodehouse have earned the school the nickname the “Cradle of Writers”. The school remains true to this pedigree today with various creative writing opportunities available to boys at Dulwich.

As with the sporting tradition at the school, pupils may be awarded Colours or privileges as a result of excellent performances or artistic pieces. Indeed, members of the school’s varsity musical societies may be entitled to wear special ties awarded to them. Many of the societies and clubs at the school have also been afforded special privileges and rights which allow their members to wear college-sanctioned ties.

The biggest day on the school calendar is Founder’s Day – a day towards the end of the school year which commemorates Ned Alleyn’s legacy and which sees a number of performances and exhibitions displaying the artistic accomplishments and abilities of the student body with parents and friends of the school invited to join pupils for an evening of celebrations.

The school has a long history of academic and social societies and clubs that exist to foster camaraderie over shared interests in the school and to prepare boys for life post-graduation. The senior clubs and societies are members of the Union of Societies which oversees and facilitates the management and administration of these groups and acts as a liaison body with the school’s management. The Union Fair is an important fixture on the school’s calendar and sees the Union of Societies groups demonstrating their activities over the course of the year and setting up stalls. Many of the societies and clubs work with their peers at neighbouring schools, particularly James Allen’s Girls’ School and Sydenham High School with whom the school also shares an academic programme which sees pupils participating in shared lessons and curricula.

The school also oversees the annual Dulwich Olympiad which sees a number of representative teams from the various Dulwich College International network schools from around the world coming together to participate in a series of leadership, skills-based and academic competitions.

All of this complements the school’s strong academic record and challenging approach to learning which has seen Dulwich College regularly featuring as one of the nation’s best-performing boys’ schools and a top feeder school to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Russell Group universities, Ivy League universities and other top-tier academic institutions such as Stanford University.

The school offers the English national curriculum with pupils undertaking studies towards G.C.S.E.’s and A-Levels. The various partner schools that operate under the Dulwich College International umbrella typically offer international versions of the same. At Dulwich, the curriculum is taught alongside the school’s proprietary educational programme known as ‘Free Learning’. Dulwich College seeks to develop curious and independent learners who are empowered to be self-motivated and self-confident students pursuing their own academic pathways. In these efforts, the school offers a number of co-ordinated classes and project-based initiatives alongside pupils from JAGS and Sydenham High. Boys are expected to be self-motivated students taking the opportunity to study when free classes arise and to attend Prep (evening study) in the evenings after school hours.

The ‘Free Learning’ scheme forms an essential pillar of the wider Character-based educational programme at Dulwich College. The school recognises its role in shaping young gentlemen all-rounders and that this requires an approach that goes far beyond simply providing a challenging academic environment. Dulwich seeks to enable its boys to flourish in all facets of personal character. As is typical of the British school model, Dulwich College operates a prefect system with all boys in The Remove forming the membership of the Prefect body. These boys are afforded special rights and duties and are encouraged to take on leadership roles within the school and to help maintain discipline and work ethic amongst the wider student body.

Similarly, pupils are actively encouraged to join the school’s Combined Cadet Force and Scouting programmes which are both particularly strong at Dulwich College. The school keeps its own outdoor education and experience centre in the Brecon Beacons in South Wales, the Glyntawe Outdoor Centre, where many of the younger pupils will spend at least a week during the course of their time at the school. Most pupils will undertake their Duke of Edinburgh Award whilst at the school.

Life at Dulwich College is beset with traditions and customs, some typical of ancient Public Schools and some unique to the school. In particular, the student body has made a significant contribution over the years to that peculiar body of slang that has come to define the British Public School idiolect, much of which has been immortalised in the works of famous Old Alleynian, P.G. Wodehouse. Much of the slang is no longer used, especially where it pertains to corporal punishment which has not been a feature of school life for many, many years.

Dulwich College’s sombre uniform of a black blazer (emulating the Oxbridge “subfusc” uniform), is famously punctuated by the wide variety of neckties that boys may wear and which denotes membership of any of the various Houses or societies at the school, or indicates seniority and year group, prefect roles, sports team membership or Colours awarded. This is to prepare boys for life after school and the subtle nuances of a gentleman’s tie choice and the social cues given. The only variation to the dark (black) subfusc jacket being when piping is added for Half Colours or a striped variant for Full Colours. A boy awarded Colours in at least two Major Sports and one Minor Sport might even be afforded the right to wear the prestigious white blazer. The school’s colours are black and blue, allegedly inspired by Haileybury and Marlborough College, both of which were leading early examples of the British Public School model.

The uniform, however, for much of Dulwich College’s history was the bluecoat tunic common to charitable schools and still worn at some today (such as Christ’s Hospital). Boys also wore a felt cap outside of school and the act of “capping” was akin to doffing one’s hat as a mark of respect. Boys would touch the crest on their cap when they passed a Master in the street.

Campus and Facilities

Dulwich College occupies a prominent site along the South Circular Road in Dulwich, a salubrious and leafy village in South London. Its large campus contains most of the school’s primary buildings and athletics facilities which include an all-weather running track, tennis courts, sports pitches, cricket greens, batting cages, and a fully-equipped, state-of-the-art sports centre. The school is one of a select few schools that participate in the Marylebone Cricket Club hubs scheme (schools that operate elite-level cricket facilities and coaching and which open up access to those facilities to children who would not be otherwise able to enjoy them). The school also has its own sports pavilion, performing arts centre, music studios, art studios and film studios. The new science and laboratory block is one of the best facilities in the country and ensures that Dulwich pupils are able to avail themselves of the latest technology to support their educational experience.

The Dulwich College Junior School occupies the northern part of the school site and DUCKS is located in its own dedicated facility at the edge of the College’s sports grounds. Pupils may also have access to the nearby Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Golf Club and the facilities of the Old Alleynians at the Trevor Bailey Sportsgrounds and the Old Alleynian RFC grounds. Dulwich Park and Dulwich Riding School are in close proximity to the school’s grounds and riding trails link the campus and the park to the ancient woodlands on Sydenham Hill. The Junior School Boarding Houses are located immediately across the road from Dulwich College. The Dulwich Estate maintains a number of privately owned roads which traverse and border the College site including College Road and its famous toll booth (one of the last remaining private toll roads in the country).

The school also has its own boat house along the banks of the River Thames in Putney and an outdoor adventure centre in the Brecon Beacons.

The school is well serviced by public transport links with numerous bus services travelling through the South Circular Road. West Dulwich and Sydenham Hill train stations are located on either side of the school’s campus which have routes to London Victoria station and easy access to London city-centre and the Gatwick Express train. Other nearby rail stations include Forest Hill and North Dulwich station which serve The City of London and East London. London Gatwick (LGW) is the school’s closest major airport. Other airports within relatively easy access of the College include London City Airport (LCY) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR). Biggin Hill Airport (BQH) is a short drive from the school.

Admissions

Dulwich College is an extremely selective school with pupils expected to attain a high academic and athletic standard. Dulwich is one of the most academically successful schools in the country and has a strong track record of sending boys up to the leading universities in England and overseas. As such, places are highly sought after and the school is heavily oversubscribed. Candidates for admission are expected to demonstrate an outstanding level of achievement in their academic career to date and will be invited to undertake entrance examinations and to attend an interview and assessment prior to any offer of a place being extended. Legacy applicants will be required to satisfy the same entrance criteria as all other applicants.

Dulwich College has a long tradition of ensuring places for gifted pupils of lesser means, in keeping with the school’s original foundation. The school is famous for the Gilkes Experiment (AKA the Dulwich Experiment) which was the forerunner of the Assisted Places scheme. Dulwich College is a key member of the London Fee Assistance Consortium and offers a broad range of bursary options and scholarship schemes for academically, artistically and/or athletically gifted candidates (with all-rounder options also available). Many pupils at Dulwich attend on a partial or full scholarship basis. Indeed, 210 pupils at the school are current beneficiaries of full bursary awards.

Alumni

Past pupils of Dulwich College are referred to as Old Alleynians. The Old Alleynian Association (also known as the Alleyn Club) is the alumni society for Old Boys and works to continue the sense of community and camaraderie between OAs. A number of high-profile figures are Old Alleynians including many world leaders, cabinet members and politicians. Dulwich has a long history of preparing young men for service in the military and civil service with many past pupils having lead distinguished careers in service of the Crown in the United Kingdom and across the British Empire. The school is particularly famous, however, as the home of many great writers and athletes (particularly cricketers and rugby players).

The Old Alleynian Association is an active society that regularly organises reunion events and get-togethers, including many events that are coordinated with the school. The association also supports a number of sports and social clubs and societies including the Old Alleynian FC (which competes in the Arthurian League), the Old Alleynian RFC, a cricket team which participates in the Cricketer Cup (old boys may join the Old Alleynian CC which is for old boys only or the Alleyn CC which is a community club), and a golf society that takes part in the Public Schools Golfing Society’s Halford Hewitt Cup (“The Hewitt”). Old Alleynians may also compete in the Arrow Trophy sailing competition for Public Schools that is convened by Harrow School. Rowers may join the Old Alleynian Boat Club. An active Old Alleynians Freemasons Lodge (Lodge No. 4165) exists for past pupils seeking to join the ancient Craft. The lodge is a member of the Public School Lodges’ Council.

As the school has remained in association with the HMC since its foundation (being one of the invited original members), past pupils are able to apply for membership of The East India Club (which absorbed the Public Schools Club), in London’s St James. It is one of the most prestigious and active private gentleman’s clubs in England.

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Accreditations and Affiliations

Dulwich College is the founding school of Dulwich College International – an association of various schools under the Dulwich brand. The school is also one of the beneficiaries of The Dulwich Estate. Dulwich College is subject to oversight and inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). The school is a member of the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools (AGBIS); the Boarding Schools Association (BSA); the Eton Group; The Head’s Conference (HMC); the Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS); the International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC); the Independent Schools’ Bursars Association (ISBA); the Independent Schools Council (ISC); the Independent Schools Modern Languages Association (ISMLA); the London Fee Assistance Consortium (LFAC); and was a participant in the Sevenoaks Group admissions survey.

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