The 15 boujie UK private schools that worm the most students into Oxbridge, revealed

Surprise, surprise, posh private schools are good at pushing pupils into Oxbridge. That’s one of the main reasons why rich people think it’s a sensible idea to send their children there. The Spectator worked out which UK schools get the most students into Oxbridge, and a disturbing amount of private schools are on the lest.

Still in 2025, an alarmingly high proportion of Oxbridge students went to private school. 31 per cent of University of Oxford freshers and 28 per cent of University of Cambridge freshers were spawned by some of these institutions. For context,  Government data shows only 6.5 per cent of UK schoolchildren go to private schools. The fundamentally unfair advantages of private schools extend to when you’re actually at Oxbridge. If you went to one of these school, you rock up to unis already knowing like 50 other people. And you probably can afford to spend more time studying for your exams during the holidays.

The best private school in the UK for getting sixth-formers into Oxbridge is still Westminster School in London. This is not a massive shock, because the students there get the second best A-Level grades and the best GCSE grades in the UK. The boarding fees there now cost a truly eye-watering £20,995. PER TERM. That’s £62,985 per year.

Westminster School, The Perse School and St Paul’s School in London all get more than 50 students into Oxbridge, which is wild.

So, here are the 15 best private schools for getting into Oxbridge, including the number of pupils who made it in through the 2023 UCAS admission cycle, and the percentage of applicants from each school who got offers.

15. Cheltenham Ladies’ College

23 offers, 32 per cent offer rate

14. Royal Grammar School (Guildford)

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23 offers, 37 per cent offer rate

13. Latymer Upper School

It’s a day school in a mega-fancy area of Hammersmith
(Credit: Chiswick Chap via Creative Commons)

25 offers, 26 per cent success rate

12. City of London School

26 offers, 33 per cent success rate

11. Tonbridge School

27 offers, 39 per cent success rate

10. Manchester Grammar School

30 offers, 36 per cent success rate

9. Highgate School

33 offers, 35 per cent success rate

8. Winchester College

37 offers, 42 per cent success rate

7. Magdalen College School

41 offers, 41 per cent success rate

6. King’s College School

42 offers, 32 per cent success rate

KCS is in Wimbledon, for those who can’t bear to be too far from the tennis
(Credit: William.brierly via Creative Commons)

5. St Paul’s Girls’ School

46 offers, 47 per cent success rate

4. Eton College

48 offers, 29 per cent success rate

3. The Perse School

52 offers, 38 per cent success rate

2. St Paul’s School

53 offers, 33 per cent success rate

1. Westminster School

69 offers, 42 per cent success rate

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Featured image of the Bridge of Sighs by Ozeye via Creative Commons.