Durham School, one of the oldest in England, is an Anglican school and has always been closely connected with the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral. The school, which has both day pupils and boarders, is organised on traditional boarding lines, although a system of flexible boarding and flexible hours for day pupils has been introduced and has proved extremely popular. Numbers are small (320), there is an excellent staffing ratio and the School is physically compact. There are six Houses (three senior boys' boarding, one senior boys' day, one girls' and one junior). Entry for boys is at 11, 13 and 16, by the 11+ examination, Common Entrance Examination or by GCSE qualifications. Girls' entry is at 16+ only by interview, testimonial and GCSE level qualifications.
Academic courses are followed to GCSE, AS and A-level and the National Curriculum guidelines are followed generally. A wide range of subjects is taught throughout the School while virtually all of the Sixth Form of 140 proceed to Universities all over the country including of course Oxford and Cambridge. A wide variety of musical, artistic, dramatic, sporting and other activities are available and new facilities have recently been provided for all of these. Music plays an important part in the life of the School with an outstanding choir and many small groups of instrumentalists, as well as the large ensembles. There is a strong tradition of excellence on the games field with the School currently having nine schoolboy internationals in its ranks. Rugby, cricket, rowing, athletics and swimming are the main sports, while hockey, netball, rowing and tennis are played by the girls, but for both boys and girls, a wide range of other options are available.
A generous range of Academic, Music and Art Scholarships are available. King's Scholarships are awarded at 13, while the Burkitt Scholarships are available to those entering the Sixth Form. Exhibitions are available at 11+ and clerical Bursaries are available for the Sons of Clergy while Assisted Places are offered at both 11 and 13.
