Modern Foreign Languages

We are passionate about languages and about giving our boys the chance to experience a wide range of languages and cultures. In Lower School, boys choose to study one language out of French, German, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

In Year 9, they can pick up one, two or even three additional languages from those listed, along with Italian. Many boys choose to continue to study one or two languages in the Sixth Form. Every year, a significant number of our boys go on to study languages at degree level, the majority at Russell Group Universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.

Our aim is to develop our boys as linguists who are enthusiastic about languages and their potential. We want to give them the tools to be able to communicate effectively and confidently, to instil in them an interest in the culture and literature associated with the languages we offer, and to pass on our strong belief in the opportunities that studying languages presents.

Learning is not confined to the classroom.

Regular use of our digital language laboratories, a large team of native speaker language assistants who work alongside our teachers, and a wealth of co-curricular activities, give our boys the chance to experience languages in action.

From Middle School Foreign Cinema Club to our Sixth Form Book Club, there are clubs and societies for linguists at all levels, and boys regularly participate in local and national competitions, showing off their debating, spelling and essay writing skills. We are very proud, too, of our foreign trips. We run study visits to Montpellier, Brittany, Gredos, Madrid, Moscow, St. Petersburg and China, as well as a thriving exchange programme with partner schools in Augsburg, Flanders, Vicenza and Mexico.