thLeighton Park gains significant national recognition as a Finlist for Co-ed School of the Year 2026
Leighton Park has been named a finalist for Co-educational Independent School of the Year 2026, national recognition that comes in a particularly significant year for the School as we celebrate 50 years of co-education.
When girls first joined Leighton Park in 1976, co-education was still far from the norm in independent education. Half a century later, the principle behind that decision – that young people should learn, grow and be heard as equals – remains woven into everyday life at the School.
Today, our community of almost 600 students learns together across classrooms, boarding houses, sport, music, the arts, leadership and more than 100 co-curricular activities. Rather than simply educating boys and girls alongside one another, we aim to create an environment in which young people learn with and from each other, developing the confidence to be themselves and the curiosity to understand different perspectives.
It is an approach rooted in Leighton Park’s Quaker values of equality, respect and integrity – and one that helps students think boldly, learn adventurously and live with purpose.
The results can be seen in the choices our students make. More than 40% of girls studying A Levels at Leighton Park choose Maths or Science, compared with a national figure of 31%. Students are encouraged to pursue their interests without being constrained by traditional expectations, whether that means girls choosing Engineering or boys exploring Food and Dance.
The same principle extends beyond the classroom. Leighton Park became the first senior school in the UK to partner with Her Game Too, supporting greater opportunities for girls in football, while a partnership with Brentford FC CST is widening access to high-quality football coaching, with Brentford hosting the regional Youth Development Squad at the school. Advocacy and student voice is front and centre, for example in Leighton Park being an Ambassador School for the Female Lead Society. Pastoral initiatives including Girls on Board and LP Bros create space for students to explore relationships, identity and the challenges of growing up in a fast-changing world.
Even the school’s 110-year-old JBH Speech Competition reflects this culture. Students are invited to take a position, make their case and face questions and challenges from their peers: learning not only to find their own voice, but to listen respectfully when someone else sees the world differently.
Leighton Park’s approach to co-education is ultimately about preparation for life beyond school. Young people will enter universities, workplaces and communities in which the ability to collaborate across differences, challenge assumptions, listen carefully and build strong relationships will matter enormously.
As Old Leightonian Olivia reflects:
“When you are at the school, the integrity and respect embedded in LP's culture seems very normal but in reality, it is something special that doesn't exist everywhere.”
The national recognition places Leighton Park alongside Ardvreck School, Ashford School, Brighton College, RGS Worcester, Sevenoaks School and Wellington College as finalists in this year’s category – an impressive group of schools with their own distinctive approaches to co-education. To be recognised among them, in the year that Leighton Park marks half a century of educating young people together, makes the achievement particularly meaningful.
Fifty years ago, co-education at Leighton Park represented a bold step forward. Today, its significance is perhaps less in being unusual and more in what those five decades have taught us: that when young people are known and valued, encouraged to question assumptions and given equal freedom to discover their talents, they become confident in who they are while remaining thoughtful about others.
That is the kind of young person we want to send into the world: independent in thought, courageous in action and purposeful in contribution.
The winner of Co-educational Independent School of the Year 2026 will be announced at the Independent Schools of the Year Awards ceremony on 14th October. Please do wish us luck!
About Leighton Park
Leighton Park won the Independent Schools Association (ISA) Future Readiness Award 2024-25, recognising the importance of an academically rigorous education that is rooted in the school’s Quaker ethos. The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) also celebrated Leighton Park in January for a Significant Strength, an exceptional values-led education, the only school in the UK to receive this accolade. The school won UK School of the Year in the Independent School Association Awards 2023-24.
Find out more
Please do book on to one of our regular Open Days or Taster Days to find out about our distinctive approach to education. To join us, book online at www.leightonpark.com/visit-leighton-park.