All-Steinway School status means music facilities use Steinway instruments exclusively, a rare designation.
Catholic boarding and day school in Leicestershire, England
Why this school
All-Steinway School status means music facilities use Steinway instruments exclusively, a rare designation.
A formal educational partnership with Leicester City Football Club Academy provides an elite sporting pathway.
Full boarding fee of £50,346 (2026/27) includes VAT, EAL lessons, and all boarding weekend trips.
Ratcliffe College is a Catholic independent school in Leicestershire, founded in 1845 within the Rosminian tradition. Set across 200 acres, it educates pupils from age 3 to 18 — one of the few genuinely all-through Catholic independent schools in England. The school’s mission, “Learning and Growing in the Light of the Gospel”, shapes both the academic and pastoral framework across every year group. Accredited by ISC, HMC (Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference), IAPS, BSA, and ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate), it operates squarely within mainstream British independent education while keeping a distinct Catholic character. International boarding pupils make up 12% of the student body, giving the school a quietly cosmopolitan quality without pulling it away from its community identity.
Ratcliffe follows the standard English curriculum: GCSEs across a broad subject range, then A-levels in the sixth form. The school’s results place it in the top 1% nationally for A-level value-added, meaning pupils consistently outperform predictions based on prior attainment. Small class sizes allow teaching to stay responsive rather than formulaic. The Good Schools Guide has recognised the school for preparing pupils for routes beyond traditional university pathways — useful for families who know their child’s ambitions may not follow the standard post-18 road.
The sixth form takes pupils from within the school and external applicants. A-level study runs across two years, and the pastoral structure continues through to Year 13. For families weighing up academic outcomes, the school’s value-added performance at A-level is one of the more concrete differentiators available.
Ratcliffe offers full boarding, weekly boarding, and flexi boarding for senior pupils in Years 9 to 13, with weekly boarding available from Year 6. Full boarding fees for Years 9 to 13 are £50,346 per year (2026/27), inclusive of VAT, EAL (English as an Additional Language) lessons, and boarding weekend trips. That fee structure is notably inclusive compared with schools that charge these as extras. The chaplaincy provides a consistent thread through pastoral life and the boarding houses. Boarding weekends include organised trips, so the calendar does not simply empty out at the end of the school week. The registration fee is £150; the deposit on acceptance is £5,000.
Ratcliffe holds an educational partnership with Leicester City Football Club’s Academy, giving pupils with serious footballing ambitions a formal sporting pathway alongside their academic programme. The school is also an All-Steinway School: its music facilities use Steinway instruments exclusively, a designation held by a small number of schools globally and a practical indicator of investment in music education. The British Council has accredited the school’s international programme. Sport, music, and the arts function as genuine parallel tracks, with the Steinway status and the Leicester City partnership as the most tangible markers of that.
The campus covers 200 acres in Leicestershire, with sports facilities, performance spaces, and boarding houses all within a single enclosed site. The school sits in the East Midlands, within easy reach of the motorway network and major UK cities. East Midlands Airport is the closest commercial airport.
East Midlands Airport is around 20 minutes from the school by road and serves a range of European and international routes. Birmingham Airport is roughly 45 minutes away and offers broader intercontinental connections. Families travelling from London will find the M1 puts Ratcliffe within about 90 minutes of the capital.
Annual tuition
£50,346 per year · full boarding · Senior · Years 9-13
Other tier breakdowns shown below.
| Stage | Year groups | Type | Audience | Fee / year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | Years 9-13 | Day | — | £25,686 |
| Senior | Years 7-8 | Day | — | £21,798 |
| Junior | Year 6 | Day | — | £21,798 |
| Junior | Year 5 | Day | — | £18,882 |
| Junior | Years 3-4 | Day | — | £17,460 |
| Junior | Years 1-2 | Day | — | £16,740 |
| Pre-Prep | Reception | Day | — | £16,740 |
| Nursery | Swans | Day | — | £12,849 |
| Nursery | Cygnets | Day | — | £12,849 |
| Senior | Years 9-13 | Full boarding | — | £50,346 |
| Senior | Years 9-13 | Weekly boarding | — | £37,494 |
| Junior | Years 6-8 | Weekly boarding | — | £33,516 |
Additional fees
Deposit
£5,000
Registration
£150
East Midlands Airport — approx. 20 min by road; Birmingham Airport approx. 45 min.
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Ratcliffe offers full boarding, weekly boarding, and flexi boarding for pupils in Years 9 to 13. Weekly boarding is also available from Year 6. Flexi boarding is charged per night: £84 per night for a 2 to 3 night weekly commitment, £78 per night for a 4-night commitment, and £90 per night for occasional boarding.
Full boarding fees for Years 9 to 13 are £50,346 per year (2026/27), inclusive of VAT, EAL lessons, and boarding weekend trips. Senior day fees for Years 9 to 13 are £25,686 per year (2026/27). A registration fee of £150 and a deposit of £5,000 apply on acceptance.
Yes. Ratcliffe College is a Catholic independent school operating within the Rosminian tradition. Its stated mission is “Learning and Growing in the Light of the Gospel”, and chaplaincy is integrated into pastoral life across the school.
Pupils follow GCSEs in the senior school before moving to A-levels in the sixth form. The school does not currently offer the IB (International Baccalaureate) Diploma. A-level results place Ratcliffe in the top 1% nationally for value-added performance.
International boarding students make up 12% of the student body. The full boarding fee includes EAL (English as an Additional Language) lessons, built into the headline fee rather than charged separately.
Ratcliffe College accepts pupils from age 3 through to 18, covering Nursery (Cygnets and Swans groups) through to Year 13 sixth form. This makes it a fully all-through independent school on a single Leicestershire campus, so pupils can progress through every stage without changing schools.
East Midlands Airport is approximately 20 minutes from the school by road and is the most convenient arrival point for international families. Birmingham Airport, around 45 minutes away, offers a wider range of long-haul routes.
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