Seaford College is an independent

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

boarding and day school at East Lavington, south of

Petworth Petworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex, Heat ...

, West Sussex, England. Founded in 1884, it is a member of the

Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools ...

. The college is in Lavington Park, a

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

in the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the ...

. The land is owned by a charitable trust and the site is run by the Board of Governors who are the trustees. The college is the inspiration for the

Jennings Jennings is a surname of early medieval English origin (also the Anglicised version of the Irish surnames Mac Sheóinín or MacJonin). Notable people with the surname include: *Jennings (Swedish noble family) A–G *Adam Jennings (born 1982), A ...

and Darbishire children's books, written by alumnus

Anthony Buckeridge Anthony Malcolm Buckeridge (20 June 1912 – 28 June 2004) was an English author, best known for his ''Jennings'' and '' Rex Milligan'' series of children's books. He also wrote the 1953 children's book ''A Funny Thing Happened'' which was ser ...

History

The College was founded at Corsica Hall, Seaford on the

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

coast, in 1884 by

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Frederick Savage, who also served as headmaster from 1884 until 1920. In 1940, the College was disrupted by a government order requisitioning all boarding school premises in Seaford and giving only six weeks in which to find a safe home elsewhere. The College was evacuated to

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

for the duration of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and once peace had resumed, the new Headmaster Canon Charles Johnson began to look for a more suitable site, the College having outgrown its original premises in Seaford. In 1946 the decision was made to buy the estate at Lavington Park and the school moved to its current location. As of the academic year 2022/23 Senior School

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

fees are approximately £25,000 per year, with Senior School boarding fees approximately £38,000, though a number of

bursaries A bursary is a monetary award made by any educational institution or funding authority to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend school, university or college when they might not be able to, otherwise. Some awar ...

and scholarships are available. The main school building, previously Lavington Park country house, is a Grade II* listed building.

School features

In the 2010

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

results 87.5% of the school's pupils achieved five or more passes at grades A* to C, with 73 per cent of pupils achieving five or more passes at the higher grades including English and maths.http://www.bognor.co.uk/news/features/gcses_seaford_college_1_1517770

Old Seafordians

Politics

Ahmed Chalabi Ahmed Abdel Hadi Chalabi (; 30 October 1945 – 3 November 2015) was an Iraqi dissident politician, convicted fraudster and founder of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) who served as the President of the Governing Council of Iraq ( 37th ...

, President of the Iraqi Governing Council (2003) and Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq

Arts

, children's author * Lance Dossor, pianist *

Val Guest Val Guest (born Valmond Maurice Grossman; 11 December 1911 – 10 May 2006) was an English film director and screenwriter. Beginning as a writer (and later director) of comedy films, he is best known for his work for Hammer Film Productions, ...

, film director * Gareth Neame , television producer *

Tom Odell Thomas Peter Odell (born 24 November 1990) is an English singer-songwriter. He released his debut extended play, ''Songs from Another Love'', in 2012. He won the 2013 BRIT Awards, BRITs Critics' Choice Award in early 2013. Odell's debut studio ...

, singer * Matthew Rose, opera singer *

Toby Stephens Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English actor who has appeared in films in the United Kingdom, United States, and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film '' Die Another Day'', for whic ...

, actor

Sport

* Luc Benkenstein, Essex cricketer * Mats Grambusch, Olympic medal-winning field hockey player * Tom Grambusch, Olympic medal-winning field hockey player * Jeremy Groome, Sussex cricketer * Nathan Jibulu, Harlequins rugby player * Adrian Jones, Sussex and Somerset cricketer * David Purley, Formula One driver * Christopher Rühr, Olympic medal-winning field hockey player *

Charlie Tear Charles Joseph Tear (born 12 June 2004) is a Scottish cricketer who played as wicket-keeper-batter for Scotland. He also played for Scotland national under-19 cricket team in the 2022 Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup. Domestic career In May 20 ...

, Sussex and Scotland cricketer

Other

* Hugh Bentall, pioneer of open-heart surgery * Sir Louis Blom-Cooper, lawyer and chairman of the Press Council * Uri Dadush, economist * Sir Roger De Haan , chairman of

Saga Group Saga is a British company focused on serving the needs of those aged 50 and over. It has 2.7 million customers. The company operates sites on the Kent and Sussex coast: Enbrook Park and Priory Square. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. ...

* Derek Marks, editor of the

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

(1965–1971)

Headmasters of Seaford

* Colonel Frederick Savage (1884–1920) *L.S.A Cowan (1920–1928) *The Revd John Macnutt (1928–1931) *The Revd William Hindley (1931–1935) *W. Leslie Land (1935–1944) *The Revd Charles Johnson (1944–1990) * Charles Hannaford (1990–1996) *Toby Mullins (1997–2013) *

John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author and YouTuber. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is one of the List of best-selling books#Bet ...

(2013–present)

Notable associations

Constantine II of Greece Constantine II (, ; 2 June 1940 – 10 January 2023) was the last King of Greece, reigning from 6 March 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy on 1 June 1973. Constantine was born in Athens as the only son of Crown Prince Paul and ...

– patron *

George I of Greece George I ( Greek: Γεώργιος Α΄, romanized: ''Geórgios I''; 24 December 1845 – 18 March 1913) was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination on 18 March 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was born in Copenhage ...

– patron *

George II of Greece George II (; 19 July ld Style and New Style dates, Old Style: 7 July1890 – 1 April 1947) was King of Greece from 27 September 1922 until 25 March 1924, and again from 25 November 1935 until his death on 1 April 1947. The eldest son of King ...

– patron *

Paul of Greece Paul (; 14 December 1901 – 6 March 1964) was King of Greece from 1 April 1947 until his death on 6 March 1964. Paul was born in Athens as the third son of Constantine I of Greece, Crown Prince Constantine and Sophia of Prussia, Crown Princess ...

– patron *

Richard Chaloner, 1st Baron Gisborough Richard Godolphin Walmesley Chaloner, 1st Baron Gisborough (né Long; 12 October 1856 – 23 January 1938) was a British soldier and politician. He was a Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) from 1895 to 1900 and 1910 ...

– Chairman of Governors * Bill Cuthbertson – housemaster *

Harold Maxwell-Lefroy Harold Maxwell-Lefroy (20 January 1877 – 14 October 1925) was an England, English entomologist. He served as a Professor of Entomology at Imperial College London before moving to India where he took over the position of entomologist to the gover ...

– assistant master

References

External links

Seaford College website

Old Seafordians website

Ofsted

Profile
on the

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 private schools in the United Kingdom. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the business interests of its ...

website

Coordinates In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine and standardize the Position (geometry), position of the Point (geometry), points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as ...

: {{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1884 Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Boarding schools in West Sussex Private schools in West Sussex 1884 establishments in England Grade II* listed buildings in West Sussex