Somerhill Independent School (''formerly known as The Schools at Somerhill'') is an independent prep school in Tonbridge, Kent, located at Somerhill House and overseen by Somerhill Charitable Trust. The school is composed of three sections: Somerhill Pre-Prep (coeducational pre-prep for children aged 2.5 to 7), Yardley Court (for boys aged 7-13), and Derwent Lodge (for girls aged 7-11). "Somerhill Pre Prep"
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History

Yardley Court was founded in 1898 in

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

and moved to the Somerhill site in 1990 to expand. Derwent Lodge, established in the 1930s, moved to Somerhill House in 1993, relocating from their

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

town centre home, which they had outgrown. The establishment of Somerhill Pre-Prep followed shortly after in 1995. The three schools operated as separate entities and were known as The Schools at Somerhill until 2018, when they integrated into one school with shared facilities, vision, and purpose.

School Structure

Somerhill offers co-education and single-sex schooling . Boys and girls attend co-educational Pre-School and Pre-Prep from ages 2 to 7. Upon entering the prep side of the school, boys join Yardley Court, and girls join Derwent Lodge for single-sex classes in a co-educational environment, sharing facilities and opportunities equally.

Somerhill Pre-Prep

The Pre-Prep section of Somerhill is for boys and girls aged 2 to 7, covering pre-school through to Year 2.

Yardley Court

Yardley Court is the prep section for boys aged 7 to 13; covering school years 3 to year 8. Boys attending Somerhill can leave following the 11+ and progress to the local grammar schools, particularly the Judd School, the Skinners’ School and Tunbridge Wells Grammar. Alternatively, for boys leaving at 13+, Tonbridge School is the most popular destination. Others join Sevenoaks, Eastbourne, Bede’s, Hurst, Kings Canterbury, Caterham and Sutton Valence.

Derwent Lodge

Derwent Lodge is the prep section for girls aged 7 to 11; covering school years 3 to year 6. When girls leave the school at the end of Year 6, typical destinations include Sevenoaks School, Walthamstow Hall, Kent College, Mayfield, Tonbridge Grammar School for Girls, Tunbridge Wells Girls’ Grammar, and Weald of Kent Grammar.

References

Preparatory schools in Kent Schools in Tonbridge {{Kent-school-stub