A refundable deposit to confirm your child's place
Between October and December 2026 we will invite founding families to place a deposit of £600 — one month's fee, the same as the first instalment of a twelve-month payment plan. It is held separately from the project's own funds, and it is returned in full if the school does not open.
Invitations go to families who have registered their interest with us.
One month's fee: 8.3% of the £7,200 annual fee, including VAT — the first of twelve instalments, paid early.
Held under written terms by an independent third party, not mixed with the money we spend on running the project.
Set against your child's first-year fees when we open, or repaid in full if we do not open in September 2027.
Why we are asking
A school of this kind is built on evidence rather than hope. Before our funding partners, the Department for Education and the owners of our founding site commit themselves, they need to see that families are genuinely ready to join us. Nothing shows that as clearly as parents prepared to reserve a place for their child.
Why we believe it is fair to ask
We have deliberately set the deposit at a month's fee rather than a term's, so that it is within reach of the families this school is built for. Your deposit does not pay our bills while the school is still being built: it sits in a separate account until we open, and it comes back to you in full if we do not open in September 2027. If opening is delayed, you may choose whether to have it returned or to leave it in place for the new date.
Paying the founding deposit
Deposit invitations go to registered families from October 2026. Nothing is payable now, and full written terms will reach you before any payment is taken — including how the account is held, how a refund is requested, and what happens if your own circumstances change. A deposit is not a donation: it is your money, held for you, and it does not qualify for Gift Aid.
Deposit payments open in October 2026When it opens, this payment will go to the escrow account held for founding families — not to the school's own bank account, and not to the Seed Fund appeal. The two are kept entirely separate.
The Carmelite Priory at Boars Hill, south of Oxford — where the school will launch, set in seventeen acres of woodland. Photograph © the Discalced Carmelite Friars (carmelite.uk.net).
What your child will study
A classical education, taught in English schools' terms: a classical Key Stage 3, GCSE content from Year 9, and a Key Stage 4 built around it. Daily Mass, religious education at a tenth of curriculum time, our Oxygen enrichment programme, and art, music and sport throughout.
We are weighing options that range from a leaner curriculum of eight GCSEs to a broader one of nine with option choices. Both have been timetabled in full. We expect to settle the question within about three months, with the help of our Headteacher and the specialist advisers now working with us, and in good time for our application to the Department for Education.
| Leaner | Broader | |
|---|---|---|
| GCSEs | Eight: English Language and Literature, Maths, Combined Science (two), Religious Studies, History, and Latin or a modern language. | Nine: the same five core subjects, plus three from option blocks. |
| Choice | One: Latin or a modern language. The other continues, unexamined. | Three: history or a language; Latin, Greek or a language; geography, natural history or triple science. |
| English and maths, Years 7–9 | Four periods a week each. | Three periods a week each. |
| Languages, Years 7–9 | Latin three periods, one modern language two. | Latin or Greek two periods, two modern languages at one each. |
| The trade-off | Depth in the core, and a stronger base in one language — but less choice at sixteen. | Breadth and real choice at sixteen — but less time for English, maths and languages lower down. |
Years 7 to 9: the classical foundation
- Latin from the first term, taught systematically, with the Greek alphabet introduced alongside it.
- Composition, logic and rhetoric: how to write clearly, argue honestly and spot a bad argument.
- Great books read whole, from Homer and Virgil to Shakespeare and Tolkien, with memorisation and recitation as ordinary practice.
- History taught chronologically, with English, religious education, art and music following the same period together.
- The rest of a full education: mathematics, science, geography, a modern language, art, music and sport.
Still being worked out
- Which examination boards we use, and which modern languages we can offer.
- Laboratory provision for science practicals. Our founding site has none today, and GCSE science cannot be taught properly without one, so we are costing two routes for 2028: fitting out a laboratory at the site, or partnering with a nearby school or university for practical days.
- Provision for pupils who need additional support, and for those who need stretching.
- Enrichment logistics: venues, transport and the shape of the Oxygen week.
The school's life is Catholic in either version: daily Mass, the sacraments, and Religious Studies taught from the Catholic tradition. We are not seeking formal designation as a Catholic school at the outset, though the school may pursue it in time.
Our first GCSE candidates are the pupils who join Year 9 in September 2027 and sit their examinations in the summer of 2030, under the current specifications. Younger year groups may meet the reformed GCSEs arriving from 2029, and we are designing for those changes rather than against them.
Tell us about your family
Registering commits you to nothing. It puts you on our mailing list, brings you an invitation to the next information evening, and means you hear from us first when deposit invitations go out in the autumn of 2026.
If the form does not load, you can open it in a new tab or write to us at info@hfsoxford.org.uk.
Frequently asked questions
When will the school open, and with which year groups?
We are working towards September 2027, opening with Years 7, 8 and 9 and adding a year group at a time after that. Opening depends on registration with the Department for Education, on completing our site agreement, and on funding. If any of those change the timetable, we will write to families promptly rather than leave you guessing.
What will the fees be?
Our target is £7,200 a year including VAT, roughly £600 a month across twelve instalments. That figure is set deliberately close to the level that around half of the families in our survey told us was realistic, and the school is being designed to run within it. Fees will be confirmed in writing before any place is offered, and we intend to build a bursary fund as the school grows.
Is the deposit really refundable?
Yes. The £600 is held in a separate escrow account rather than in our working funds. If we do not open in September 2027, it is returned to you in full. If we do open, it is credited in full against your child's first-year fees — in effect, it is the first of your twelve monthly instalments, paid early. The written terms will reach you before you pay anything.
Does our family need to be Catholic?
The school's life is Catholic: prayer, Mass and the sacraments are part of the ordinary week, and Religious Studies is taught from the Catholic tradition. Our admissions policy is still being written, and we expect it to give priority to Catholic families. If your family is not Catholic but you want your children formed in this tradition, please still talk to us. We will publish the policy in full before any place is offered.
Will my child be able to go on to A-levels?
Yes. We will not have a sixth form in the early years, so pupils leave us at sixteen with eight or nine GCSEs and apply to sixth forms in the usual way. Sixth forms generally look for English and mathematics along with five or more further GCSEs, and stronger grades in the subjects a pupil intends to take at A-level. That is precisely what the curriculum is built to deliver.
Where will the school be?
We will launch at the Carmelite Priory at Boars Hill, just south of Oxford, using their facilities on weekdays: classrooms, a chapel, a meeting room and outdoor space. This is a temporary home, and we do not yet know for how many years, but it is what allows the school to open while we look for a permanent site. The terms are still being discussed, so please send any questions to us rather than to the Priory.
A question we haven't answered?
Write to us at info@hfsoxford.org.uk. We are parents doing this in our own time, so please bear with us — but we would much rather hear from you than have you wonder. The same address reaches us for anything about the curriculum, the site or the deposit.