Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the 150-acre (60-hectare) estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located in Duffus to the north-west of Elgin.[1] Pupils are accepted subject to an interview plus references and exam results.[2]
It was founded in 1934 as the British Salem School by German-Jewish educator Kurt Hahn based on the model of Schule Schloss Salem, that he had founded in Germany in 1919. Gordonstoun has an enrolment of around 500 full boarders as well as about 100 day pupils between the ages of 5 and 18.[3] With the number of teaching staff exceeding 100, there is a low student-teacher ratio compared to the average in the United Kingdom.[4] There are eight boarding houses (formerly nine prior to the closure of Altyre house in summer 2016) including two 17th-century buildings that were part of the original estate. The other houses have been built or modified since the school was established.
Gordonstoun has some notable alumni.[5] Two generations of British royalty were educated at Gordonstoun, including Prince Philip and his son King Charles III.[6] Rock musician David Bowie sent his son Duncan Jones to Gordonstoun, and Jason Connery, son of actor Sir Sean Connery, also attended.[7][8] Due to Hahn's influence, the school has had a strong connection with Germany. It is part of the Round Square Conference of Schools, a group of more than 80 schools across the globe based on the teaching of Hahn, and named after the Round Square building at Gordonstoun, where the first conference took place in 1967. Around 30% of students attending Gordonstoun come from abroad.[9]
There were acknowledged cases of reported pupil abuse with no action taken in the 1970s and 1980s, for which the school much later apologised, commenting that at the time there had been "a completely unacceptable view that these were just things that happen".
Gordonstoun is included in The Schools Index as one of the 150 best private schools in the world and among top 30 senior schools in the UK.[10]
^"Gordonstoun Manor History". 2004. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
^"Gordonstoun Review". Good Schools Guide. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
^"Which Schools: Gordonstoun Details". Which School Ltd. Archived from the original on 12 March 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
^Graeme Paton (8 September 2009). "UK Class Sizes". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
^"Gordonstoun: Employment". Gordonstoun. 2009. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
^"School merger for Gordonstoun". BBC News. 15 March 2002. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
^Fox, Killean (18 July 2009). "Observer Profile: Duncan Jones: Creating his own space odyssey". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
^"'My father is NOT a tyrant,' says Sean Connery's son". London Evening Standard. 27 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
^Jocelin Young (1 October 1992). "Round Square: Who We Are". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
^McNamee, Annie (6 April 2024). "These are UK's best private schools, according to a prestigious ranking". Time Out United Kingdom. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the 150-acre (60-hectare)...
School, Wantage, and Gordonstoun. At Gordonstoun, she was one of 20 sixth form girls "in the robustly masculine environment of Gordonstoun," wrote Alan Hamilton...
was decisive in founding Stiftung Louisenlund, Schule Schloss Salem, Gordonstoun, Outward Bound, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and the first of the United...
flamenco at an early age. When Chaplin was 15, she began studying at Gordonstoun School in Scotland on a drama scholarship. She appeared in several school...
educational concepts of Kurt Hahn, and named after a distinctive building at Gordonstoun. Founded by a group of seven schools in the late 1960s, by 1996 it had...
famous 'Royal' school Gordonstoun in Moray". BBC News. 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2021-05-23. "Gordonstoun: Our staff". Gordonstoun. Retrieved 20 January 2021...
his investiture was held in 1969. He was educated at Cheam School and Gordonstoun, and later spent six months at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar...
Prior to founding Box Hill, McComish was a housemaster and art master at Gordonstoun, an independent school in Scotland, and he included some of that school's...
Oakeshott was educated firstly at St George's School, Edinburgh, and then at Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland. In 1996, she graduated with BA in history...
William Rolfe Kempe CVO (29 October 1917 – 10 May 2010) was headmaster of Gordonstoun School from 1968 to 1978, during the period that the Princes Andrew and...
Former pupils of Gordonstoun in Moray are known as Gordonstounians. They include the following individuals. See also The Category for Gordonstounians...
before following some of his family by attending Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland. Whilst at Gordonstoun, he was chosen to be head boy. During his gap...
wedding to Prince Charles. Hicks went to boarding school in Scotland at Gordonstoun, from which she was expelled for having boys in her room. She then backpacked...
the town of Street, in Somerset, England, and later the independent Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland. He was later accepted into the Bristol Old...
Premier Baronets of Nova Scotia (Scotland) were the Gordon baronets of Gordonstoun and Letterfourie until the title's extinction in 1908. Subsequently,...
at Google, Delpix and Oracle. In 2007, at 15 years old, Keza joined Gordonstoun Boarding School in Moray, Scotland. She holds Bachelor of Science in...
journalist and gossip columnist known for his personal style. Educated at Gordonstoun School in Scotland, he worked for London Life magazine after leaving...
of 16, Anderson was awarded a double music and drama scholarship to Gordonstoun School, the first scholarship of its kind. She was scouted while shopping...
to the royal tradition of male education at either naval college or Gordonstoun, or by tutors. The Good Schools Guide called the school "the number one...