Our judges don’t want marketing gloss. They want the real story of your school in 2025–26 — told with conviction, colour and a bit of heart.

What has the year actually felt like for the boys in your care? What’s the mood as they barrel through the gates in the morning? What does learning sound like in a school built specifically around boys — their energy, their curiosity, their need for challenge and direction? We’re looking to understand why the experience you offer isn’t simply strong, but genuinely out of the ordinary.

So don’t hold back. Give us the texture of daily life. Share the moments that define the place. Yes, include the results and the figures that back up your claims — the hard data matters — but steer clear of dry lists. Instead, show us what those successes look like in the flesh. If our judges were to step through your doors, what would strike them? The purposeful noise? The camaraderie? The sense that this is a community shaping boys into capable young men?

Resilience is very much the watchword of the moment in our sector, prompting a clear-eyed focus on the future amongst leadership teams up and down the country. So please weave an explanation of how your school is taking sensible, forward-thinking steps to shore up its long-term stability into your answers.

These are the key areas we’d like you to address — and do keep the spotlight firmly on your identity as a first-rate boys’ school.

• Why is your school genuinely special?
  What is it about life in your community that sets you apart from other boys’ schools? Perhaps it’s the academic ambition that runs through the classrooms, the strength of the house spirit, or the quiet way older boys look out for younger ones. Tell us about your standout achievements in 2025–26 — the exam results, the university destinations, the victories on the sports field, the creative triumphs — and explain why they mark you out as “best in class”. We’re interested not just in accolades, but in the culture behind them: a place where boys are stretched, supported and expected to rise to the occasion. (Around 200 words.)

• How has your single-sex approach delivered for boys this year?
  In what ways has an education tailored specifically to boys made a tangible difference in 2025–26? Perhaps you’ve introduced initiatives to boost literacy, rethought pastoral care, expanded leadership opportunities or developed programmes that channel energy into enterprise, sport or service. Tell us what you did and why it mattered. Show us how your approach meets boys where they are at — and helps them go further than they might have thought possible. (Around 150 words.)

• What are the core values that underpin your school?
  How do they shape the boys who leave your care? In an often noisy and uncertain world, how are you guiding them towards adulthood — not just as successful students, but as decent, resilient young men? Bring those values to life. Show us how they are lived out daily: in the classroom, on the pitch, in the way boys speak to staff and to one another. And explain how your environment helps them grow into men who are confident without arrogance, ambitious without entitlement, and ready to play their part in modern society. (Around 150 words.)

In short, make it vivid. Let us feel the pulse of the place. Show us a boys’ school that isn’t simply turning out good results but shaping character — and doing so with purpose and pride.