Ludgrove School is an English independent boys' preparatory boarding school. Ludgrove was founded in 1892 at Ludgrove Hall in Middlesex by the Old Etonian sportsman Arthur Dunn. Dunn had been employed as a master at Elstree School, which sent boys mainly to Harrow, and intended to nurture a school that focused on preparing boys to enter Eton. His educational philosophy was atypical by the standards of the time: discipline was applied with a lighter touch, and masters were neither discouraged from mixing with pupils outside the classroom, nor from being on familiar terms with the headmaster.
Growing quickly thanks to the circle of friends Dunn had gathered in the course of his football and cricket career, Ludgrove soon became associated with families from the British aristocracy and landed gentry. Successfully navigating the challenging economic circumstances of the 1930s, since 1937 it has been based at a site near Wokingham in Berkshire, having taken over the former buildings of Wixenford School.
Occupying 130 acres of grounds, Ludgrove is one of the last remaining prep schools to provide full fortnightly boarding. With its extensive sports facilities, which feature a nine-hole golf course, swimming pool, tennis courts, and 11 pitches, school life is reportedly predicated on a link between sporting activity and positive academic performance. Most leavers depart for either Eton, Harrow, Radley, or Winchester.Alumni, known as Old Ludgrovians, include among others, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, British politician and Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, historian Alistair Horne, investigative journalist Paul Foot, and adventurer Bear Grylls.