Talk Education Review

The Talk Education team have a combined total of over 350 years’ experience researching, writing and editing schools reviews, as well as advising parents on their school choices, SEND needs and bursary and financial aid opportunities.

You can read their most recent review of Merchant Taylors’ School below or by visiting the Talk Education Website.

Our View of Merchant Taylors’ School

An all-boys school that has an atmosphere that’s calm, not hectic, with pupils who are caring and not macho, Merchant Taylors’ confounds stereotypes. With a head who promotes asking the big questions such as ‘What is it to be human?’, the school offers so much more than the stellar academics and world-class facilities it’s renowned for. As the head says, ‘Humans are a musical, running, communicative, social, sophisticated, cultured, conceptually thinking, competitive, featherless biped,’ and this school makes sure it’s always got that 360-degree vision in mind.

It is genuinely hard to believe that this huge, 280-acre campus is only 30 minutes from central London. The vast expanse of playing fields and its own lake give it a very country feel – and yet it is most definitely a London school.

Founded in the City of London in 1561 by the Worshipful Company of Merchants, Merchant Taylors’ School relocated in 1933 to its present location and the original purpose-built art deco architecture has been enhanced over the years by expertly integrated contemporary buildings, including the jaw-droppingly impressive Design, Engineering & Technology Centre and the brand-new Julian Hill Cricket Centre (named after a former pupil who left the school £1m in his will), which officially opened in April and is already hosting professional Middlesex players.

The school is easily reached by public transport (it’s a stone’s throw from Moor Park Tube station on the Metropolitan Line) and there’s a network of coach routes, which cover everywhere from Ealing to St Albans.

School Headmaster

Simon Everson is at the helm of Merchant Taylors’ School, having moved from Skinners’ School in Tunbridge Wells in 2013. Sharp and articulate, he is passionate about treating every boy as an individual and drawing out not only academic success but the very best of everything else they have inside them. He says that pupils need to be interested and interesting, amusing yet easily amused and continuously encouraged to exercise their full potential. He’s very aware that the boys at school now may end up working in roles we haven’t even dreamed of yet.

Mr Everson is a big presence; he’s very approachable and clearly liked by pupils and staff, thanks no doubt to his inspiring vision. He believes in helping pupils become collaborators in their own education, encouraging them to become innovators and continuous learners. Pupils are like seeds who mature in the soil of the Merchant Taylors’ environment, he tells us, and he’s there to motivate every individual to keep striving and never get complacent. Building and sustaining their natural curiosity is at the root of pupils’ education, a model that he believes will serve them well in adult life. A real future thinker, he’s quick to adopt new technology and is embracing the possibilities of AI, seeing its potential to enhance learning and pastoral care.

Merchant Taylors’ School admissions process
Traditionally, Merchant Taylors’ two main entrance points were at 11+ and 13+, but there’s change afoot. In response to growing demand from families seeking Year 7 places, from September 2025 the school will no longer offer places at 13+. Instead, there will be 140 places up for grabs at 11+.

Entrants come from a spread of local prep schools and state primaries. At 11+, around 450 boys sit papers in maths and English, plus a general paper set by the school (every year it is new and un-tutorable – it aims to find the those who demonstrate real and different potential). Boys moving up from Merchant Taylors’ Prep don’t sit the entrance exams – instead, their academic performance in Years 5 and 6 is taken into account.

At 16+, entrants take exams in four A-level subjects and offers are conditional on GCSE results.

Scholarships are available at all entry points, as are 100 per cent means-tested bursaries.

Academics & Destinations

In a nutshell, academically this place is stellar. We were struck by the boys’ eagerness to get involved in every aspect of their subjects…

From submitting articles for a highly professional geography magazine to attending lunchtime clinics (often run by A-level students) to brush up on something they haven’t fully grasped, pupils are motivated, purposeful, and positive about their opportunities to learn and be intellectually curious.

The art deco design of the school belies the mod cons within: classrooms have standing desks, bean bags and VR sets for geography. The vast library inspires a great reading culture, fostered from Year 7 with lots of weekly reading sessions; we were impressed by the bespoke private study areas for different year groups and disciplines. The design, engineering and technology department is standout, with state-of-the-art workshops, a CAD suite and a full-size Mazda for the Motor Sports Club to tinker with. Pupils from Year 9 upwards take part in the VEX Robotic National Championships, with some of the older boys going on to compete in the World Championships. Head of design Mr Tang is universally thought to be ‘like a magician, getting the best out of you’, and perhaps with facilities and facilitators of this calibre, it’s no wonder that a good handful of pupils win Arkwright engineering scholarships annually. Science is strong too, with many pupils competing in national Olympiads and bringing home top awards, and there is a suite of languages on offer, including Latin and German.

An impressive number go to Oxbridge each year. The majority go to Russell Group universities and London colleges, with the occasional boy heading to drama school and a few venturing overseas.

There is a dedicated team of specialists who manage SEND provision and provide support when required.

Co-curricular at Merchant Taylors’ School

Rugby, hockey and cricket are the main sports at MTS Northwood, and while the boys we met were honest about their ability to compete with the local public schools on the rugby pitch, the cricket and hockey teams frequently clean up. England, India and Australia have all been known to borrow the Merchant Taylor pitches for training; the school is the home of Middlesex Youth Cricket and it already hosts a number of national fixtures. Former England Captain Andrew Strauss visited for the grand opening of the Julian Hill Cricket Centre in April; it’s absolutely huge, with a viewing gallery above state-of-the art, moveable bowling nets which have six different surfaces to mimic different conditions.

Some of the generous investment in outdoor education of late has further enhanced the opportunities for more diverse sports, such as paddleboarding, wakeboarding, windsurfing, sailing, rowing and kayaking on the lake, plus skiing, shooting, archery and climbing. The only notable exception in this dizzying offering is football, which isn’t played until the sixth form. The sparky and erudite boys we met told us that while it’s a sporty school, there’s no macho culture and everyone just wants to get the most out of being at Merchant Taylors’ School.

Opportunities abound to explore anything and everything outside of the classroom, with six school magazines, societies from debating to dissection and a big emphasis on DofE and CCF (one of the largest forces in the UK). Friday afternoons are devoted to extracurricular pursuits, and much is done in conjunction with St Helen’s, a neighbouring girls’ school. Music and drama are taken seriously, with more than 20 orchestras, choirs and bands, and a drama scholarship available at 11+ and 16+. A new theatre is next up on the development list.

Community spirit is more than just a concept here and compassion is of paramount importance. PHAB (Physically Handicapped Able Bodied) has been the school charity for over 60 years, supported by the boys with concerts and productions and culminating in a week-long residential in the Easter holidays with carefully selected senior boys and 20 disabled teenagers, which sees them taking part in everything from abseiling to karaoke.

Merchant Taylors’ School Community

Like many schools, MTS Northwood has a vertical-tutoring system that, along with a focus on wellbeing, is the bedrock of its pastoral care – theoretically, boys will have the same tutor for their entire time here. There is a real sense of a united community, with whole-school assemblies and lunches, and the weekend sports fixtures always draw big crowds.

It’s single sex, yes, but the boys get plenty of chances to hang out with the girls, from CCF (where they often report to a senior officer who is a girl) to choir practice to drama productions. We can’t stress enough how diverse this community is – about 25 per cent of pupils receive financial assistance; boys come out from London (for the green space and to step out of the spotlight) and in from further afield (for the streetwise, on-the-pulse feel), and all races and faiths are represented. ‘Not posh’, ‘extremely humble’ and ‘enthusiastic’ are the key terms here. Families are treated like VIPs too with parents’ evenings uniquely arranged to allow parents to remain seated with a cuppa while staff move around the room and come to them – ingenious.

And Finally…

There’s a holistic focus at the high-achieving London super star of a school. Academics may be top flight, but there’s no siloing of the curriculum and the individual-centred approach means everyone flourishes. A 21st-century attitude to diversity and a caring masculine culture is matched by up-to-the-minute facilities and a staff body that has its eye on the future.