Epsom College

Epsom College was founded in 1855 by Dr John Propert as the Royal Medical Benevolent College — a charitable foundation to provide both schooling for the orphaned sons of doctors and accommodation for indigent retired medical professionals. The Victorian medical profession in mid-nineteenth-century Britain had no formal pension structure, and the high mortality of nineteenth-century physicians (especially in colonial service) left many families destitute; Propert's foundation directly addressed that crisis. The school opened on the Epsom Downs in Surrey in 1855 and rapidly broadened beyond the medical-orphanage population to admit fee-paying pupils. The charitable function eventually transferred to a separate Royal Medical Foundation while the school continued under its present name. Epsom became co-educational and admits boys and girls aged 11-18 today. The Head is Mark Lascelles.

The school is a member of the HMC, BSA and ISI, and occupies approximately 80 acres on the chalk downland edge of Epsom — within sight of the Epsom Derby course. Its thirteen houses operate both boarding and day provision. The school's medical heritage continues to shape its modern academic identity: Epsom is recognised as one of the strongest UK independent schools by medical-school progression rates, and the Royal Medical Foundation continues to fund bursaries for children of medical professionals in hardship.

Notable former teachers include the Bletchley Park cryptographer Robert (Bob) Roseveare and the England rugby scrum-half and BBC commentator Nigel Starmer-Smith, who taught geography at the College. The current Head of Rugby is the former Ireland international Paul Burke.

The school's alumni — Old Epsomians — naturally weight toward medicine. The combined strength of the Royal Medical Foundation, the substantial bursary programme and the school's location in proximity to King's College Hospital and St George's Medical School in central London continue to maintain Epsom's distinctive identity as the principal British independent school built around the foundation of a learned profession.