Ratcliffe College

Ratcliffe College was founded in 1844 by the Institute of Charity — the Rosminian Fathers, the Italian Catholic religious order founded in 1828 by the philosopher-priest Antonio Rosmini-Serbati (beatified in 2007). The school was established at Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake in Leicestershire, on land bought by the Rosminian missionary Father Luigi Gentili, as one of the earliest Catholic schools in post-Emancipation England. The 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act had recently removed the legal restrictions on Catholic education in Britain, and Ratcliffe was among the first wave of post-Emancipation Catholic foundation schools (alongside Stonyhurst, Downside, Ampleforth and Oscott).

Ratcliffe became co-educational in 1995 and today educates around 916 pupils ages 3-18 with a substantial boarding population. The Headmaster is Jonathan Reddin. The school is a member of the HMC, the Boarding Schools Association and the CISC (Catholic Independent Schools Conference), and is inspected by the ISI. The school maintains its Rosminian Catholic foundation under the Institute of Charity Trust.

The school's academic profile is mid-to-top quintile Catholic independent — strong A-Level results and a strong Oxbridge / Russell Group pipeline reflecting the school's substantial bursary programme and academic standards. The 100-acre rural campus on the banks of the River Wreake provides extensive sports facilities and a strong outdoor pursuits programme. The school operates a substantial bursary programme via the Rosminian Trust, intended to provide educational access for Catholic and other families across the East Midlands regardless of family means.