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Norfolk schools: state, state boarding and independent compared
There are no grammar schools in Norfolk. A state day place is free, boarding at Wymondham College costs £16,950 a year and full boarding at Gresham's £52,680.
There are no grammar schools in Norfolk. Every state secondary is non-selective, and when a school has more applicants than places it fills them by its published criteria, which usually end in distance from home. For a family moving in, that makes the choice mostly a matter of money and address. A state day place costs nothing. Boarding at Wymondham College, the state boarding school at Morley, costs £16,950 a year in 2026/27. A senior day place at an independent school costs between £21,816 and £36,765, and full boarding at Gresham’s £52,680.
Apart from a handful of music places at Wymondham College, no test can win a place at a Norfolk state secondary. The house you buy decides more than the child’s results. Every state secondary open in the county is listed by area in our secondary schools reference, with ages, sixth form and the latest Ofsted outcome for each.
State schools: the criteria decide the place
Norfolk County Council coordinates admissions. For a September start at secondary school you apply by 31 October the year before, and offers go out on 1 March. If you move after the school year has started, you make an in-year application through the council, which can tell you which schools still have places. Our admissions timeline sets out the dates.
Read the oversubscription criteria of every school on your list before you choose a street. Hethersett Academy, an Inspiration Trust school for ages 11 to 16, gives priority to children at seven named feeder primaries and then to those living nearest; it was oversubscribed for September 2025. A feeder place is not a guarantee. For September 2023 the academy at first refused 35 children from Mulbarton Primary, one of its feeders, and the schools adjudicator’s determination records that most were offered the Hewett Academy instead. Our villages-for-families guide covers the catchments around Norwich.
Hethersett Academy was rated Outstanding in January 2016, and an ungraded inspection in September 2022 left that in place. Wymondham High Academy, which takes pupils to 18, was confirmed as Good in September 2023; it had 1,686 pupils against a capacity of 1,610. Notre Dame High School in Norwich, a Catholic academy for ages 11 to 18 on Surrey Street, was rated Good in February 2024, with personal development judged Outstanding. City of Norwich School was inspected in June 2026 under Ofsted’s new report cards, which grade each area separately: leadership was judged strong and every other area, the sixth form included, at the expected standard.
Wymondham College: state boarding
Wymondham College is a state academy in the Sapientia Education Trust, so there are no tuition fees and no VAT. Parents pay only for boarding. The college describes itself as the largest co-educational state boarding and day school in the UK. Ofsted counted 1,427 pupils aged 11 to 18, and the college says it has more than 550 boarders aged 9 to 18 across the senior school and its prep school on the same site. Ofsted rated it Outstanding in every judgement, sixth form included, after its inspection on 10 October 2023.
For 2026/27, full boarding costs £5,650 a term in Years 7 to 11, which is £16,950 a year, and £6,275 a term in the sixth form, or £18,825 a year. Both include meals and most clubs. A child with a day place offered through Norfolk County Council can take day boarding, which adds meals and after-school activities without the overnight stay, for £1,450 a term. Boarders who stay in over one of the six exeat weekends pay £100 a night on top. The college’s fees page has the full list.
The college is not academically selective and there is no entrance exam. For September 2026 it admits 65 boarders and 115 day pupils into Year 7, 25 boarders into Year 9, and 95 boarders and 120 day students into Year 12. When boarding places are oversubscribed, looked-after children come first, then children with a boarding need, with Forces families who receive the Ministry of Defence boarding allowance first within that group, then siblings and several smaller groups, including those who show an aptitude for music. The rest of the boarding places are decided by lottery. Day places, after the priority groups, which include up to eight music places, go by straight-line distance from the college’s main entrance, so a day place is another catchment question. Pupils in Years 7 to 11 have lessons on Saturday mornings.
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The independent schools
Gresham’s in Holt is the largest boarding school in the county. A senior day place attached to a boarding house costs £12,255 a term (£36,765 a year) and full senior boarding £17,560 a term, or £52,680 a year, including VAT. Sixth-form day pupils in Arkell House pay £8,710 a term, and prep boarding costs £12,730 a term. The school’s fees page lists the rest.
Norwich School, in the Cathedral Close, is a co-educational day school with no boarding. A senior place costs £8,406 a term, or £25,218 a year; the schedule is on norwich-school.org.uk. Langley School near Loddon takes pupils from 10 to 18, charges £8,124 a term for a senior day place and £15,594 for full boarding, and runs a day-only prep school at Taverham; its fees are on langleyschool.co.uk. Norwich High School for Girls, a Girls’ Day School Trust school on Newmarket Road for ages 3 to 18, charges £7,272 a term in Years 7 to 13; see norwichhigh.gdst.net.
The prep schools are Town Close on Ipswich Road in Norwich (ages 2 to 14), Beeston Hall at West Runton near Cromer (2 to 13, with boarding), Glebe House in Hunstanton (six months to 13) and Langley Prep at Taverham. All fees quoted here include VAT at 20 per cent. Our guide to every independent school in Norfolk gives each school’s fees, inspection findings and nearest towns.
VAT and the Thetford Grammar closure
Independent school fees have carried VAT at 20 per cent since 1 January 2025, and in April 2025 the schools lost the business rates relief they had as charities. Of the Norfolk schools we checked, Town Close is the only one absorbing part of the VAT: its fee for Years 5 to 8 is £6,248 a term before VAT, and the school is paying half the VAT itself in 2026 and a quarter in 2027, so parents pay £6,872 this autumn and £7,186 a term from January 2027.
Thetford Grammar School, an independent day school despite its name, closed on 31 August 2026. It cited VAT on fees, the loss of rates relief and higher running costs, and had 179 pupils at its last inspection in December 2025. Its record is on the Department for Education’s Get Information about Schools register, URN 121245. It was the seventh independent school in Norfolk to close since 2018.
Apart from OneSchool Global in Swaffham, which teaches the children of one church, the closure leaves south-west Norfolk without an independent senior school. From Thetford, the nearest co-educational senior school is Norwich School, 30 miles and about 44 minutes by road; from Watton it is 24 miles. Wymondham College is 18 miles from Thetford, about 25 minutes.
Bursaries
Gresham’s offers means-tested bursaries from Year 9 worth between 5% and 100% of the annual fee. The assessment takes in both parents’ income, savings, investments and other assets, awards are reviewed every year, and the school says the number it can make is limited. Forces families receiving the Continuity of Education Allowance get 20% off the boarding fee. Norwich School’s bursaries can cover the whole fee; it says an award is unlikely where household income is more than four times the annual senior fee or net assets more than 20 times it. Beeston Hall also offers means-tested bursaries. For Norwich High and Langley, ask the school’s admissions office.
The four routes side by side
| Route | Cost a year, 2026/27 | How places are given | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| State day | Nothing | Through Norfolk County Council; apply by 31 October; each school’s criteria, usually ending in distance | Every state secondary in the county |
| State boarding | £16,950 (Years 7 to 11) or £18,825 (sixth form) for boarding; tuition free. Day boarding £1,450 a term | Priority groups, then a lottery for boarding and distance for day places; no entrance test | Wymondham College only |
| Independent day | £21,816 (Norwich High) to £36,765 (Gresham’s) for a senior place, including VAT | The school’s own entrance assessment | Norwich School, Norwich High School for Girls, Langley School, Gresham’s |
| Independent boarding | £46,782 (Langley) to £52,680 (Gresham’s) for full senior boarding, including VAT | The school’s own assessment and interview | Gresham’s, Langley School |
For a child moving at 16 there is a fifth option: a state college, where there are no fees. City College Norwich, which Ofsted rated Good in October 2024, has run Paston College in North Walsham since 2017. East Norfolk Sixth Form College is on Church Lane in Gorleston. Add them to the shortlist rather than assuming a child stays at the school sixth form.
Choosing
If you are buying a house for a particular state school, read that school’s admissions policy and its entry on the council’s school finder, which shows whether it was oversubscribed, and do not rely on an estimate of the catchment from anyone selling you the house. Feeder status and last year’s furthest distance are guides, not promises, as the Mulbarton families found in 2023.
If boarding is the point and the budget is under £20,000 a year, apply to Wymondham College and have a day-school plan ready in case the lottery goes against you. Full boarding at Gresham’s costs £35,730 a year more. A family that can pay independent day fees but not boarding fees should look at Norwich School or Norwich High if they live within reach of the city, and at the bursary rules before ruling either out.
For the mechanics of moving mid-year, see our timeline for moving during the school year. For a Norwich move, our Norwich city guide covers the schools in and around the city.
Frequently asked questions
Is Wymondham College free?
The teaching is free because it is a state school. Parents pay for boarding: £5,650 a term in Years 7 to 11 and £6,275 in the sixth form for 2026/27, or £1,450 a term for day boarding if the child has a day place through Norfolk County Council.
What does state-boarding cost per year at Wymondham in 2026?
£16,950 a year for full boarding in Years 7 to 11 and £18,825 in the sixth form, with no VAT. Staying in over one of the six exeat weekends costs £100 a night extra.
Are there grammar schools in Norfolk?
No. Every state secondary in Norfolk is non-selective. Thetford Grammar School was an independent school with grammar in its name, and it closed on 31 August 2026.
How has the VAT change on private school fees affected Norfolk?
Fees have carried 20% VAT since January 2025, and of the Norfolk schools we checked only Town Close is absorbing part of it. Thetford Grammar cited the VAT, among other costs, when it closed in August 2026, leaving south-west Norfolk without an independent senior school open to all families.
Which Norfolk state secondaries are strongest for GCSE and A-level outcomes?
Check the Department for Education’s performance tables at gov.uk/school-performance-tables for exam results, and each school’s latest Ofsted report. Wymondham College was rated Outstanding in every area in October 2023, and Hethersett Academy has been Outstanding since 2016.
Sources and methodology
- Wymondham College boarding fees 2026/27: wymondhamcollege.org/home/admissions/boarding-and-additional-fees
- Gresham’s School fees 2026/27: greshams.com/admissions/fees
- Thetford Grammar School record: gov.uk Get Information about Schools, URN 121245
- Norfolk state school admissions: norfolk.gov.uk school admissions
- DfE state school performance tables: gov.uk school performance tables
- Independent schools directory: our guide to independent schools in Norfolk
Methodology. Fees were checked against each school’s own 2026/27 fees page on 24 September 2026, and Wymondham College’s admission numbers and criteria against its admissions policy for 2026. Inspection dates and outcomes are from the Ofsted and ISI reports. The Hethersett Academy admissions details are from Norfolk County Council’s school finder and the schools adjudicator’s determination of 16 October 2023. Road distances are the no-traffic figures used in our independent schools guide.
Written by Helen Marsh, Schools and Families desk, Norfolk Living Guide.
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