St John's does not send children automatically to any particular school but seeks rather to work very closely with parents to assist them in choosing the school that will best suit their child. The Headmaster is in contact with and frequently visits the schools to which St John’s children proceed. He is always available to parents to discuss their child’s prospects and to advise with regard to the selection of schools.
While the exact number varies from year, more than half of the children will proceed to day schools in the Cambridge area. In Cambridge, this includes The Perse Upper School, The Leys, St Mary’s and The Stephen Perse School while, for some parents, Kimbolton, King’s Ely, Oundle, Haileybury, St Christopher School Letchworth, Culford, Bedford or Felsted may be within reach as day schools. The range of boarding schools to which children proceed is wide and includes co-educational and single sex schools. The schools to which children are most likely to proceed as boarders include: Eton, King’s Canterbury, Oakham, Oundle, Radley, Rugby, Stowe, Tonbridge, Uppingham, Winchester.
Other schools to which children have proceeded in recent years include: Ampleforth, Benenden, Framlingham, Haileybury, Harrow, Marlborough, Millfield, Sevenoaks, St Edward’s Oxford, St Mary’s Ascot, Wycombe Abbey.
Approximately one third of the children proceed to boarding schools via the Common Entrance examination, in which the school has long had an unblemished record. Every year, a number of children proceed to boarding schools via academic Scholarship examinations. The local independent schools set their own competitive examinations, in which St John’s pupils likewise have a distinguished record, gaining academic awards every year through the schools’ entrance exams.
The children gain many awards to senior schools (167 leavers have gained 58 awards in the last three years). As well as academic scholarships, every year our children also gain Music, Art, Drama, Sport or All-Rounder awards. While this is a proud record, the school takes equal pride in the success of every child in reaching his or her chosen destination and in fulfilling his or her potential. The successes are understood not as the goal but as the happy side effect of our educational care.