Award-Winning Sussex Prep School To Become Brighton College Prep Handcross

Brighton College is delighted to announce that Handcross Park School will become Brighton College Prep Handcross from September 2025.

The award-winning Sussex prep school for girls and boys has been part of the Brighton College family of schools for over a decade, and this announcement sees the culmination of a highly successful partnership that gives its pupils the very best educational experience. Offering day, weekly and full boarding options, the school offers an outstanding Brighton College education in the heart of the idyllic Sussex countryside.

The launch of Brighton College Prep Handcross will bring many amazing opportunities and benefits for its pupils aged 2 to 13, in being part of the top co-educational school in the UK. Renowned for being a happy, family-centric school community, Brighton College Prep Handcross will be a school that inspires children to be kind, academically ambitious, self-confident and ready to play their part in making a better world for future generations.

Brighton College, recently named ‘United Kingdom School of the Decade’ by The Sunday Times, has 11 prep schools in the Brighton College family of schools, bringing significant experience established over almost two centuries. Brighton College is consistently one of the highest achieving schools in the country. Renowned for its focus on kindness, Brighton College also excels in art, music, dance, drama and sporting achievements. In the last two years alone, it has produced former pupils who have won an Oscar for Best Director and played rugby for England.

Richard Cairns, The Principal of Brighton College Group, said of the announcement: ‘We have been in a very happy partnership with Handcross Park School for a dozen years, sharing the same set of values and aspirations for the children in our care, and this is the logical next step, meaning that local families looking to send their children to Brighton College now have four local options: Brighton College Prep Brighton, Brighton College Prep Handcross, Brighton College Prep Kensington and St Christopher’s, Hove.’

Jonnie Besley, Headmaster of Brighton College Prep Handcross, continued: ‘Our partnership with Brighton College has been the driving force in enabling our school to become one of the most highly regarded prep schools in the country. The time is now right to benefit further from the strength of Brighton College and to work more closely than ever with the most successful school in the UK. This will bring huge advantages for all our pupils and I look forward to all the wonderful opportunities this will bring.’