All The Sex Education Filming Locations To Know – Including A Real School
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1 year ago
The fourth and final season is finally here
Have you been getting stuck into the latest season of Sex Education? The Netflix series is wildly popular, catapulting much of its ensemble cast to stardom. If you’re enjoying the latest season – with all of its new characters and new school to boot – you might be wondering where Sex Education is filmed – and, better still, which of the beautiful filming locations you can pay a visit to. With Jean and Otis’ beautiful chalet hitting the market, here are all of the spots you need to know, including a real school.
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All The Sex Education Filming Locations To Know
Where Was Sex Education Filmed?
Sex Education was filmed in the Wye Valley on the border between England and Wales, mainly in Llandogo, Tintern, Symonds Yat, Monmouth, Redbrook and the Forest of Dean. That said, Penarth is also used, as are a few locations in Kent.
While Sex Education does go international at times – namely on a school trip to France and Eric’s trip to Nigeria – Covid restrictions meant filming never left home shores. Instead, Kent and parts of Wales stepped up to the plate, with sand imported from Africa for an added touch of authenticity for those Nigeria scenes. Time will tell whether season four, with Maeve studying over in the US, branches out from the beauty of Britain.
Is Moordale A Real Place?
No, Moordale is not a real place – as you can probably tell from the amalgamation of accents at Moordale High School. The school itself is the real Caerleon Campus, once part of the now-defunct University of South Wales.
Is Cavendish College Real?
While Cavendish College is fictional, the building seen in Sex Education is a real place that you can visit: St. Fagans National Museum of History (Cardiff CF5 6XB). A selection of our original ensemble cast move here following the closure of Moordale High School at the end of season three, including Otis, Eric, Ruby, Aimee, Jackson and Cal. The real open air museum consists of a mixture of historic buildings from different periods of Welsh history. The section we see most in Sex Education is the new Exhibition and Activity Pavilion, which was constructed thanks to a £40 million, ‘once in a lifetime‘ overhaul in celebration of the museum’s seventieth anniversary. museum.wales
Where Is Wallace University? (& Is It Real?)
Maeve spends much of season four at Wallace University, a fictional school emulating one of the US’s prestigious Ivy League colleges. While Maeve goes stateside, Sex Education never actually does: filming took place at Westonbirt School near Tetbury, Gloucestershire – a real co-educational independent and boarding school. It’s extremely beautiful, with particular attention paid to the classic dark academia interiors mirroring the Ivy League aesthetic.
‘It was fascinating to have the cast and production crew on site at Westonbirt and view, at a distance, the extent of the work involved,’ says Westonbirt School’s headmistress, Natasha Dangerfield. ‘We were especially proud to see our beautiful school buildings feature so prominently in this award-winning and much talked about series. The show is a great vehicle for our older pupils to have some conversations prompted by the themes and events covered during the turbulent teen years of those pupils based in and around the fictional Moordale High.’
More Sex Education Filming Locations
The Chalet Symonds Yat
Jean and Otis’s idyllic Scandi house is The Chalet Symonds Yat, which you can famously book to stay in yourself. Situated right on the River Wye, the five bedroom house peers over the village of Symonds Yat in Herefordshire, nestled among the trees but sticking out due to its distinctive red colour and chalet building style. thechaletsymondsyat.co.uk
Caerleon Campus, University of South Wales
Before Sex Education started filming its Moordale High School scenes in this early 20th century building, it had stood vacant. Once part of the University of Wales, Newport, the 32 acre site, which once housed 4,500 students, closed in 2016. The Netflix show shone a spotlight on the beautiful listed building, which has since been purchased by a developer with plans to turn it into flats.
Monmouthshire
Fancy recreating Otis and Eric’s cycle to school? Over to Bargain Wood in Monmouthshire. But it’s a much longer cycle than anticipated, with the bridge they cross – Wireworks Bridge in Tintern – a bit further south down the River Wye, part of the Wye Valley Greenway. Brockweir Bridge, slightly further north, also appears.
Blistors Farm The Bull Pen
Jakob and Ola’s house is called The Bull Pen, part of Blistors Farm nestled in the Forest of Dean. With a plethora of plants spilling over the facade, you can book to stay at this filming location, too, enjoying the hot tub, BBQ and countryside walks. holidaycottages.co.uk
Bigsweir House
Aimee’s house doesn’t feature often, but it’s pretty breathtaking when it does – most notably at her house party in season one. The huge property is the real Bigsweir House, a private property in Gloucestershire.
Llandogo
This Welsh village can be spotted in Sex Education on multiple occasions, most commonly when Ola and Adam are working in their corner shop, Browns Village Store – a real shop that many fans of the show have paid a visit to.
Margam Country Park & Castle, Port Talbot
When Adam is shipped off to a military school called Mountainside, you are actually seeing the 1830s Tudor gothic Margam Country Park & Castle, which is located near Port Talbot and actively welcomes visitors. margamcountrypark.co.uk
Season four of Sex Education arrives on Netflix on 21 September 2023. Catch up at netflix.com