St Hugh’s Class of 2025

It has been great to hear from so many of our 2025 Y8 Leavers who have made their mark at their respective schools including Sedbergh, Repton, Stamford, Oundle, Uppingham, Oakham, Worksop and Rugby. 

Six of these pupils were on the St Hugh’s Sport Scholar Pathway with seven pupils from this cohort achieving scholarships/commendations. It is great to see them holding their own amongst a high calibre of athletes across a range of sports.

It has also been great to hear about how their time at St Hugh’s has helped to prepare them for this transition and open up an abundance of opportunities:

Oakham (Alicia)
‘’Alicia is enjoying life at Oakham as a weekly boarder, sport is a big part of Oakham life with two games sessions a week and matches every Saturday. Alicia has been playing Hockey for the U14B team, they have had mixed results so far, but Alicia has put her skills and experience to good use and Mr Fell, their coach, is pleased with their progress. 
As well as hockey Alicia has had strength & conditioning training, trials for the Netball squad and this week the house cross country competition. There are also other sports on offer as extra curricular activities after academic lessons, and next half term Alicia is hoping to play girls rugby. 
All the St Hugh’s sports coaching has enabled Alicia to make the most of what is on offer at her new school.’’
Parent of 2025 Leaver

Oundle (Toby & Jemima)
Toby and Jemima have made a super start to Sport at Oundle. Toby immediately earned his place in the U14A Rugby team in the back row and was delighted to lead the team as Captain!  Jemima started in the U14B hockey team but has now been selected to play for the U14A’s. We look forward to seeing how they progress over the course of the year.

Repton (Kitty)
Kitty has joined her elder sister, Poppy, at Repton and is enjoying boarding life. She knew selection would be tough for hockey given Repton’s reputation but she was very proud to be selected for the U14B hockey team!

Rugby School (William C)
“I am making the most of the sporting opportunities at Rugby School. I play in a rugby team; I passed my tennis assessment which means I am on the tennis programme, having played my first school tournament on Sunday; in the rackets team (a sport I have never played before); and I play polo.
Mrs Felton’s incredible organisation skills provided me with many sporting opportunities from matches to tours.  She also encouraged us to try new sports. That is why I had a go at rackets. It has paid off as I am now part of the rackets team. Mrs Costello’s enthusiasm and no fear attitude allowed me to try polo, having never ridden before. I bet secretly she wondered what she had let herself in for!  I now have the polo bug and am lucky to be able to continue to play here at Rugby.”
William C, 2025 Leaver

Sedbergh
Charles, Fergus and Rupert are enjoying life up in Sedbergh. Charles has found his place in the A rugby team and has also been representing the football team. Fergus and Rupert have been playing with the U14B team with Rupert being on the bench at times for the A’s. Rupert was unfortunate to sustain an injury early on but has demonstrated great resilience to get back to his running. 
‘’It’s great to hear from you! I hope everything is going well at St Hugh’s. We’re pleased to say that Charles has settled in at Sedbergh really well. As you may have expected, he took everything in his stride! 
He’s been playing for the first rugby team and is loving having so many other rugby loving team mates. He also volunteered to play for the football team which we only found out about when we saw a photo below on Instagram!’’
Parent of 2025 Leaver

Stamford (Euan, William L, Charlie, Gemma)
‘’I hope you're well! Since joining Stamford, I've been playing rugby, hockey, fives, tennis and water polo this term and it's been great getting to play in the B team for rugby and playing some big schools, normally beating them! Looking back, St Hugh’s really helped me kick-start my sporting journey. The coaching and support I got there gave me the confidence to keep improving and try new things. I’m excited to keep pushing myself here at Stamford.’’ 
Euan P, 2025 Leaver

‘’William and Penelope left St Hugh’s at the end of Year 8 and  Year 6 accordingly, having enjoyed a HUGE variety of sports and physical activities whilst at St Hugh’s. If you were to ask them about some of their happiest memories; they would undoubtedly involve the sport tours, numerous sporting opportunities and fixtures!
William had the confidence to battle for his position in an established team because of his sporting experiences at St Hugh’s and the rehab from injury that you and Mr Short were able to provide.William wins and loses with respect, humility and determination to try harder - all attributes fostered during his time at St Hugh’s.
Penelope was thrilled to be picked for the A team in hockey (alongside Arabella). As you can imagine, it is a very competitive team to get into and the girls have done amazingly well to break in. They have been complemented on their skills, and as neither play for a club; this is all down to St Hugh’s.
She also continues to play Centre for the Lincoln City team and they are top of the two counties league at the moment - she LOVES playing for this team and that is all down to St Hugh’s facilitating the opportunity to attend training as a school hobby when she was there.
William and Penelope both attend Sports Scholars sessions and both are really enjoying the variety of the sessions. They train with other talented individuals from a huge variety of sports and we thank you for your input and support preparing Wills and Pen to go for these awards, they are very proud and really enjoying them.
All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better start at Stamford for our two, it was a wrench leaving St Hughs (we miss the Wednesday afternoons with the yr8 crew very much!) but sport and the many, many benefits it brings has undoubtedly helped our children to make friends, settle straight in and get the most out of their secondary school experience so far - thank you.’’
Parent of 2025 Leavers

‘’Charlie is extremely busy doing all sorts. He has been selected for the U14B rugby team and the Tennis A team and in between has been playing water polo, squash, hockey, badminton, pickle ball and strength and conditioning as part of the sports scholarship programme. I think he is ready for a break after a full-on first half term. He is looking forward to Hockey next term but he is enjoying the current variety of sports put on by Stamford. I hope you are keeping well at St Hugh's and continuing to produce exceptional sporting pupils.’’
Parent of 2025 Leaver

Uppingham (Megan)
‘’I am playing hockey in the B team and sometimes A team and St Hugh’s training helped me get to this point, with all the helpful drills we did in training. Thanks to all the cross country at St Hugh’s I also recently finished 3rd girl in the 4th form race.’’
Megan B, 2025 Leaver

Worksop College (Max)
Max is making the most of all the opportunities on offer at Worksop. He has been in the starting line up for the U14A Rugby team as a back. 
‘’He's really come into his own and I think a lot of that is the upbringing from St Hugh’s, the extra two years there have helped him massively for the leap to senior school and he is really thriving academically. 
But he's really missing St Hughs, nothing will be like it.’’
Parent of 2025 Leaver