GREAT BALLARD SCHOOL

What GREAT BALLARD SCHOOL does

Great Ballard School is an independent co-educational day school located in the village of Eartham, near Chichester, West Sussex, within the South Downs National Park. Founded in 1924 by Ivor Poole with principles centered on care, fairness, and treating every pupil as family, the school has operated for over a century and is currently led by Head Matt King. It serves children aged roughly 3 to 13 across four integrated stages: Nursery (ages 3-4), Pre-Prep (ages 4-7), Prep (ages 7-11), and Senior (ages 11-13), with a forward-thinking curriculum that combines traditional academics with technology, computer science, communication skills, leadership development, problem solving, and enterprise.

The school employs 36 staff and operates on a tuition-based subscription revenue model, charging families recurring school fees for each stage of education. Go-to-market is conducted through direct admissions, supported by scheduled Open Mornings (three dates currently published across September 2026 through May 2027) and a content-marketing presence via the website and a "Great Times" news section. The school emphasizes its rural South Downs location for outdoor learning, creativity, teamwork, and pupil well-being alongside the arts and exercise, and markets itself around the founder's enduring ethos that "everyone matters and no one is invisible."

No public disclosures exist regarding revenue, financial performance, ownership structure, or parent company relationships. The institution operates as a standalone private entity, with no funding rounds, M&A activity, partnerships, patents, or AI/ML technology infrastructure disclosed in the available data. Technology references in source material describe curricular emphasis (computer science and communication skills taught to pupils) rather than deployed school-operations technology.

Name

GREAT BALLARD SCHOOL

Legal name

Great Ballard School

Website

https://greatballard.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1924

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Independent School Education (Preparatory)

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111), Elementary and Secondary Schools (611110), Educational Services (611), Educational Services (61)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Preschool Programs within Private K–12 Schools (EDACABAM)

Keywords

• Independent school education
• Private preparatory school
• Nursery education
• Senior school education
• Outdoor learning program

Headquarters

HQ city

Eartham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Tuition and school fees: As an independent private school, Great Ballard generates revenue primarily through tuition and school fees charged to families for nursery, pre-prep, prep, and senior education.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Great Ballard School is an independent (private) co-educational school in West Sussex, England, offering continuous education from Nursery through Senior school (ages 3-13) across four stages: Nursery, Pre-Prep, Prep, and Senior. It delivers a broad, forward-thinking curriculum combining traditional academic subjects (literacy, numeracy, arts, sciences) with computer science, communication, leadership, problem solving, and enterprise skills, set within the South Downs National Park to enable extensive outdoor learning. The school generates revenue through tuition and school fees charged to enrolled families.

Product overview

Great Ballard is an independent school offering a unified educational program across four key stages: Nursery, Pre-Prep, Prep, and Senior. The school provides a comprehensive curriculum that includes traditional academic subjects along with technology, computer science, communication skills, leadership development, problem solving, and enterprise education. The school leverages its rural West Sussex location to prioritize outdoor learning, creativity, teamwork, and pupil well-being alongside the arts and exercise.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nursery Early years education program for children aged 3-4 years old, providing a gentle introduction to school life focused on school readiness.
• Pre-Prep Foundational education program for children aged 4-7 years, covering core subjects (literacy, numeracy) and developing independence and social skills.
• Prep Comprehensive preparatory education for children aged 7-11 years, with a broad curriculum and focus on skill development to prepare pupils for senior school entrance.
• Senior Senior school education for children aged 11-13 years, with a forward-thinking curriculum and focus on leadership, problem solving, and enterprise.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Regional players

• Lancing College: West Sussex-based independent school offering Nursery through Sixth Form; directly comparable geography and independent K-12 model to Great Ballard, though much larger and boarding-focused.
• Christ's Hospital: Historic independent school in Horsham, West Sussex, offering boarding and day places from Year 7 upwards. Comparable county geography and heritage-led ethos.
• Seaford College: West Sussex-based independent school covering Prep through Sixth Form. Comparable county-level independent positioning and rural campus near the South Downs.
• Ardingly College: Independent boarding and day school in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, serving ages 2-18. Comparable Sussex catchment and full-stage independent offering, with significantly larger scale.
• Bedales School: Progressive independent school in Hampshire offering Pre-Prep through Sixth Form with a strong outdoor/creative ethos. Comparable independent model with similar alternative, pupil-centered positioning.
• Churcher's College: Independent school in Hampshire covering Pre-Prep, Junior, Senior, and Sixth Form. Comparable independent K-12 model with a similar traditional-yet-modern ethos, though larger and older.
• Worth School: Crawley-based independent Catholic school in West Sussex covering Senior through Sixth Form. Comparable Sussex independent segment and rural setting, though faith-based and senior-only.

Direct peers

• Cottesmore School: West Sussex-based independent prep school serving ages 4-13 with a similar rural setting and traditional/character-based offering; closest direct peer by stage range and geography.
• Great Ballard School peer: Handcross Park School: Independent prep school in Handcross, West Sussex, serving ages 2-13. Closely comparable prep-only scope, geography, and family-oriented independent positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Brighton College: One of the UK's leading independent schools in East Sussex, covering Pre-Prep through Sixth Form. Comparable independent K-12 model with significantly broader scale and brand recognition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/great-ballard-school-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about GREAT BALLARD SCHOOL