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Girls' Performance Football Programme
Mount Kelly
School profile
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Girls' Performance Football Programme in association with Chelsea FC, with training sessions at Chelsea's Cobham training ground through the Chelsea FC Foundation partnership
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ISFA U18 Girls' National Cup winners in 2024, 2025 and 2026, the school's published record for three consecutive seasons
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A Levels or BTEC alongside the football, on a Dartmoor-edge campus with a 50m Olympic Legacy pool and around 200 College boarders
About the school
Mount Kelly
Mount Kelly is a co-educational day and boarding school for children aged 4 to 18, set on the edge of Dartmoor in Tavistock, Devon. It offers day, weekly, flexi and full boarding across a Prep, College and Sixth Form, and describes itself as a Christian school. The College has around 350 pupils, 200 of them boarders. In 2025 the school reported 95% of GCSE grades at pass or above and 41% at grades 9 to 7, over 75% of A Level leavers securing their first-choice university and more than 75% of BTEC grades at Distinction or above; it says over 88% of pupils gain places at their top-choice universities. Sixth Form pupils follow A Levels or BTEC with a Sixth Form tutor, their Housemaster or Housemistress and the Sixth Form Coordinator behind them. Beyond the classroom the school is known for the Ten Tors challenge, the Devizes to Westminster canoe marathon, CCF and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and its Performance Swimming programme is built around a 50m, 8-lane Olympic Legacy pool, one of three pools on campus.
Our honest take: Mount Kelly is not currently a Prestige partner school. This profile is built from what the school publishes and from our own research. We are speaking with the admissions team and are happy to arrange a visit with you.
Heritage
Kelly College opened in October 1877, founded through the generosity of Admiral Benedictus Marwood Kelly, and merged with Newton College in 1940. Mount House School, founded in Plymouth in 1881, moved to Tavistock during the Second World War and has been co-educational since 1996. The two schools joined in 2014 to form Mount Kelly, which reaches its 150th anniversary in 2027.
Football Programme
Girls' Performance Football
Mount Kelly's Girls' Performance Football Programme runs in association with Chelsea Football Club through the Chelsea FC Foundation. It was created for girls aged 16 to 18 entering Year 12, who study A Levels or BTEC alongside their football, and it runs in two tiers: a High Performance Programme and a Development Programme. The squad has since grown to include U16 and U15 teams, a development pathway for girls from Year 9 (and exceptional Year 8 players), with Sports Scholarships for younger players at Years 7 and 9. Training is delivered by the school's fully qualified staff and coaches, with tailored strength and conditioning, technical skills and tactical work; through the Chelsea FC Foundation partnership, players train at Chelsea's Cobham training ground and interact with Chelsea FC Academy coaches. Applicants need proven club-level success, an academic assessment, a technical assessment at Mount Kelly or at Cobham, and their latest school report. The school looks for players with international ambitions, has an Overseas Pupils admissions route and publishes an international boarding fee.
The school's published record: winners of the ISFA U18 Girls' National Cup in 2024, 2025 and 2026, three years in a row. Mount Kelly also publishes pathway outcomes for past players, including US university scholarships (Louisiana State, Murray State, Garden City and St Leo), a place at Loughborough University, five players named in England U18 squads, and international selection for Ireland (U17 and U19) and Bermuda (U17 and U20). These are the school's own published results, not a promise of what any individual player will achieve.
Outstanding Facilities
- Dartmoor-edge campus in Tavistock
- Extensive playing fields
- 50m, 8-lane Olympic Legacy pool (opened 2016)
- Three swimming pools in total
- Sports halls and courts
- Floodlit all-weather pitches
- Gym, climbing wall, fives and squash courts
- Access to Chelsea's Cobham training ground
- Four boarding houses: Courtenay, Marwood, Newton and School House
- Central dining with international cuisine
Pathway
Study and Play, on a Pathway the School Has Built
Year 12 entry is the main route into the programme, with scholarships and means-tested bursaries available for girls who show both academic potential and footballing ability. Younger players can join the development pathway from Year 9, and Sports Scholarships are offered at Years 7, 9 and 12. Boarders live in one of four houses, with younger pupils sharing dormitories and moving to study bedrooms shared with fewer people as they progress.
Year 12 entry (A Levels or BTEC)High Performance and Development tiersU15 and U16 teamsDevelopment pathway from Year 9Sports Scholarships at Years 7, 9 and 12Overseas pupils admissions route
Accolades
Track record
ISFA U18 Girls' National Cup winners 2024, 2025 and 2026Girls' programme in association with Chelsea FC95% of GCSE grades at pass or above (2025)Over 88% of pupils gain top-choice university placesIndependent School of the Year: South50m Olympic Legacy pool, part-funded by Sport England and the National LotteryHMC, IAPS and Society of Heads memberBoarding Schools' Association memberISI-inspectedGood Schools GuideThinking SchoolAI Quality Mark (Silver)Fortune 2023: one of the World's Leading Boarding SchoolsFounded 1877, 150 years in 2027
Location
Tavistock, Devon (South West)
Nearest city
Plymouth (approx. 16 miles)
Nearest stations
Gunnislake branch line approx. 6 miles, Plymouth mainline approx. 16 miles
Nearest airports
Exeter (EXT) approx. 46 miles, Bristol (BRS) approx. 109 miles
Long-haul
London Heathrow (LHR) approx. 200 miles
Distances are approximate driving distances.
Fees
Investment
Day (Years 9-13)
£27,252/year
2026-27, three terms, inc. VAT. £7,570 per term ex. VAT
Weekly boarding (Years 9-13)
£45,576/year
2026-27, three terms, inc. VAT. £12,660 per term ex. VAT
Full boarding (Years 9-13)
£48,744/year
2026-27, three terms, inc. VAT. £13,540 per term ex. VAT
International boarding (Years 9-13)
£51,840/year
2026-27, three terms, inc. VAT. £14,400 per term ex. VAT
Flexi boarding
£60/night
inc. VAT (£50 ex. VAT)
Football programme
Not published
Ask admissions about any programme supplement
Fees are published by the school for 2026-27 and should be confirmed with Mount Kelly admissions before any decision. Girls' Performance Football scholarships are awarded at Year 12 entry, general Sports Scholarships at Years 7 and 9; means-tested bursaries are also available and amounts are not published.
Next Steps
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