History

Foundation of a School in England in the XVI Century

When Lawrence Sheriff, a trader at Queen Elizabeth I’s court, established a free school for boys in the small town of Rugby, Warwickshire, in 1567, he could not have imagined he was creating an institution that would endure for 450 years. By 1667, it had gained a reputation that drew students from Kent, Cheshire, and Somerset—distances that spoke volumes about teaching quality in those times. The school relocated to a spacious mansion on the town’s outskirts in 1750, after enrollment reached 245 students. This building, known today as School House, became the center of the campus where traditions of British education took shape.

The Birth of Rugby and Thomas Arnold’s Changes

Though the school became famous beyond academic circles in 1823, when student William Webb Ellis grabbed the ball with his hands during a football match and ran with it—thus creating the sport that bears the town’s name—its real change occurred between 1828 and 1842 under headmaster Thomas Arnold. He established a clear order of what matters most: “first, religious and moral rules; then proper behavior; and only after that, school success.” Arnold entrusted senior students with responsibility for creating the right atmosphere and keeping order, teaching them both duty and leadership. His care system became the trademark of the school, with many of his helpers later running other top British schools.

The Tepsuwan Family and the Vision for Thailand

The Tepsuwan family had owned land east of Pattaya for over 30 years when, in 2015, three brothers decided to create an international boarding school on 80 acres of this land. Having all attended boarding schools abroad, as had their children, they understood how such education shapes character, discipline, teamwork, and communal living skills. After considering more than 40 schools, they chose Rugby School as their partner, finding an institution that shared their philosophy and their ambition to create a world-class alternative to education in the US, Britain, or Europe.

The Joint Project of Rugby School Thailand

Working alongside the British Rugby School, the Tepsuwan family brought their “dream school” to life as a full-fledged educational project—neither a branch nor a franchise, but a collaboration between an Asian family with decades of land stewardship and a British institution with nearly five centuries of history. The school inherited not just its name and philosophy, but also that distinctive balance between moral development, gentlemanly conduct, and academic achievement that Thomas Arnold established almost two centuries ago, now continuing boarding education traditions in Southeast Asia while respecting regional context and needs.