Magdalen College School is an academically selective independent day school for boys aged 7 to 18 years and for girls aged 16 to 18 years. Formerly administered by Magdalen College, the school became a charitable trust in the mid-1980s, maintaining a close relationship with the College which appoints three members of the governing body. Since the previous inspection, a new chair of governors has been appointed and a new sixth form centre opened.
The school was founded in 1480 by William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor of England, to provide a solid grounding in Latin and Greek grammar to support rigorous humanist studies in the university.
The school has three sections: the junior school for boys in Years 3 to 6, the senior school for boys in Years 7 to 11 and sixth form for boys and girls.