2025: Educational Establishments

This year’s card uses UK postcodes to identify educational establishments – both schools and universities. Each establishment represents its initial letter (or in some cases that of the most significant word in its name). So “W6 9LR” would represent Latymer Upper School (where I taught for many years) and thus the letter “L” – but no L was needed here, in fact. Indeed, I was limited in my choice of institutions by what initial letters I needed or couldn’t use.

I chose some examples with which I have or have had connections, which I have explained below. I have also chosen establishments with which some of my recipients have connections or are or were simply physically close to them (both of which they will recognise), but I have thought better of explaining these, which would invade their privacy.

It wasn’t possible to follow this system consistently, so I had to cheat in a few cases, particularly with establishments that had been renamed, moved, or even demolished.

Front page

This translates as:

WD6 3AF	Haberdashers’ Boys’ School	An independent school north-west of London, where I taught in 1987-88. At the time it was known as the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School, after Robert Aske, who had provided funds for its foundation, but this allegiance was dropped more recently over Aske’s investment in the slave-trading Royal African Company. It retains its association with the Haberdashers livery company.
NN3 3NQ	Abington Vale Primary School	A primary school close to the second of two homes I lived in growing up in Northampton.
PO1 2LN	Portsmouth Grammar School	A co-educational private day school in Portsmouth, Hampshire, on the south coast of England, founded in 1732 as a boys’ school.
SG5 2UR	The Priory School Hitchin	A co-educational state secondary school in Hertfordshire.
YO10 5DD	University of York	One of the first UK “plate glass” universities, dating from 1963.

W4 3UN	Chiswick School	A co-educational comprehensive school in the London Borough of Hounslow. When I taught there briefly in 1969, it was still split-site, merging the former grammar school (the current site) and a neighbouring modern school in Staveley Road.
SO22 6JJ	Henry Beaufort School	A purpose-built co-educational comprehensive school in Winchester, Hampshire, named after Henry Beaufort, a fifteenth-century cardinal Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor.
OX14 2HR	Radley College	A boys’ public school in Oxfordshire, founded in 1847.
N9 5TY	Irthlingborough and Finedon Secondary School	Now known as Huxlow Academy, in Irthlingborough but serving both it and the neighbouring town of Finedon in Northamptonshire, this was a co-educational modern school when I spent two-thirds of a gap year teaching there unqualified in 1965.
NN5 7GE	Spencer Primary School	This was my Northampton primary school – both infant and junior. I’ve cheated here, as the school buildings have been demolished and the area redeveloped. The postcode is that of houses that have replaced the school in Lewis Road.
CB2 1TQ	Trinity College Cambridge	One of the larger constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge, founded in 1546.
KT3 5PF	Malden Manor Primary School	A primary school in a south-west London suburb, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
SY23 3FL	Aberystwyth University	Prifysgol Aberystwyth, founded in 1872, was formerly a constituent college of the University of Wales, but has been independent since 2007.
NN1 2JW	Spring Lane Primary School	A two-form entry primary school in my home town of Northampton.

And thus:

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Inside page

This translates as:

AB24 3FX	University of Aberdeen	Founded in 1495, this is one of Scotland’s four ancient universities and the fifth-oldest university in the English-speaking world.
NN1 5RT	Northampton School for Boys	Founded in 1541, this was my own secondary school, known at the time as Northampton (Town and County) Grammar School, so-called because it was (unusually) shared between two separate local authorities. It changed its name to Northampton School for Boys when it ceased to be a grammar school, and oddly retains that name even though the sixth form is now co-educational.
H1 3LE	Durham University	This collegiate university was founded in 1832 and is the third-oldest university in England, the first for more than 600 years after Oxford and Cambridge.

BA2 7AY	University of Bath	Another “plate glass” university, gaining its status in 1966.
13 8PG	East Bridgford St Peter’s Church of England Academy	A primary school in the small village of East Bridgford in rural east Nottinghamshire, where I happened to complete my first brief teaching practice in 1968 in preparation for studying for my Postgraduate Certificate in Education at Nottingham University.
KY16 9AJ	University of St Andrews	Founded in 1413, this is the oldest of Scotland’s four ancient universities and the third-oldest university in the English-speaking world.
PL19 8DD	Tavistock College	Founded as Tavistock Grammar School in 1552, this is now a co-educational state secondary school.

W5 5RF	University of West London	Thames Valley University was formed in 1992 from Ealing College of Higher Education, later the Polytechnic of West London. After several mergers, it was renamed the University of West London in 2011.
DE7 5HS	Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy	Known at the time as Ilkeston Grammar School, this was a Derbyshire state grammar school where I served my main teaching practice in 1969 whilst studying for my PGCE at Nottingham University.
GU32 2DE	Steep Church of England Primary School	A voluntary controlled primary school in the village of Steep, near Petersfield in Hampshire.
HA1 3HP	Harrow School	A well-known public school in north-west London, founded in 1572 by John Lyon.
E16 2RD	University of East London	Formed from an earlier institution, this was granted university status in 1992.
SW2 3SR	Streatham Hill and Clapham High School	This building is now the nursery and preparatory departments of Streatham & Clapham High School, an independent school for girls and member of the Girls’ Day School Trust. Earlier it contained the senior school (which has since moved elsewhere), when the school was known as Streatham Hill and Clapham High School. In 1989 I secured a teaching post there but declined to take it up.

EH4 1QX	Fettes College	Sometimes referred to as the “Scottish Eton”, this independent co-educational boarding school in north Edinburgh was founded in 1870.
15 6DT	Oakham School	Founded in 1584, this is now an independent co-educational boarding and day school in the former county of Rutland.
L15 1EE	Ruthin School	Founded in around 1284, this is now an independent co-educational boarding and day school in the county town of Denbighshire, in north Wales.

KT2 6RL	Tiffin School	This is an academy boys’ school in Kingston upon Thames in south-west London.
AL10 9AB	University of Hertfordshire	The former Hatfield Polytechnic was granted university status in 1992.
SL4 6DW	Eton College	Founded in 1440 by Henry VI, this is one of the best-known boys’ public schools and the largest boarding school in England. It has educated world leaders, including royalty and twenty British prime ministers.

W13 8AX	Notting Hill & Ealing High School	An independent day school for girls in west London founded in 1873, this is a member of the Girls’ Day School Trust.
NN3 2RJ	Eastfield Academy	This is a primary school in the east of Northampton, my home town, where I visited a previous teacher at my own primary school who had been promoted there.
SO23 9NA	Winchester College	Founded in 1382, this is another of England’s public schools, taking some day pupils as well as boarding, formerly educating boys but recently accepting day girls into the sixth form.

NN6 6LH	Yelvertoft Primary School	A primary school in the Northamptonshire village of Yelvertoft, accepting pupils also from neighbouring villages.
EH8 9YL	University of Edinburgh	Founded by authority of King James VI (and I) in 1582, this is one of Scotland’s ancient universities and the fourth largest in the UK.
M8 5UF	Abraham Moss Community School	This is a co-educational all-through school, educating pupils from 3 to 16, in the Crumpsall area of northern Manchester. It is named after a former Lord Mayor of Manchester.
AB10 7QB	Robert Gordon University	Formed as a university in 1992 from an existing eighteenth century institution founded by its namesake Aberdeen merchant, this is a second university in the Scottish city of Aberdeen.

GU34 5AS	Four Marks CE Primary School	A primary school in the Hampshire village of Four Marks, south-west of Alton.
BS6 7EH	Redland Green School	This is a large – eight-form entry – secondary school in the Redland district of north-west Bristol. Its buildings are new from 2006.
OX2 6XA	Oxford High School	A Girls’ Day School Trust independent school for girls in Oxford, founded in 1875 and now educating girls from ages four to eighteen.
M13 0XT	Manchester Grammar School	Founded in 1515 by the Bishop of Exeter, Hugh Oldham, this is an independent school for boys, now educating pupils from ages seven to eighteen.

GU32 2DG	Bedales School	A co-educational boarding and day “progressive” independent school in the village of Steep, near Petersfield in Hampshire, this was named after its original premises elsewhere.
CV22 5EH	Rugby School	An independent co-educational boarding school in Warwickshire, founded in 1567, this is famous for a number of things, perhaps most notably being the birthplace of its eponymous variety of football.
SW7 2AZ	Imperial College London	My own alma mater, where I gained a degree in physics in 1968, but also where I worked in various posts between 1989 and 2003. At these times it was a constituent college of the University of London, but it seceded from that university and became independent in 2007. Its everyday name was expanded from the earlier “Imperial College” to “Imperial College London” in the early 2000s but back to just “Imperial” in 2024.
B4 7ET	Aston University	Formed in 1966 from an existing institution, this university is named after its location in an inner area of the city of Birmingham.
NN4 6UU	Northampton High School	This independent school for girls, a member of the Girls’ Day School Trust, removed in 1992 to the village of Hardingstone, outside Northampton itself, where it had previously occupied premises in the street called Derngate.

UB8 3PH	Brunel University of London	Named after the famous engineer Isambard Brunel, this is another plate glass university, in Uxbridge in west London, gaining university status in 1966. It added “of London” to its name when it became part of the University of London in 2024.
BS34 8SF	Abbeywood Community School	This is a co-educational academy secondary school in Stoke Gifford, a northern suburb of Bristol.
WF12 9EE	Ravenshall School	This is a large day special school, catering for pupils with complex needs, in Thornhill Lees, near Dewsbury in Yorkshire.
ST5 5BG	Keele University	Gaining its university status in 1962, this institution on a rural site in north Staffordshire is not considered “plate glass” as it developed from an existing university college.
N1 9QG	Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School	Named in honour of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first woman to gain a medical qualification in the UK, this is a girls’ comprehensive secondary school in Islington, London. It was formed in 1984 by the merger of two former schools.
BS6 7EH	Redland Green School	Only when I was preparing this web page did I realise that this is an unfortunate second appearance for this establishment. Whoops!

And thus:

AND BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR FROM BRIAN BARKER

Once again, there was no useful way to represent digits in this code, and I couldn’t have constructed the required year in Roman numerals, so went with “the new year” instead.

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Version 6: Revised 1 January 2026
Brian Barker