AN INDEPENDENT school near Tetbury features in a highly-anticipated Netflix series that aired last week. 

The beautiful grandeur of Westonbirt School features prominently in the newest series of Sex Education on Netflix, which was first released on the streaming platform on Thursday, September 21. 

Filming took place at the school during the summer holidays and in December last year, but staff were sworn to secrecy until the show was broadcast. 

The school is used as the setting for fictional Wallace University in the USA, which is attended by the show’s heroine by Maeve Wiley (who is portrayed by Emma Mackey).

Stroud News and Journal: Filming in the Great Hall at Westonbirt SchoolFilming in the Great Hall at Westonbirt School (Image: Camilla Fry)

In the fourth and final season of the popular series, exterior and aerial shots of Westonbirt School were used as well as scenes in the great hall, corridors, the school office and head mistress’ study.

The show’s location manager Deon Du Preez, explaining why the school was chosen, said: “We needed a building that has the feel of an Ivy League college. 

"This is a big old manor house sitting back from the road down a long driveway and the minute you walk into it, it takes your breath away.”

Stroud News and Journal: Filming at Westonbirt SchoolFilming at Westonbirt School (Image: Camilla Fry)

Westonbirt School’s headmistress Natasha Dangerfield said: "It was fascinating to have the cast and production crew on site at Westonbirt and view, at a distance, the extent of the work involved.  

"We were especially proud to see our beautiful school buildings feature so prominently in this award-winning and much talked about series. 

"The show is a great vehicle for our older pupils to have some conversations prompted by the themes and events covered during the turbulent teen years of those pupils based in and around the fictional Moordale High.”