St Mary's School

Founded in 1898 by the Congregation of Jesus, St Mary's School has spent well over a century educating girls a short walk from the University of Cambridge, on Bateman Street beside the Botanic Garden. It is an independent, Catholic, all-through school for around 586 girls aged 3 to 19, spanning a preschool, the Junior School at Acton House, a Senior School, and a Sixth Form. Head Hannah Helliar, who took up the post in July 2024, leads a community shaped by the four values of foundress Mary Ward: truth, justice, freedom and sincerity. Boarding is offered from Year 5, and academic results place the school among the strongest in England at both GCSE and A-level. An ISI inspection in October 2025 judged that all standards were met.

The school's Catholic identity is genuine and pervasive, not decorative. Founded by the Sisters of the Venerable Mary Ward, whose Congregation of Jesus opened the school at Furness Lodge on Park Terrace in October 1898, St Mary's still runs on the values its foundress set out: truth, justice, freedom and sincerity. That Catholic ethos is central to the way the school promotes spiritual learning and a sense of social responsibility, and the values of the founder are visible throughout daily life. A separate diocesan inspection has rated the school's Catholic life, religious education and collective worship at the highest level.

Physically, St Mary's is woven into the fabric of central Cambridge rather than set apart on a single campus. The Senior School occupies a cluster of characterful buildings acquired across more than a century: The Elms on Bateman Street, taken on in 1906 and still in use, and the adjacent Paston House from 1909, notable for its Ruskin-style brickwork and heraldic stained glass. Between the two sits the Cortile, a central courtyard created in the 1950s on land bought from the University Botanic Garden. The Junior School sits a little apart at Acton House on Chaucer Road, named after the 19th-century historian Lord Acton.

The all-through span shapes the feel of the place. It begins with a preschool from age 3 and runs through the Junior School at Acton House into the Senior School and Sixth Form, so a girl can spend her entire education here without a change of school at 11. That continuity lets the youngest children learn where the older ones perform and compete, and the Mary Ward values carry through every phase rather than being reserved for the seniors. The compact central-Cambridge footprint means academic life, worship and the arts all sit within a few streets of one another, and the university's presence is a constant backdrop rather than a distant reference point.

Girls here are expected to be articulate and involved rather than quietly compliant. From the early years upwards, pupils show high levels of respect and tolerance, behaviour is good, and bullying is rare. The school is fully international in outlook, and pupils who speak English as an additional language make good progress because of the care put into planning their support.

St Mary's is academically selective, and its exam outcomes reflect that. Because this is an all-through school, results relate to the exam-taking phases: GCSE in the Senior School and A-level in the Sixth Form. The preschool and Junior School are not externally ranked.

At GCSE, the picture is strong. In the most recent results, 41% of grades awarded were at grade 9 or 8, and 59% were at grade 9 to 7, the equivalent of the old A* to A band. On the proprietary FindMySchool academic ranking, built from official results data, St Mary's sits 269th of 3,895 schools in England for GCSE results, placing it in the top 6.9%, well above the England average (ranked against all schools in England with published GCSE results, state and independent). The blended overall ranking, which combines results with the FindMySchool inspection score, places it 252nd of 3,887 in England, and 4th of the schools ranked in Cambridge.

The Sixth Form performs at a similar level. At A-level, 18% of entries were awarded A* and a further 36% an A, so 54% reached A* or A against an England average of about 24%. Broaden the lens and 77% of entries reached A* to B, comfortably ahead of the England figure of roughly 47%. That places the Sixth Form 216th of 2,562 schools and colleges in England for A-level results, in the top 8.4% and well above the England average, with an overall position of 215th of 2,561 and a local rank of 6th in Cambridge. These are proprietary FindMySchool rankings drawn from official data.

Read together, the two sets of results tell a consistent story: girls arrive able, and the school converts that ability into top-decile outcomes at both the GCSE and A-level stages without a fall-off between them. That consistency across a decade of a girl's schooling is the practical case for the all-through model here.

Teaching is a clear strength. The curriculum is broad and matched to pupils' needs and aptitudes, and teachers know their pupils well, draw on good subject knowledge, and use varied activities and resources to help girls learn effectively. That breadth is real: the Sixth Form alone offers 28 A-level subjects, among them Classical Greek, Latin, Chinese, Classical Civilisation and a Leiths Level 3 Professional Cookery qualification alongside the sciences, humanities and modern languages. Few girls' schools of this size stretch to a classics-and-Mandarin span while still running a professional cookery route.

Class sizes are small, and the school leans on specialist facilities to keep teaching hands-on. The Science Hub, opened in 2015, gives the sciences dedicated laboratories, and at the Junior School the Yingting Qian STEM Lab supports early science and engineering so that practical work starts long before GCSE. Learning support is coordinated by a Head of Learning Support, and provision for girls with English as an additional language is well established, an important detail in an international intake. Independent study is built in through the Learning Resources Centre, with reference rooms, private study areas and conference space for older students, which helps prepare Sixth Formers for the self-directed habits universities expect.

Most girls move on to university, and many to highly selective ones. In the 2023-24 leaving cohort of 59, 63% progressed to university, with a further 5% into apprenticeships and 20% into employment, a spread that reflects a sizeable international contingent and some who take a gap year before applying. Parents reading the headline university figure should read it alongside that international dimension rather than as a measure of ambition.

Oxbridge is a well-worn route. From a recent cohort of 12 Oxbridge applicants, the school secured three offers, all at the University of Cambridge, and all three were taken up. Recent Oxbridge courses have spanned Medicine, Theology and Geography. Beyond Oxford and Cambridge, published destinations include Imperial College London, UCL, King's College London, Durham, Bristol, Warwick, Exeter, Manchester, Sheffield and Edinburgh, a list weighted towards research-intensive universities. Careers support in the upper school is well structured and helps students make informed choices about their next steps.

The list of alumnae gives a sense of where a St Mary's education can lead. Recent leavers include Habiba Ahut Daggash, who read Engineering Science before completing doctoral research in energy systems and climate-change mitigation, and Claudia Driscoll, who went on to a PhD in the biosciences at Oxford. Others have taken creative and media routes, among them the sculptor Lucy Unwin and a Bloomberg radio producer, Bonnie Au. The through-line is confident, articulate women moving into demanding fields.

The all-through structure also matters internally. Girls in the Junior School progress into the Senior School, and Year 11 students continue into the Sixth Form on the strength of their GCSE results rather than as an automatic entitlement, with the Sixth Form also recruiting a fresh intake from outside at 16.

St Mary's is selective, and entry is assessed. The main gateway is Year 7 at age 11, with further entry points at Years 8, 9 and 10 and into the Lower Sixth. For Years 7 to 9, applicants sit an online adaptive assessment covering vocabulary, mathematics and non-verbal reasoning, complete a written English paper with a creative-writing element, and attend a formal interview. The main entrance assessment is held on the last Saturday of January each year, and prospective girls are invited to an informal pre-assessment tea beforehand to settle nerves and get to know the setting.

As a Catholic school, St Mary's is rooted in the Congregation of Jesus foundation, but in practice it welcomes families of all faiths and none who are content with its Catholic ethos. There is no requirement to produce evidence of Catholic practice, and the intake is mixed by faith, so the selection that matters most is academic rather than religious. Registration is direct to the school rather than through the local authority, and an application fee applies: £120 for day applicants and £180 for those applying for boarding. A deposit is payable on acceptance, £500 for day places or a term's fees for boarders.

Families weighing up location can use the FindMySchool map to compare travel from home against the school's transport routes, and the saved-schools shortlist to line St Mary's up against other Cambridge independents.

Pastoral care is a settled strength. Inspectors found that the physical-activity programme supports girls' physical and mental wellbeing and that the curriculum builds self-confidence and self-esteem, and they judged all standards met across leadership, quality of education, wellbeing, social and economic education, and safeguarding. Safeguarding arrangements are effective: designated leaders respond promptly to concerns and consult external partners, while governors carry out thorough reviews of safeguarding practice.

The tone among girls is respectful and tolerant from the early years onwards, and behaviour is good. Girls are also prepared for life beyond school in practical ways, from being well informed about financial decisions to a structured careers programme in the upper years. As a single-sex Catholic school, St Mary's is explicit about wanting girls to lead and speak up, and the pastoral framework is built to support that rather than simply to keep order.

Boarding runs from Year 5, which is unusually early, and comes in full, weekly and flexi forms so families can choose the level that suits them. Residential life is centred on Mary Ward House, a Georgian property on Brooklands Avenue renovated to provide unified accommodation for around 90 boarders. Flexi boarding is designed to flex from the occasional overnight stay to a settled weekly pattern, which makes it a practical option for local families with busy schedules as well as those living further afield. The boarding provision is carefully led and managed by knowledgeable staff, with conscientious supervision and a rigorous approach to safety, and boarders feel safe. Day places sit alongside boarding throughout, so most girls attend as day pupils and boarding functions as an option rather than the default. For international families and those in the wider East of England, the weekly and flexi patterns make a Cambridge education workable without a permanent relocation.

Co-curricular life is well resourced and reaches girls of different ages and abilities. Four strands stand out.

Sport leans into Cambridge's geography. Rowing is a genuine specialism, run from the Cambridge City and St Mary's Rowing Club boathouse on Kimberley Road, with a structured pathway from a Learn to Row squad up through Junior 3, Junior 2 and Junior 1 crews. On land, girls train and compete at the Long Road sports complex, shared through a partnership with Homerton College. Hockey reaches county tournaments, netball teams have taken part in the International Junior Netball Festival backed by England Netball, and gymnasts perform at the Girls' Schools Association Gymnastics Display. The mix of rowing, court and field sport gives girls of different builds and temperaments a genuine route into competition.

Music is organised around named ensembles rather than occasional concerts. Senior girls sing in the Allegro and Cantore choirs and play in the Senior Orchestra, while the Junior School runs its own orchestra and choir so that performance starts young, and LAMDA speech-and-drama work threads through the younger years. Drama has a dedicated home in the Drama Studio, with a full-size stage used for productions and examinations, which means school plays and practical exams share a proper performance space rather than a repurposed hall.

STEM is taken seriously beyond the timetable. Year 7 girls work towards a CREST Bronze Award through ten or more hours of independent research, and Sixth Formers can pursue the Youth STEMM Award, both backed by the Science Hub and the Junior School's Yingting Qian STEM Lab. Creative arts have their own centre at Art @ No. 47 on Bateman Street, which houses four art teaching spaces, a Sixth Form study area, a darkroom and a photography studio, a level of specialist provision that supports serious portfolios for art and design applicants.

The wider programme is broad and specific. Girls take part in Model United Nations and debating, join the Time Travellers history club, and choose from German, French and Spanish film clubs and a Japanese language club. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award runs through the upper school, Sixth Formers cook with the Leiths: Let's Cook programme, and enrichment awards such as the St Mary's Arts Award, the Sports Leader Award and Driver's IQ round out a busy calendar. In the Sixth Form, the Extended Project Qualification lets students pursue an independent research project worth up to 28 UCAS points, a useful edge for competitive university courses.

Fees are charged per term and rise with age. From September 2026, day fees run from £5,200 a term for preschool and £5,605 for Reception to Year 2, through £7,340 and £7,740 in the junior years, to £8,815 a term across the Senior School and Sixth Form. Boarding is charged on top: full boarding is £17,760 a term in Years 5 and 6 and £18,755 from Year 7, with weekly boarding from Year 7 at £15,800 and flexi boarding priced per night. For nursery and preschool fee details and the government-funded hours available to eligible families, see the school website and our guide to nursery funding.

Financial help is available but discretionary. Bursaries are means-tested and awarded on a sliding scale according to family need, ranging from a modest remission of around 5% of tuition up to, in exceptional cases, full-fee awards. Scholarships are separate and merit-based, offered at Years 7, 9 and 12 across academic achievement, enrichment, dance and community contribution, typically carrying a fee reduction from around 5% upwards. Parents should treat scholarships as recognition and a partial contribution rather than a route to a heavily discounted place, and plan around the full fee unless a bursary assessment says otherwise.

The school day is built around the Senior School on Bateman Street, with the Junior School a short distance away at Acton House on Chaucer Road. St Mary's runs its own network of named minibus services to widen its reach across Cambridgeshire: Route 1 from the Trumpington Park and Ride, Route 4 from Cambourne and Route 6 from Saffron Walden, alongside minibus links from the Babraham, Madingley and Milton Park and Ride sites. Boarding, including flexi boarding from Year 5, gives families another way to manage long commutes or irregular weeks. For exact daily timings, wraparound arrangements in the early years, and current transport timetables, families should confirm directly with the school.

A genuine and pervasive Catholic ethos. The school's Catholic character shapes worship, religious education and the values that run through daily life, and it is central to how the school describes itself. Families of other faiths and none are welcomed, but those uncomfortable with regular worship and explicit religious teaching should look elsewhere.

Selective entry. Places are assessed through testing and interview at 11 and other entry points, so admission is competitive and not guaranteed. The pre-assessment tea helps girls settle, but families should prepare for a genuine selection process.

Careers guidance in the lower senior years. Inspectors identified that careers education for younger pupils in the Senior School could be strengthened so they are better informed about their options earlier. The upper-school programme is well structured; the gap is at the younger end.

Fees and boarding costs. Senior day fees approach £8,815 a term before extras, and full boarding is considerably more. Bursaries and scholarships exist but are discretionary and often partial, so families should budget realistically.

St Mary's School is a strong, purposeful Catholic girls' school that combines a distinctive foundation with results that stand comfortably among the best in England: top 6.9% at GCSE and top 8.4% at A-level, with a steady Oxbridge pipeline into Cambridge and destinations across the most selective universities. Teaching is broad and well supported, pastoral care is a settled strength, and the boarding provision from Year 5 gives real flexibility for families near and far. It is best suited to academically able girls, boarders and day pupils alike, whose families value a genuinely Catholic ethos, small classes and a central-Cambridge setting, and who are comfortable with selective entry and independent-school fees. The main caveats are that the Catholic character is pervasive rather than nominal, entry is competitive, and careers guidance in the lower senior years is still developing.