Sir William Perkins's School

Founded in 1725 for 25 poor boys, opened to girls just eleven years later, and now marking its 300th anniversary, Sir William Perkins's School enters its fourth century mid-transformation. From September 2026 the Chertsey independent, girls-only since it became one of the country's first voluntary-aided girls' grammar schools in 1944, begins admitting boys to Year 7 and Year 12, with full co-education by 2030. What has not changed is academic reach: GCSE results place the school among the highest-performing in England, and it ranks first for results in Chertsey at both GCSE and A-level. Debbie Picton became head in September 2023. Fees for 2026-27 are £27,186 a year, with means-tested bursaries worth up to 100 per cent through the Perkins Foundation. This is a selective, results-driven school for 11 to 18s on a 13-acre Green Belt site, strongest in academics, rowing, and music.

Heritage runs deep here, but the school wears it lightly. Sir William Perkins, a wealthy local merchant, endowed a charity school in 1725; girls arrived in 1736 for free education and clothing; the institution moved to its present Guildford Road site in 1819, became a voluntary-aided girls' grammar in 1944, and turned fully independent in 1978. That long arc, celebrated across the 2025 tercentenary, gives the place an unusual sense of continuity, and the Victorian buildings that date to the 1810s sit alongside newer additions such as the Brunner Building sixth form and a purpose-built Art Centre.

Three core values anchor daily life: curiosity about the world, ambition for oneself and others, and generosity with thoughts, gifts, and time. Students are poised, confident, and articulate, and highly self-motivated in their attitude to work, listening attentively and responding thoughtfully when questioned. Governors keep leaders' decisions aligned with the school's ethos and aims, sustaining a caring community in which students are encouraged to fulfil their potential. The 2024 ISI inspection judged that the school meets all the Independent School Standards.

The atmosphere, then, is purposeful rather than pressured, a small school of around 530 where selection sets a high academic baseline without tipping into an exam factory. The coming shift to co-education is the defining feature of this era. The first mixed cohort, branded the Pioneers, joins in September 2026, and how smoothly a 300-year single-sex culture absorbs boys will shape the school families encounter over the next few years.

Academic performance is the school's headline strength. At GCSE, Sir William Perkins's ranks 73rd of 3,895 schools in England for results, placing it in the top 1.9 per cent and among the highest-performing in the country. That figure is ranked against every school in England with published GCSE results, state and independent alike. On the broader measure that blends results with the FindMySchool inspection score, it sits 78th of 3,887, and it is first in Chertsey. These are proprietary FindMySchool rankings built from official data.

The grade profile explains the standing. Almost two-thirds of GCSE entries, 63 per cent, are awarded at grades 9 or 8, the equivalent of the old A*. A further 14 per cent land at grade 7, so 77 per cent of all entries reach grades 9 to 7. For a selective intake this is the level parents would expect, and the school delivers it consistently. Students make consistently good progress across the curriculum and attain results in public examinations in line with or exceeding initial predictions, a sign that the school adds value on top of a strong starting point rather than simply banking bright entrants.

The curriculum behind those numbers is broad and well balanced. Leaders plan lessons carefully and manage them with sensitivity to students of all abilities, and the breadth extends from the sciences and mathematics through humanities and modern languages to the creative and performing arts. Results at this level are rarely accidental; they reflect a school that keeps expectations high while keeping the cohort small enough to know every student.

The sixth form carries the same academic ambition into post-16. In the FindMySchool A-level rankings, the school places 108th of 2,562 in England for results, the top 4.2 per cent, well above the England average, and it ranks first in Chertsey for A-level results as it does at GCSE. On the combined inspection-and-results measure it sits 109th of 2,561. As with the GCSE figures, these are proprietary FindMySchool rankings drawn from official data.

The grades are strong across the board. More than a quarter of A-level entries, 27 per cent, are graded A*, with a further 36 per cent at A, so 63 per cent reach A*-A against an England average of roughly 24 per cent. Widen the lens and 86 per cent of entries achieve A* to B, against an England average nearer 47 per cent. In other words, students here are close to twice as likely as the typical A-level candidate to land the top grades that unlock the most competitive university courses.

What gives the sixth form its shape is the 3 A Levels + model. Students take three core A-levels and then add a fourth strand: an Extended Project Qualification, a fourth A-level, typically Further Mathematics, or an accreditation course. The approach lets the most able stretch beyond a standard timetable while keeping the core focused. Alongside it, the Futures programme runs careers guidance, university preparation, and life skills, and the school reports that a comprehensive careers programme prepares students well for their next stage.

The sixth form has its own footprint on site. Students work from the Brunner Building, a dedicated sixth-form block, and a Sixth Form Centre with conference-style meeting rooms and a roof terrace, spaces designed to feel a step closer to university than to school. Entry is selective and conditional on GCSE performance, and the sixth form takes both its own Year 11 students, subject to meeting the grade requirements, and applicants from other schools, so the Year 12 cohort is a blend of familiar faces and new arrivals. Rowing is one of the scholarship strands available at this stage, alongside academic, art, drama, music, and sport awards.

Teaching is a clear strength. Teachers plan lessons well and manage them with sensitivity to the needs of students of all abilities, and progress across the curriculum is consistently good. The small roll helps: with around 530 on the books against a capacity of 620, class sizes stay manageable and teachers know their students well.

Support for different needs is a genuine part of the offer rather than an afterthought. The school identifies 122 students with special educational needs or disabilities, none with an education, health and care plan, and runs a dedicated Personalised Learning Department staffed by qualified specialist teachers who build individual learning plans and support dyslexia, neurodiversity, and English as an additional language. Around 72 students speak English as an additional language, all assessed as fluent, so the emphasis falls on stretch and refinement rather than remediation.

Attitudes to learning do much of the work. Students are self-motivated and responsible, listening attentively and responding thoughtfully when questioned. That culture, combined with careful planning and a broad curriculum, is what converts a selective intake into results in the top few per cent of the country.

Destinations are impressive and, importantly, concrete. The school reports that around 80 per cent of university offers each year are to Russell Group institutions and that 96 per cent of leavers progress to university. Named destinations in recent years include Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Bristol, Bath, Exeter, Loughborough, and University College London, with students reading Medicine, Law, Engineering, and creative arts courses, and some choosing degree apprenticeships.

Oxbridge success is real but selective in scale, as befits a school of this size. In the most recent year captured, students made 12 Oxbridge applications, five to Cambridge and seven to Oxford, and secured one place, at Cambridge, which the student took up. For families weighing the very top of the university market, the pattern to note is a strong, broad Russell Group pipeline rather than a large annual Oxbridge cohort. The careers and university guidance built into the Futures programme, plus the EPQ route within the 3 A Levels + model, are designed to support exactly these competitive applications. The subject spread reflects that ambition: recent leavers have gone on to read Medicine, Law, Engineering, and creative arts, with degree apprenticeships an increasingly visible alternative to the traditional three-year degree. For families comparing outcomes, the local hub tables let you set these destinations against other independents in the area before an open day.

Entry is selective and runs at three main points: Year 7 at age 11, Year 9 at 13, and the sixth form at 16. For Year 7, candidates sit mathematics and English assessments and attend an interview with a senior member of staff. In the current cycle the assessment falls on Saturday 14 November 2026, with decisions issued in December 2026 and a deposit required by the following March. Early registration is encouraged for Year 7 and sixth-form entry.

As a day school, Sir William Perkins's has no catchment area in the state-school sense and no distance criterion; a place depends on the assessment and interview, not on where a family lives. That said, the practical reach is wide, thanks to an extensive coach network described below, so applicants come from across north-west Surrey and the Thames Valley.

From September 2026 admissions open to boys for the first time, at Year 7 and Year 12, as the phased move to co-education begins. Families applying now are therefore choosing a school in transition: girls already at the school continue through a progressively mixed environment, while new boys join a cohort explicitly framed as pioneers. Prospective parents can use the FindMySchool map and saved-schools shortlist to line the school up against nearby independents and compare entry points side by side before committing to an assessment date.

Pastoral care is well resourced and effective. Behaviour and anti-bullying policies are implemented correctly with appropriate staff supervision, attendance is carefully monitored, and a well-planned PSHE programme supports personal development, self-knowledge, and self-confidence. The 2024 ISI inspection found the culture of safeguarding embedded across the school, with staff alert to concerns, prompt reporting, and swift action to support students.

The structures are visible in daily life. A House system provides cross-year belonging, leadership roles, and inter-house competition, while a dedicated Wellbeing Room, staffed from 8am to 6pm each day by Student Support Officers, gives students a calm space and listening support on demand. Peer support is built in too: Sixth Form Study Buddies mentor younger students academically, and Year 11 mentors help Year 7 settle during their first weeks.

The school is candid about one area to keep developing. Leaders are tightening how they monitor the content and teaching of the relationships and sex education course, so that older students are confident their understanding is deepening. It is a targeted point rather than a systemic concern, and the wider wellbeing picture is strong.

Co-curricular life is a genuine pillar, not a garnish, and rowing is the standout. The SWPS Rowing Club, established in 2003, ranks among Britain's top school programmes and trains from a dedicated Boat Club opened in 2016 at Laleham Reach on the Thames. The pathway runs from Ready To Row, a Year 8 foundation course pairing strength and conditioning with a learn-to-row summer programme, up to a Senior Squad for Years 11 to 13 aimed at rowers and coxes with national and international potential. The pinnacle is real: alumna Hattie Taylor rowed for Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing fourth in the Women's Four, and took bronze in the Women's Eight at Paris 2024.

Music is almost as strong, with a graded ladder of ensembles for every level. Beginners join the Jarvis Orchestra and sing in the non-auditioned Melba Choir for Years 7 to 9 or the Vox Choir for Years 10 to 13, while the most advanced players progress to a roughly 50-strong Symphony Orchestra at Grade 5 and above and a Chamber Orchestra for Grade 8 musicians and scholars. Specialist groups such as the Flute Choir, the Swing Band, and the informal, half-termly Atrium Beatz lunchtime sessions widen the offer, and a Rare Instrument Scheme funds a handful of students each year to take up trumpet, trombone, or French horn. Performances run in the 100-seat Jarvis Music Hall and the larger auditorium.

Drama has its own home in a three-storey Performing Arts Centre built around a 340-seat auditorium and multiple drama studios, with the glass-fronted Atrium Cafe alongside. Termly Drama Club Showcases feature technical theatre, puppetry, and performance work, and LAMDA Concerts spotlight speech and examination pieces. Beyond the arts, the school is a licensed Duke of Edinburgh's Award organisation offering all three levels, with 37 Gold Awards gained over the past five years and expeditions ranging from the Surrey Hills and Exmoor to Snowdonia, the Lake District, and Slovenia. Model United Nations gives Year 10 and sixth-form students a taste of diplomacy and debate. STEM has its own pull too, reflected in the school's dedicated STEM scholarship strand and a science-rich curriculum that feeds the medicine and engineering routes so many leavers follow. Sports facilities support the breadth: a large sports hall, a fitness suite and studio, three all-weather MUGA courts, an astroturf pitch, hard tennis and netball courts, and an athletics track.

Day fees for 2026-27 are £9,061.84 per term, or £27,185.52 across the year, inclusive of VAT. A non-refundable registration fee of £200 applies, and an acceptance deposit is held until a student leaves. Families with more than one child receive a 5 per cent reduction on tuition for a second sibling and 10 per cent for a third.

Financial support is a real route in, not a token. Means-tested bursaries, administered through the Perkins Foundation, are available at Year 7 and Year 12 entry and can cover up to 100 per cent of tuition for families that qualify. On the merit side, scholarships worth up to 10 per cent fee remission are offered across six categories, Academic, Art and Design, Drama, Music, Sport, and STEM, at Year 7, Year 9, and sixth-form entry, with rowing added as a scholarship strand for sixth formers. Strong candidates who narrowly miss a scholarship can be invited onto the Aspire programme, which opens up specialist enrichment activities without fee remission. Bursaries are the income-based awards; scholarships recognise talent; the two can, in principle, be combined.

The school day is a conventional single-session timetable for a selective secondary, with co-curricular activity built around the core hours; the Wellbeing Room's 8am to 6pm staffing gives a sense of how long the site stays open to students. As an 11 to 18 school there is no wraparound childcare in the primary sense, but the co-curricular programme fills the after-school hours for those who want it.

Getting there is well catered for. From September 2025 the school runs an extensive coach network reaching Windsor, Ascot, Woking, Richmond, Twickenham, Staines, and Hounslow among more than two dozen towns, with return coaches at 5pm Monday to Thursday and 3.10pm on Fridays. Four public bus routes, the 446, 461, 557, and 593, serve the school, Chertsey station sits a short walk away on the Weybridge to Waterloo line, and the M3 and M25 are close via junctions 11 and 13 on the A320. Bike racks are available on site for those who cycle.

A school mid-transition. After three centuries as a girls' school, Sir William Perkins's begins admitting boys in September 2026 and will not be fully co-educational until 2030. Families joining now are choosing a school actively changing its character, which is exciting for some and a hesitation for others; it is worth asking how the mix will look in the specific year group your child would enter.

Fees and no distance shortcut. At £27,186 a year, this is a significant financial commitment, and entry rests on selective assessment rather than proximity, so there is no cheaper local route in. The counterweight is genuine: means-tested bursaries reach up to 100 per cent, and scholarships offer up to 10 per cent, so families should explore the Perkins Foundation route before ruling the school out on cost.

Oxbridge in modest numbers. University destinations are strong and Russell Group heavy, but Oxbridge places come in ones and twos rather than a large annual cohort, reflecting the school's small size. Families set on Oxford or Cambridge should read the offer as excellent broad preparation rather than a high-volume Oxbridge conveyor.

RSE monitoring. The one development point to note is the relationships and sex education course, which leaders are sharpening how they monitor so that older students feel their understanding is deepening. It is a narrow, actionable issue within an otherwise strong wellbeing picture, but one to raise at an open day if it matters to you.

Sir William Perkins's is a small, selective independent that turns a bright intake into results in the top 1.9 per cent of England at GCSE and the top 4.2 per cent at A-level, wrapped in strong pastoral care, standout rowing, and a deep music programme. It is best suited to academically able children whose families want high results without a hot-house feel, and who value a wide co-curricular life, particularly on the water, over a large-cohort Oxbridge production line. The defining question for prospective parents is timing: this is a 300-year-old girls' school becoming co-educational between 2026 and 2030, so the right decision depends partly on how comfortable you are joining a school in the middle of the biggest change in its history. For the right family, the academics, the bursary support, and the breadth make it one of the strongest options in north-west Surrey.