St Mary's School for Girls

Scientia et Veritas (Knowledge and Truth) has been the watchword at St Mary's since two sisters opened a schoolroom for eight girls in 1908, and the school still does one thing with real focus: educate girls from the nursery years to GCSE. This is an independent, all-through girls' school in Lexden, on the western edge of Colchester, taking children from age 2 in the Kindergarten through to Year 11. Around 419 pupils are on roll, comfortably inside a 600-place capacity, which keeps year groups small and teaching close. Results are the headline: the Senior School ranks fourth among Colchester schools and sits in the top 10% in England on the FindMySchool table. The latest ISI inspection, in February 2026, confirmed the school meets every Independent School Standard, with safeguarding judged effective. Fees run from £4,750 to £7,550 a term depending on year group.

St Mary's is a single-sex school with a clear rationale for it. Girls in girls' schools, the leadership argues, are more likely to carry maths and the sciences through to GCSE, and the curriculum is built to keep those doors open. The ethos is one of ambition tempered by warmth: pupils are encouraged to be bold, compassionate, dynamic and enquiring, and those values are visible in how the school is run rather than just printed in a prospectus.

New leadership is steering that ethos from 2026. Mr Lee Daniel Faith took up the principalship in the summer term, arriving from Ibstock Place School, where he was Deputy Head for school improvement and standards, and succeeding Mrs Nicola Griffiths after her five-year tenure. On his appointment he said he had been struck by the strength of the school's values. Griffiths, an Oxford biological sciences graduate who came to St Mary's in 2021, left at Easter for a headship in Norwich, so 2026 marks a genuine handover rather than business as usual.

The school spreads across two sites a short distance apart. The Kindergarten and Lower School share a base at London Road; the Senior School occupies Glen Mervyn on Lexden Road, the house the school moved into in 1923, three relocations on from the single schoolroom at 15 Lexden Road where the Billson sisters began with one sister teaching six nine-year-olds and the other taking two pupils in the dining room. Four houses, named after the medieval gates of Colchester (Abbeygate, Headgate, Balkerngate and Scheregate, with green, yellow, blue and red colours), run inter-house challenges through the year and give even the youngest girls a team to belong to. School life is chronicled in the St Mary's Spotlight, the school's own publication, which captures the rhythm of concerts, competitions and trips across the year.

There is a strong internationalist streak too. St Mary's is a full member of Round Square, the global network of more than 200 schools across six continents that shares a focus on internationalism, democracy, environment, adventure, leadership and service. Selected students represent the school each year at the Round Square International Conference, working alongside peers from across the world on service and adventure projects and hearing from keynote speakers. Add an Eco-Schools Green Flag awarded with distinction, a British Council International School accreditation, and membership of both the Girls' Schools Association and the Independent Association of Prep Schools, and the picture is of a small school that looks well beyond Colchester.

The youngest children start in the Kindergarten, which takes girls and boys from age 2 before the school becomes single-sex at Reception. Early years provision is inclusive and welcoming, making good use of both indoor and outdoor space, with children building communication and language alongside early reading, writing and phonics. Staff work through the key-person system familiar to parents of this age, and the rooms are run by practitioners who plan around where each child is starting from. A core day runs through the working day, with extended care options into the late afternoon and early evening for families who need them, which makes the Kindergarten workable for two working parents rather than a half-day arrangement.

Progression into the Lower School is internal and seamless: families who start in the nursery typically move up into Reception and the prep years without a fresh admissions hurdle. The Lower School curriculum is broad and specialist-taught in places, with sport ranging from dance and orienteering to football and hockey. The teaching tells: by the end of Year 6 most pupils meet, and many exceed, the expected standard for their age in reading, writing and mathematics. That is a meaningful outcome in a non-selective setting, where children are not screened in by ability at entry. Children with special educational needs are supported through an individualised system that delivers good progress against their starting points, and the small classes mean a child who needs extra help is unlikely to slip through unnoticed.

The Senior School is where the school makes its strongest case. On the FindMySchool rankings, which are proprietary rankings built from official performance data, St Mary's sits 446th in England for GCSE and fourth in Colchester. That position places it well above the England average, in the top 10% of schools in England, which is notable given that the town's selective grammars sit nearby and the figure is achieved without selecting pupils by ability at entry. For parents weighing local options, the local hub comparison tool lets you line St Mary's up against the other Colchester schools side by side.

What sits behind the ranking is a deliberately academic curriculum. The sciences are taught as three separate disciplines, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, rather than as combined science, which is a statement of intent in a girls' school and keeps the route into science and engineering open beyond GCSE. Latin stays on the timetable, and applied options such as Fashion and Textiles and Hospitality and Catering broaden the choice alongside the academic core. The breadth is real: girls can pursue the humanities, the sciences and the creative subjects without the curriculum thinning out in the senior years.

One point is worth stating plainly for context. As an independent school, St Mary's is not ranked through the same value-added accountability measure that state schools publish, so the strength here is best read through the England ranking, the local standing and the inspection record rather than a single progress score. For a non-selective school taking girls of mixed starting ability, a top-tenth position in England is a strong outcome on its own terms.

Teaching is the engine of the GCSE record, and the staff know their subjects. The curriculum from early years to Year 11 is well planned and broad, supporting academic, personal, physical and creative development, with teaching that is encouraging and suitably challenging. Class sizes are small by the nature of the roll, which lets teachers track girls closely, stretch the most able, and keep struggling pupils in sight rather than letting them drift.

Subject specialism matters more in the senior years, where separate sciences and Latin demand it, and St Mary's leans on that specialist knowledge. The personal, social, health and economic education programme runs alongside the academic curriculum and is effective in promoting wellbeing. Pupils also have a genuine voice in how learning and school life work, contributing through surveys, a school council and focused meetings, which the school uses as a deliberate way of building self-confidence.

St Mary's ends at Year 11, so the key transition is the move to a sixth form elsewhere. The school does not run its own post-16 provision, which means every girl makes a fresh choice at 16 between Colchester's sixth form colleges, the grammar sixth forms and other independents. To prepare them, the school runs careers guidance for secondary pupils, an annual careers fair open from Year 4 upwards, and visits to local universities and STEM employers, so the groundwork for an informed choice starts well before the final year.

This is also an acknowledged area for development. Careers guidance is in place and gives access to impartial advice, but the programme is not yet fully developed, and the school has been asked to strengthen it so that older pupils can make informed choices across a broad range of pathways. For families, the practical implication is straightforward: St Mary's gets girls to strong GCSEs and into the sixth form of their choice, but the sixth-form decision itself sits with the family rather than being a default progression within the school. The FindMySchool map search is useful here for comparing nearby sixth-form options once GCSE results are in, and the saved-schools shortlist makes it easy to keep a few contenders side by side through the autumn applications.

St Mary's is a non-selective school, which sets it apart from Colchester's well-known selective grammars: places are not won by passing the eleven-plus. The main entry points are the Kindergarten at age 2, Reception at 4, and Year 7 at 11, with occasional places higher up the school as they arise. Entry typically involves a taster day and assessment appropriate to age rather than a high-stakes selective test, and the school works to find girls who will thrive in its environment rather than to filter by score.

Internal progression is a real advantage. A child who starts in the Kindergarten can move through Reception, the Lower School and into the Senior School without re-applying at each stage, and the school offers a loyalty discount for families moving up from the Lower School into the Senior School. Scholarships are available at Year 7 entry, recognising academic and other talents, so a strong applicant arriving at 11 can be rewarded as well as admitted.

The school does not publish catchment distances, which makes sense for an independent school drawing from across Colchester and the surrounding villages rather than a fixed admissions area. Parents should confirm current open events and registration deadlines directly with the school, as published dates move year to year. For comparing how far you would travel, the FindMySchool map search can plot your home against the two school sites and against alternatives in the town.

Pastoral care is a clear strength. Leaders and governors prioritise pupils' wellbeing in their decision-making, creating a supportive environment that pairs ambitious academic standards with strong personal development and genuine respect for everyone. Pupil voice is embedded rather than token: girls contribute through surveys, a school council and focused meetings, giving them genuine influence over school life and building the kind of confidence and ownership that makes the environment feel collaborative rather than top-down. Understanding of the rule of law, democracy and individual liberty is built through assemblies, the curriculum and trips, which dovetails neatly with the Round Square emphasis on democracy and service.

Safeguarding is effective. The school has built a culture where concerns are caught and addressed quickly: policies are kept current and well understood by staff and governors alike, training is comprehensive and includes the Prevent duty, and the single central record of recruitment checks is maintained in good time. Pupils are also taught how to keep themselves safe online and in wider life, so the approach addresses both the systems side and what girls themselves need to know. A broad risk-management framework covers both sites and school trips, the kind of detail that reassures parents of younger children in particular.

Co-curricular life is unusually busy for a school this size. St Mary's offers more than 120 clubs each term and expects every girl to commit to at least one society for the full year, so participation is the norm rather than the exception. The programme refreshes regularly to fit as many girls into as many activities as possible, which keeps the offer fresh and stops the same handful of pupils monopolising places.

Music and drama run right through the school. The calendar moves from Nativity plays and informal lunchtime concerts to large-scale productions and a whole-school Carol Service, and a chamber choir gives keener musicians a performance outlet. Confidence in performing is treated as a deliberate outcome, built through workshops and a steady stream of concerts and shows, which matters in a girls' school where the aim is to send students out willing to stand up and be heard.

Sport widens as girls move up. The Lower School covers dance, orienteering, football and hockey; the Senior School adds tennis, basketball, climbing and golf, a spread that suits girls who want to try something beyond the usual team games. Outdoor and adventurous education is a thread in its own right: Senior School pupils complete the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and the Round Square ethos pulls in service, expedition and international exchange work that few schools of this size can match.

Beyond sport and the arts, the activity list runs to art, jewellery making and debating, while the school's Eco-Schools work, recognised with a Green Flag with distinction, gives environmental projects a real place in school life rather than a token green committee. The careers fair, open from Year 4 upwards, and visits to universities and STEM employers feed the same ambition to widen horizons early. Taken together it is a programme that punches well above the roll and gives the school much of its character.

Fees are charged per term across three terms. In the Lower School they run from £4,750 a term for Reception to Year 2, rising to £5,300 for Years 3 and 4 and £5,900 for Years 5 and 6. In the Senior School the figure is £6,600 a term for Year 7, £7,050 for Years 8 and 9, and £7,550 for Years 10 and 11. There is a one-off registration fee of £150 and a £400 entry deposit that is refunded after a pupil's final term. For the Kindergarten, fees are charged on a daily basis and government-funded hours are available for eligible families; see the school website for current Kindergarten rates and our guide to nursery funding for what you may be entitled to.

On financial support, the picture is more modest than at some larger independents. Scholarships are offered for Year 7 entry, and bursaries (means-tested help based on family income) are available in exceptional circumstances rather than as a large standing programme. Sibling discounts and a Lower-to-Senior loyalty discount reduce costs for committed families. Parents who need fee assistance should raise it early with the Registrar, as the support is handled case by case rather than published as fixed percentages, and it is sensible to ask exactly what is available before committing for the long term.

The school operates across two sites: the Kindergarten and Lower School at London Road and the Senior School at Glen Mervyn on Lexden Road, both in Colchester. The Kindergarten offers a core day with extended care options into the early evening for working families, and government-funded early years hours are available to those who qualify. The school day and wraparound arrangements differ between the Lower and Senior sites, so families should check the current timings for their child's section with the school. Colchester's road and rail links make the school reachable from across the town and the surrounding Essex villages, and the school sits in the well-connected Lexden area to the west of the town centre. You can save St Mary's to a shortlist on FindMySchool to compare it against other Colchester schools as you decide.

No sixth form. St Mary's ends at Year 11, so every family faces a separate choice of sixth form at 16. For some this is welcome flexibility; for others, the lack of a guaranteed onward route is a genuine consideration when committing to the early years.

Careers provision is still developing. Careers guidance is in place but not yet fully developed, and the school has been asked to strengthen it. Given that pupils leave at 16, the quality of careers and sixth-form advice in the senior years matters more here than at an 18-finishing school.

Limited published financial aid. Bursaries are offered in exceptional circumstances rather than as a broad means-tested scheme, and scholarship detail is modest. Families relying on substantial fee support should test what is realistically available before committing.

A small school in transition. With around 419 pupils across all phases, year groups and friendship pools are small, which brings close attention but a narrow peer group. The school is also under a new principal from 2026, so families joining now are betting on continuity through a leadership change rather than a settled, long-tenured head.

St Mary's Colchester does the core job well: it takes girls from toddlerhood to GCSE in a small, attentive, internationally minded school, and it gets strong results doing it. A fourth-place standing in Colchester and a top-10% position in England are real achievements for a non-selective school, the pastoral care and safeguarding are genuine strengths confirmed at the latest inspection, and the co-curricular programme, from Round Square expeditions to more than 120 clubs a term, is wide for the size. The honest caveats are the absence of a sixth form, which makes the choice at 16 a separate decision, a careers programme the school itself has been told to develop, and a leadership change to bed in. This school is best suited to families who want an ambitious but supportive single-sex education for girls up to GCSE, who value small classes and a strong community over scale, and who are comfortable planning the post-16 step themselves.