Nottingham Girls' High School GDST

In 1881 the school founded a football club for girls, a decision judged too dangerous for young ladies at the time. That instinct to ignore what girls are supposedly not meant to do still runs through Nottingham Girls' High School, an academically selective independent school for girls aged 3 to 19 on Arboretum Street, a short walk from the city centre. Founded in 1875 and part of the Girls' Day School Trust, it marked its 150th year in 2025. Under Head Julie Keller, in post since 2016, the school sums up its approach in three words: Progressive. Creative. Different. The whole-school roll stands at 663 across nursery, junior and senior phases and a sixth form, well below its capacity of nearly 1,100, which keeps year groups small. Its GCSE and A-level results place it among the strongest schools in England, and it sits second in Nottingham on both counts.

The founding mission has barely shifted in a century and a half: educate girls seriously, and send them out expecting to lead. The school states its aim as empowering girls for extraordinary lives, and its four values, Girls First, Progressive, Fearless and A Supportive Family, shape more than the prospectus. The tone that results is ambitious but notably unstuffy, a culture in which speaking up is expected rather than exceptional. The most recent ISI inspection, in March 2024, found all five key standards met, with safeguarding judged effective and pupils' wellbeing identified as a high priority for leaders, governors and proprietors.

Being a Girls' Day School Trust school shapes daily life more than most trust memberships do. The GDST is a network of 26 schools and more than 100,000 alumnae, and it gives a mid-sized Nottingham school access to shared bursary funding, careers networks and professional development that a standalone independent would struggle to match. Girls here are part of something considerably larger than a single site on Arboretum Street, and the school treats that reach as a practical asset rather than a badge.

For all the academic drive, the atmosphere reads as warm rather than pressured. Attitudes to diversity and inclusion are highly positive, and pupils' respect for themselves and others is mature and well developed. Charity and outreach work runs across the whole school, from the youngest in the junior school to sixth-formers, and girls clearly understand their responsibilities to the wider Nottingham community. Behaviour and attitudes to learning are overwhelmingly respectful, focused and constructive, and that consistency carries beyond the classroom into corridors, clubs and fixtures. This is a school that takes results extremely seriously while insisting they are not the only measure of a girl worth backing.

Results are the headline, and they are genuinely strong across both examined phases. Because this is an all-through school, the ranks below relate only to the exam-taking phases: the senior school at GCSE and the sixth form at A-level, not the whole institution.

At GCSE, more than half of all entries were graded 9 or 8 in 2024 (51%), with a further 21% at grade 7, so that roughly 72% of grades landed at 7 or above, the old A or A star. In the FindMySchool rankings, proprietary rankings built from official data, the senior school places 303rd of 3,895 schools in England for GCSE results, which is the top 7.8% (ranked against all schools in England with published GCSE results, state and independent). That is well above the England average. On the blended overall measure, which combines results with our inspection score, it ranks 250th of 3,887 in England, and it sits second in Nottingham. Those figures cover the senior phase only.

The sixth form performs at a similar level. In 2024, 17% of A-level entries were graded A star, 31% grade A and 33% grade B, so that around 48% reached A star or A and roughly 82% reached A star to B. For context, the England averages sit near 24% at A star or A and 47% at A star to B, so students here roughly double the top-grade rate and clear the wider benchmark by a broad margin. That translates to 248th of 2,562 schools and colleges in England for A-level results, the top 9.7%, comfortably above the England average. On the overall measure the sixth form ranks 211th of 2,561 in England, and again second locally. Set the two phases side by side and the pattern is consistent: girls here perform strongly whether they leave at 16 or 18.

There are no published Key Stage 2 rankings for the junior school, as independent schools do not sit the national primary tests. What can be said is that pupils make good progress across the curriculum, and that in the early years Reception children achieve well and show a clear grasp of the technical language of phonics, a foundation that the rest of the school plainly builds on.

Teaching is well planned and delivered at an engaging pace, and it is credited directly with the good progress pupils make across every part of the curriculum. Lessons draw on a wide range of resources pitched to individual needs, which matters in a selective setting where the temptation is to teach only to the top. The result is classrooms that stretch the ablest without leaving quieter or less confident girls behind.

Small year groups help. With a roll of 663 spread across the phases from nursery to Year 13, classes stay compact and teachers know girls individually. Curriculum breadth is real, most visibly in the sixth form, where the A-level menu runs to more than twenty subjects and includes Latin, Classical Civilisation, Further Mathematics, Government and Politics, Philosophy Religion and Ethics, Computer Science and 3-D Design alongside the full spread of sciences and humanities. The science department runs fully equipped Biology, Chemistry and Physics laboratories, and Design and Technology works from a materials workshop with three 3D printers, a textiles studio and a food technology room, so the practical subjects are properly resourced rather than an afterthought.

In the early years, children learn through well-maintained outdoor classrooms that encourage a sense of awe and wonder, with the key-person approach that early-years practitioners use to settle the youngest into school life. Learning support is coordinated by a Special Educational Needs Coordinator, who leads on identification and on exam access arrangements administered under the Joint Council for Qualifications framework for students with substantial, long-term needs. Parents, staff or a student herself can flag a need to the SENCo at any point, and the earlier that happens, the more the school can put in place.

The all-through structure means most girls have three natural exit points to think about: the end of the junior school, the end of Year 11, and the end of Year 13. Progression from the junior school into Year 7 is the smoothest of these, and most senior girls go on into the school's own sixth form, though a place there is earned on attainment rather than granted automatically (see Admissions). The most telling data is at 18.

University destinations are excellent. The school reports that its recent leavers progressed in full to higher education, including two degree apprenticeships, with 75% taking up places at Russell Group universities and 71% securing their first-choice offer. A notable 21% went on to Medicine and Dentistry courses, a fiercely competitive route that says a great deal about the strength of the sciences here and the ambition of the girls who study them. The dedicated Sixth Form Centre, a building of its own with common-room space, a garden, purpose-built seminar rooms, a lecture theatre, quiet study areas, an art studio and a careers room, gives the process a serious base and signals that the final two years are treated as a distinct, near-collegiate stage.

Oxbridge success is steady for a school of this size. From a recent cohort, 14 applications to Oxford and Cambridge yielded four offers, all of which were taken up: three at Oxford, from nine applicants, and one at Cambridge, from five. In a sixth form of this scale, that is a healthy strike rate on the two most demanding admissions routes in the country. For families weighing options, the local hub comparison tool lets you set these destination and results figures side by side with other Nottingham schools before you commit to an open morning.

Nottingham Girls' High School is academically selective at every entry point, and the school stresses that it tries to keep the process transparent and easy to follow. The three natural entry points are the junior school, which begins with the nursery from age 3, Year 7 at 11, and the sixth form at 16.

Junior school applicants spend a day in school so that staff can see how a child settles, plays and learns, rather than judging her on a single test in a single morning. Senior school candidates at 11 sit entrance examinations and provide a reference from their current school. Sixth-form entry is the most explicitly conditional of the three: the school looks for an average of grade 6 across eight GCSE subjects, including English and Mathematics, with grade 7 in the subjects a student intends to take at A-level. So the school's own Year 11 girls are not waved through automatically; they meet the same academic bar as anyone else, and the sixth form recruits externally too, which brings fresh faces into the final two years.

Because this is a fee-paying independent, admission is direct to the school rather than through the local authority, and there are no published catchment distances to weigh, so proximity does not determine a place. Open events run to a predictable rhythm: a junior school open morning in June, a whole-school open morning in September, and a sixth-form information evening in the autumn term. Exact dates move year to year, so confirm the current calendar with the school before planning a visit. Families applying for bursary support should note that the assessment runs on a separate and earlier timetable, covered under Fees and Financial Aid below.

Wellbeing is treated as core business, not a bolt-on, and it is the theme inspectors returned to most often. Pupils feel safe and secure across the school, and safeguarding is effective in every aspect, from safer recruitment through to a culture of openness in which staff understand their responsibility to keep girls safe. That culture is explicitly tied to the school's stated aim of empowering girls, and it is what gives the pastoral side its confidence.

The structures behind it are specific and, tellingly, often student-led. A Wellbeing Hub gives a dedicated calm space inside the library for downtime and quiet company. Year 12 Peer Educators are trained through the Mental Health Foundation's Peer Education Project to support younger students, and 29 Mental Wellness Ambassadors in Years 7 to 9 are trained in protective factors and peer support, so girls learn to look out for one another rather than waiting for an adult to intervene. A weekly Wellbeing Club runs for senior students. Younger girls work through The Positive Project on age-appropriate emotional regulation and a RECIPE values framework, which stands for Resilience, Empathy, Creativity, Initiative, Positivity and Excellence, while staff mark a Wellbeing Wednesday to keep mental health in everyday view. The overall effect is a pastoral programme that treats emotional literacy as a taught skill, not a hope.

The co-curricular offer is broad, and unusually, it leans as hard into adventure and the creative arts as it does into the expected round of clubs. Three pillars stand out: music, sport, and an adventurous, hands-on streak that runs from the woods to the dissection bench.

Music is a genuine strength, not a courtesy line. Around 95% of infant and junior girls learn an instrument, supported by the Da Capo programme, which lets girls in Reception to Year 2 trial lessons across a range of instruments before committing to one. One-to-one tuition is delivered by peripatetic specialists, and ensembles range from orchestras and bands to Steel Pans, the Ukuladies ukulele group and even a staff choir. The flagship is the Chamber Choir, named Senior Choir of the Year 2026 at the Girls' Schools Association competition, and the music department has been shortlisted three times for Outstanding Music Department of the Year at the Music and Drama Education Awards. Performances have a proper home in the Squire Performing Arts Centre, a 260-seat theatre with an orchestra pit, dance studio, green room and full stage, named after alumna Dame Rosemary Anne Squire DBE, herself a major figure in British theatre. For girls who want to go further, the school teaches conducting and music composition as activities in their own right.

Sport is treated with equal seriousness, and the PE department has reached the finals of Nottinghamshire's Sporting School of the Year five times. The 1875 Sports Centre, opened in September 2023, brought a refurbished gym, a fitness suite, a yoga and Pilates studio, a sports hall and cricket nets under one roof. Girls play netball, hockey, cricket, football, tennis, badminton, basketball, volleyball, rounders and more, and an inter-house sports system keeps competition running through the year for those who play for enjoyment rather than the first team. Beyond the site, rowing runs through the Becket Rowing Club on the River Trent, water sports through the Holme Pierrepont centre, and climbing both at the Nottingham Climbing Centre and on the school's own indoor climbing wall, so the offer stretches well past the standard timetable.

Then there is the adventurous, curious streak that gives the school much of its character. Girls take part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, World Challenge expeditions to destinations such as Norway and Borneo, and an Exploration Society that runs UK-based swim, surf, climb and abseil trips. Upnah Wood, the outdoor learning area, comes with a low ropes course, cargo nets, a firepit, a mud kitchen and an outdoor pizza oven, the sort of space that turns a wet Tuesday into an expedition. Among the clubs, a lunchtime Dissection Club and a STEM Club sit alongside Debating, Chess, Fencing, Orienteering, an Equestrian Club, Book Club and, for the youngest, an Eco Club, Knitting Club and a Pet Club. It is a deliberately wide net, designed so that every girl finds at least one thing she is good at and one thing that scares her a little.

The alumnae network is a further asset, and a vivid one. Former students include Stella Rimington, later Director-General of MI5; the percussionist Sudha Kheterpal, who has performed with Faithless, the Spice Girls and Dido and now runs a clean-energy start-up; the children's author Helen Cresswell; the geneticist Julia Bell; and June Spencer of The Archers. More recent leavers have gone into civil engineering and cyber security. Those are careers a current girl can point to, which is precisely the point of a school that keeps telling her she can lead.

For 2025-26, tuition is charged per term and includes VAT. Day fees run from £4,696 a term in Reception, rising through the junior years to £4,883 a term in Years 4 to 6, and reaching £6,761 a term from Year 7 to Year 13. A registration fee of £120 is non-refundable, and a deposit of £500 applies, refundable for British applicants. Families with a third or subsequent daughter at the school receive a 20% sibling discount, which softens the cost for larger families.

Financial support is meaningful rather than token. Means-tested bursaries cover between 30% and 100% of fees, are reassessed annually to confirm continued eligibility, and are aimed at girls entering Year 7 and Year 12, with applications typically closing at the end of October the year before entry. Awards require academic ability demonstrated through the entrance assessments, so a bursary place is competitive on merit as well as on need. As a GDST school, it also draws on the trust's wider bursary resources, one of the more concrete benefits of belonging to a national network. For nursery fee details, see the school website, and note that government-funded early years hours are available to eligible families; see our guide to nursery funding.

The school day follows standard independent-school hours, with wraparound and co-curricular activities extending it at both ends. The nursery takes children from age 3 and feeds directly into Reception, so the youngest can move up within a setting they already know rather than starting again elsewhere.

Location is one of the school's quiet advantages. The Arboretum Street site sits close to Nottingham city centre, with the Nottingham Express Transit tram stopping nearby and a tram connection reaching Nottingham station in around 16 minutes. A dedicated school coach service runs on set routes across the wider area, with the current route map published by the school, and city bus services stop close by. For families judging the commute, the FindMySchool map search can help you gauge travel time from home before an open morning, which is worth doing early given how much of the intake travels in from across Nottinghamshire.

PSHE and RSE in the senior school. Inspectors identified one area for improvement: the teaching of personal, social, health and relationships education in the senior school, where delivery was less consistent than elsewhere and senior girls did not always find it relevant to their needs. It is the school's single named development point, and a fair question to raise directly at an open day.

Selective at every stage. Entry is by assessment throughout, including into the sixth form, where the school's own students must meet the grade bar rather than progress automatically. Families should plan for the entrance day, the senior entrance examinations, or the GCSE requirements that apply to their child's entry point, and build in preparation time accordingly.

Fees rise sharply at senior level. The step up from junior to senior fees is significant, and independent-school fees now carry VAT. The bursary programme is genuine and generous where it applies, but places are competitive and tied to academic performance, so financial aid should be applied for early and never simply assumed.

A small, single-sex roll. With 663 girls across all phases, cohorts are small and the environment is single-sex throughout. That drives the individual attention and the confidence the school is known for, but it also means narrower peer groups and smaller squads than a large co-educational school offers, which suits some girls better than others.

Nottingham Girls' High School is a high-performing, values-driven girls' school that backs academic ambition with real breadth in music, sport and outdoor adventure, and with a wellbeing culture that runs through everything it does. Results place it in the top 7.8% of schools in England at GCSE and the top 9.7% at A-level, second in Nottingham on both, and its leavers head in strength to Russell Group universities, Medicine and Dentistry, and Oxbridge. It is best suited to academically able girls whose families want a selective, single-sex environment with the reach of the GDST network behind it, and who value confidence, creativity and adventure as much as grades. The main caveat is entry: this is a selective, fee-paying school at every stage, so securing a place, and where needed the bursary funding, is the first hurdle to clear.