Queen Anne's School

Kind Hearts, Fierce Minds, Strong Spirits: the school's three-part vision is not a wall poster at Queen Anne's, it is the organising idea behind the charter system, the Westminster Abbey services and the way girls talk about themselves. Founded in 1894 and part of the historic Grey Coat Hospital Foundation, Queen Anne's is a Church of England independent boarding and day school for around 361 girls across the whole school, aged 11 to 18, with sixth-formers finishing at 19, set on a 35-acre campus in Caversham on the northern edge of Reading in Berkshire. Elaine Purves has led the school since January 2022. Academically it sits among the stronger independents in England, ranking in the top 6.3% of schools for GCSE results, and it pairs that with a genuinely deep programme in dance, music and drama. It is selective, single-sex, and fee-paying, with boarding from Year 7 upward and means-tested bursaries reaching as far as full fees.

Queen Anne's reads as a purposeful but unhurried school. Girls are grouped into five vertical charters named after female historical figures, a structure that mixes year groups together and gives every student an older mentor and a younger one to look out for, so the social world is not defined by the narrow horizon of a single Year 7 form. That vertical model shows up in the everyday tone: a welcoming, inclusive community where girls behave considerately and where interactions between students and staff are courteous rather than deferential.

The lineage matters to the identity. Queen Anne's traces back to 1894 and belongs to the historic Grey Coat Hospital Foundation, and that long institutional memory sits behind rituals such as the red cloaks worn to the biennial Westminster Abbey service. The Church of England foundation is present without being heavy. There is chapel and collective worship, but the faith framing is inclusive in the Anglican mould and the intake is not restricted by belief. The stronger identity note is confidence: this is a school that wants its girls, in its own words, to grow kind hearts, fierce minds and strong spirits, and it backs that with a broad co-curriculum that students genuinely value.

Technology is a real thread here rather than a bolted-on claim. Queen Anne's is a three-time Microsoft Showcase School, and academic staff run cross-curricular projects that build digital fluency and independent research skills. The result is a place that feels contemporary and outward-looking while keeping the manners and rituals of a long-established girls' school.

The headline is the ranking. Queen Anne's places 244th of 3,895 schools in England for GCSE results, the top 6.3%, which puts it well above the England average (this is ranked against every school in England with published GCSE results, state and independent). On the FindMySchool overall measure, which blends those results with an inspection score, it stands 327th of 3,887 in England and 7th of the ranked schools in Reading. Both are proprietary FindMySchool rankings built from official data.

Two things sharpen that picture. The strength runs across the ability range rather than resting on a handful of high-flyers, since the school selects at entry but keeps adding value through to Year 11. And the local standing is real: at GCSE, Queen Anne's sits seventh among ranked schools in Reading and inside the top 6.3% in England, a combination few schools in the area match.

That is confirmed where it counts. In its November 2023 inspection, ISI judged that all standards were met across all five inspection areas and reported attainment above average at both GCSE and A-level, including for girls with special educational needs and disabilities. For families weighing the fees, the reassurance is that the school stretches a genuinely mixed-ability intake, not just the strongest few.

The sixth form is the engine room, and it offers unusual breadth for a school of this size: 27 A-level subjects, including several beyond the standard menu such as Criminology, Film Studies, Environmental Science, Music Technology, and Food and Nutrition, alongside the core sciences, humanities and languages. Post-16, the school ranks 292nd of 2,562 in England for A-level results, the top 11.4%, sitting above the England average and 6th among ranked schools in Reading; on the blended FindMySchool overall measure it is 403rd of 2,561.

The grade profile explains why. At A-level, 18% of entries were awarded A*, 27% an A and a further 27% a B, so roughly 45% of results reached A*-A against an England average nearer 24%, and 72% reached A*-B against an England average nearer 47%. Girls here are, on these figures, close to twice as likely to land the top grades as the typical A-level candidate.

Sixth-form life is built around independence and expert input. The school runs a lecture programme that brings in a wide range of outside speakers, and its careers education is structured around the Gatsby Benchmarks, with thorough support for university applications. Subject societies feed the competitive routes directly: MedSoc supports aspiring medics and LawSoc the future lawyers, giving Year 12 and 13 students a structured way to build the wider reading and experience those applications demand. The Space, the school's award-winning sixth-form centre opened in 2016, gives students their own base with Café 6 and themed breakout rooms, a deliberate step toward the more adult, self-directed rhythm of Years 12 and 13. Entry at 16+ is academically selective and open to external applicants as well as the school's own Year 11 students; families should confirm the exact GCSE grade requirements directly with the school, as these vary by subject.

Teaching at Queen Anne's is characterised by curiosity rather than drill. Girls are enthusiastic learners who are eager to explore, and academic leaders collaborate on cross-curricular projects that develop technological skills and support independent learning. That fits the Microsoft Showcase profile: digital tools are woven into ordinary lessons rather than sequestered in a computer room.

The support structures are real and named. A Learning Development department works with girls who have specific learning difficulties, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, mild speech and language needs, semantic-pragmatic difficulties and lower-level ADHD, and strong attainment here extends to students with SEND. For girls who need English language support, an EAL programme runs in small groups of no more than six with a dedicated coordinator. The picture is of a school that selects on ability but then invests in helping a range of learners keep pace, which is a meaningful distinction for parents whose daughter is bright but not uniformly so.

Queen Anne's is a university school first and foremost. In the 2023/24 leaving cohort of 56, around 55% progressed directly to higher education, with a further fifth moving into employment, a route that at this school increasingly includes competitive degree apprenticeships rather than school-leaver jobs.

Destinations are strong and varied. Recent leavers have taken up places at Cambridge, Durham, University College London, Bath, Nottingham and King's College London, spanning the Russell Group and beyond. Oxbridge success is real but proportionate to the school's size: in the most recent year, seven girls applied to Cambridge and one secured and took up a place. Parents should read that in context. With a sixth form this small, single-figure Oxbridge numbers reflect the cohort, not a ceiling on ambition, and the spread of competitive destinations, from medicine to the arts, is the better indicator of where a Queen Anne's education can lead. The saved-schools shortlist on FindMySchool makes it easy to line these outcomes up against other Berkshire independents while you decide.

Queen Anne's is academically selective, with three standard entry points: 11+, 13+ and 16+. Applications for other year groups are considered individually where places exist. Assessment at the main gateways combines the school's own testing with reference and interview, and 16+ entry is open to external candidates as well as internal progression from Year 11.

As an independent school, Queen Anne's sets no geographic catchment and no distance rule of the kind that governs state admissions, so there is no last-distance-offered figure to weigh; a place is a function of the assessment and available capacity rather than a postcode. Faith is not a barrier either. The Church of England character shapes worship and ethos, but admission does not depend on denomination or churchgoing, in keeping with the broadly inclusive Anglican tradition. With a whole-school roll of around 361 against a capacity of 470, the school is not run to the brim, which tends to mean genuine assessment rather than a scramble, though the 11+ and 16+ points are the most sought after. Register early: 11+ and 16+ applications generally close in the autumn of the year before entry, and 13+ around a year ahead, so families should check current deadlines with the school well in advance.

Pastoral care is a defining strength here, and the school has built systems rather than relying on goodwill. Trained staff support students' mental health, and weekly wellbeing surveys give pastoral leaders live data to act on, so a girl who is struggling is more likely to be noticed early than to slip through. There is a strong, monitored focus on mental health, with regular house meetings and boarding houses that provide a caring environment in which concerns are addressed promptly.

Safeguarding is handled with equal seriousness. Inspectors judged the school's safeguarding thorough and effective, with the governing body actively monitoring the quality of procedures and collaboration with external agencies where appropriate. The vertical charter system reinforces all of this day to day, giving every girl an older peer mentor and a settled group across year boundaries. The one honest qualification, which the school has been set to address, concerns the planning and delivery of relationships and sex education; more on that below.

Boarding is woven through the school rather than treated as a separate wing, and it comes in full, weekly and flexi forms, which suits both committed boarding families and day families who want the occasional overnight or busy-week option. Girls are organised into four houses: Michell, the junior house for younger years, and three senior houses, Holmes, Maddock and Wilkins, for Years 10 to 13, with Holmes offering en-suite rooms.

The culture is the selling point. The boarding team is experienced and makes boarding enjoyable and enriching, with house families in which older girls ensure the youngest feel valued and included. Independence is built in progressively: sixth-form boarders take on real responsibilities, from laundry to cooking, as a deliberate bridge to university life, and sixth-form peer mentors carry genuine pastoral weight. For families abroad or elsewhere in the country, the combination of a caring house structure and a small overall roll means a boarder is known as an individual rather than absorbed into a large institution.

The co-curriculum is where Queen Anne's earns its reputation, and it rests on four strong pillars. In dance, the school is unusually serious: the Twilight Dance Company draws members from Year 7 up to the sixth form, rehearses weekly and competes externally, supported by a long list of clubs from Pointe Work, Advanced Ballet and Lyrical Jazz to Tap, Acro and Contemporary strands, all housed in the Morgan Sports Centre's two mirrored dance studios.

Music is equally well resourced. The Scott Music Centre, completed in 2019, adds a professional recording studio, practice rooms and ensemble space, and the St Cecilia Recital Hall provides a dedicated performance room. Girls can join a wide spread of named ensembles, including the Sinfonia Orchestra, the Consort Choir, QAS Voices, Big Band, Concert Band and the wittily branded Saxability, Saxaholics, Clarinetix and Jazzabelles. Drama has its own purpose-built home in the Queen Anne's Performing Arts Centre, a 258-seat theatre with computerised lighting and sound; the department mounts four full-scale productions a year, enters nearly a hundred girls for LAMDA examinations, and was selected as one of only 200 schools in the country to perform in the National Theatre Connections Festival.

Sport is broad and, in places, elite. The 35-acre campus carries a 25-metre indoor swimming pool, 11 floodlit tennis courts resurfaced in 2022, and eight netball courts, and the games programme runs A and B lacrosse teams, netball, tennis, cross-country, athletics, swimming, cricket, trampolining and a senior football team partnered with the Berkshire Get Active women's football academy. Lacrosse is a particular strength, with players competing at national level. The wider alumnae network reaches beyond sport: Brigadier Lucinda Westerman, awarded a CBE, is among the former students who have gone on to senior public roles.

The fourth pillar is the sheer range of societies, which is where a smaller school can still feel expansive. Creative girls can move between Animation Club, Digital Art and Photography, Life Drawing, Print Making, Jewellery Making, Textiles Club and Chinese Painting; the more academically minded have STEM Club, Digigirls, Debate Club, the MFL Society and Tycoons Enterprise; and there is room for the simply enthusiastic in Bee Keeping, Chess, Cookery and Book Club. Three-quarters of girls take part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which yielded around 30 gold awards over five years. The point is not the length of the list but the fact that a girl with an unusual interest is likely to find both a club and a peer group for it here.

Fees are quoted per term and are inclusive of VAT. Day places cost £9,120 a term for Years 7 and 8 and £10,733 a term from Year 9 upward, which works out at roughly £27,360 and £32,199 a year respectively when a term figure is multiplied across the three terms. Boarding is charged at £17,943 a term for full boarding, £17,377 for weekly boarding and £13,800 for flexi boarding, so full boarding lands near £53,829 a year on the same basis. Refundable deposits apply, from £1,250 for UK day applicants to £2,000 for UK boarders.

Financial support is where Queen Anne's shows intent. The school runs a separate means-tested bursary programme capable of covering up to 100% of tuition fees, and it is developing a Red Cloak Awards scheme aimed at transformational, fully funded places. Merit scholarships also exist, though they are recognition awards rather than large discounts: academic scholarships carry a £500 annual fee remission, sport, dance, drama and art awards £300, and a music scholarship provides free tuition on one instrument. The practical message for families is clear: the sticker price is high, but the bursary route is real and can reach the full fee for households that qualify.

Queen Anne's runs as a day and boarding school on its Caversham campus, a short distance north of Reading town centre and its mainline rail connections. Exact daily hours and any registration times are best confirmed with the school, as they differ for day girls and boarders and across the year groups.

Getting in from a distance is well organised. A dedicated coach service run by White Knights Travel, based in Maidenhead, brings girls in from the surrounding area, and Joiners Taxis covers a spread of South Oxfordshire villages including Sutton Courtenay, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Nettlebed, Stoke Row and Peppard. For families comparing the commute, the FindMySchool map search lets you check the real travelling distance from your home before an open morning.

The fees are substantial, and VAT is already in them. Day places run to roughly £32,000 a year in the senior school and full boarding to around £54,000, so the annual outlay is significant even before extras. The counterweight is the means-tested bursary scheme, which can reach the full fee, so it is worth an early, honest conversation with the admissions office if cost is the deciding factor.

Relationships and sex education is the one flagged weakness. The 2023 inspection found inconsistencies in the staffing and planning of the wellbeing curriculum covering RSE and PSHE, with some content not delivered in enough depth and some girls not consistently engaged, and asked the school to revise it. Everything else in the pastoral picture is strong, but parents who care specifically about this area should ask how the redesign has progressed.

It is small and single-sex, which shapes the offer. With around 361 girls in total and a modest sixth form, cohort-level statistics such as Oxbridge numbers will always look smaller than at large schools, and some minority A-level subjects may run in small sets. For many families the intimacy is the point; for those wanting a big, co-educational environment with dozens of students per subject, it will not fit.

The Anglican character is genuine. Worship, chapel and the Westminster Abbey tradition are real parts of school life. They are inclusive in tone and admission does not depend on faith, but families who would prefer a wholly secular setting should factor this in.

Queen Anne's is a confident, well-run girls' school that delivers where it counts: a top-6.3% GCSE ranking in England, A-level results close to twice the England rate at the top grades, and a co-curriculum in dance, music, drama and sport that is deep rather than decorative. The pastoral machinery is a real strength, from weekly wellbeing surveys to a boarding culture the inspectors clearly admired, and the bursary programme means the school's reach is not limited to families who can pay in full. It is best suited to an academically able, active girl who will thrive in a smaller, single-sex setting with strong performing arts and a proper boarding option, whether full, weekly or flexi. The main reservations are the cost, the size of some cohorts, and the RSE curriculum the school has been asked to sharpen, none of which offsets a school that knows exactly what it is trying to do and largely does it.