Bede's School, Hailsham
Senior School & Sixth Form Open Morning - 17 September 2022
Situated in the Sussex village of Upper Dicker, with glorious views of the South Downs, this co-ed day and boarding senior school is part of the St Bede’s School Trust – an educational charity also consisting of a nursery, pre prep, prep school and the Legat Dance Academy. This is a proudly non-selective school that takes children as they are and gets the absolute best out of them both inside the classroom and beyond. It’s a big-hitter in value-added and has great co-curricular facilities that include its own zoo.
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Caterham School, Caterham
Opening Morning - 17 September 2022
With the relaxed air of a country senior and the underlying street smarts of a school so close to the capital, Caterham is an impressive hybrid. Day-, weekly- and full-boarding options add to its appeal, and its inclusive, welcoming and innovative style is an attractive proposition. Its popularity has grown steadily to a point where there are five applicants for every place available – and it’s not hard to see why.
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Downe House, Thatcham
Open Morning - 10 September 2022
Open Morning - 12 November 2022
A top choice for families looking for the proper full-boarding experience from the get-go, Downe House combines tradition with a refreshing balance of work and play. Girls get punchy results and are encouraged to develop character and charm, before heading off to top universities with invaluable grounding and a solid group of friends for life.
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Embley Senior School & Sixth Form, Romsey
Whole School Open Morning - 22 September 2022
Whole School Open Morning - 23 September 2022
Whole School Open Morning - 04 October 2022
Sixth Form Open Evening 17.00-19.00 - 12 October 2022
Senior School Open Evening 17.00-19.00 - 10 November 2022
Whole School Open Morning - 25 November 2022
Boasting a blockbuster location on the edge of Hampshire’s New Forest, history-stoked Embley went through a full rebrand a few years ago, changing its name from Hampshire Collegiate School.
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Frensham Heights School, Farnham
Whole School Open Morning - 17 September 2022
Frensham Heights is a Surrey day and boarding school with its focus firmly on the future. Since its foundation in 1925 it has sought to provide an alternative style of education based on mutual respect, tolerance and generosity of spirit that educates the whole child. Its invitation to ‘come and be you’ and insistence on inspiring each child to improve themselves – in any way – is a pleasure to see.
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Heathfield School, Ascot
Open Morning - 08 October 2022
‘The merit of one is the honour of all’ is the school motto here – and there is certainly much to be merited at Heathfield. Cast aside any preconceptions you may have about this all-girls, Ascot-based senior and prepare to be bowled over by an unashamedly girls-first ethos which puts its pupils at the forefront.
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Queen Anne's School, Caversham, Reading
Open Morning - 17 September 2022
Sixth Form Open Evening - 27 September 2022
Open Morning - 11 November 2022
There’s a wonderfully unconventional buzz about Queen Anne’s, a smashing little school that has a forward-thinking head and is leading the way when it comes to innovative learning. Girls here don’t need to be top of the class – just happy to step out of their comfort zone and throw themselves into the endless opportunities that come their way.
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The King's School, Canterbury, Canterbury
Sixth Form Entry Virtual Open Morning - 17 September 2022
Thought to be the oldest school in the UK (it’s been around since 597AD, when St Augustine arrived to evangelise England, and was rebranded by Henry VIII in 1541 as his own school – hence the name), The King’s School, Canterbury is also one of the longest-established co-eds. It comes with an extraordinary history-steeped setting, heaps of tradition and a thrilling musical legacy (the cathedral doubles up as the school chapel) – but crucially it’s not stuck in the past. Results are superb, but there’s a much bigger point here: pupils are allowed to excel in any field they choose. This is a school, which, the head tells us, celebrates quirks and wants characters.
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Thornton College, Milton Keynes
Whole School Open Morning, 10am - 08 October 2022
Very much an all-through school, Thornton College is one family on one site with a focus on inclusive Christian values. Girls we met were confident, chatty and exceptionally well behaved – and nurture is well and truly baked in.
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Wellington College, Crowthorne
College Tour, 9.30am or 12noon - 17 September 2022
Visitors Day, 10.30am - 08 October 2022
Visitors Day, 10.30am - 19 November 2022
A progressive school at the forefront of educational innovation, Wellington was transformed by visionary head Sir Anthony Seldon and is soaring once again with James Dahl in charge. With its constant buzz, forward-facing attitude and so much for the taking, its pupils are brilliantly prepared to cope with the pressures of the modern world.
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Badminton Junior School, Westbury-on-Trym
Whole School Open Morning, 10am - 01 October 2022
As a small, single-sex school, Badminton offers an incredible level of support from the get-go, with all girls well known individually and allowed to grow at their own pace. That’s not to say the junior school doesn’t have academic clout – it definitely does. Most pupils transfer to the senior school in Year 7, but even for those who don’t, this is a smashing launch pad.
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Clifton College Preparatory School, Clifton
Whole School Open Day - 01 October 2022
Reception Discovery Event - 02 December 2022
There’s no ‘one size fits all’ at this unstuffy Bristol prep, part of a trio of schools that make up the Clifton College stable. The intake is refreshingly broad and so is what’s on offer.
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Hazlegrove Preparatory School, Yeovil
Open Morning - 01 October 2022
With its grand gateposts and neatly tended front lawns, this glorious Somerset prep has a film-set elegance to it. Rosy-cheeked children belt around its 200 acres on bicycles and scooters and clomp through forests in brightly coloured wellies. But don’t be fooled by the idyllic country setting: this place is bursting with creativity and innovation.
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Stonar Prep School, Atworth
Equestrian Open Morning - 12 October 2022
Equestrian Open Morning - 08 March 2023
Once seen as the first choice for the horsey set thanks to its phenomenal equestrian centre, this all-through co-ed day and boarding school in rural Wiltshire now has a reputation for being academically ambitious, too.
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Wells Cathedral Junior School, Wells
PrePrep & Nursery Open Morning - 02 November 2022
For one of the oldest educational establishments in the world (founded in 909), Wells Cathedral School has a decidedly modern motto: Esto Quod Est (Be What You Are). This co-ed day and boarding all-through school is very well set up for getting the best out of every pupil, and it’s clear that the junior school – which shares the same site as its senior sibling – takes this warm, accepting attitude seriously.
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Badminton School, Bristol
Sixth Form Open Evening - 23 September 2022
Whole School Open Morning, 10am - 01 October 2022
A small, all-girls, all-through day and boarding school from three to eighteen, where strong relationships are forged and a real culture of tolerance and respect is fostered. Badminton girls are, in the words of head Rebecca Tear, ‘not in a rush to grow up’, but at the same time ‘empowered, passionate and independent’ – a winning combination, we’d say. This is a hugely democratic sort of place, where girls are encouraged to be proactive – and it has an air of intellectual rigour to boot.
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Blundell's School, Tiverton
Open Day - 01 October 2022
A wonderfully uplifting all-through school, packed with happy, exceptionally able pupils who benefit from the emphasis on developing character and values that still remains core to the essence of the school, 400 years after it was founded. We left our tour of Blundell’s with a huge spring in our step.
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Canford, Wimborne
Open Day 10am-1pm - 08 October 2022
It’s hard not to be blown away by the grandeur of Canford, a Sir Charles Barry-designed castle in the thick of 250 acres of Capability Brown parkland. But despite all this magnificence, both school and pupils are unstuffy and flash-free. Gearing up to celebrate its centenary in 2023, this is a brilliant all-rounder that looks outside of the bubble, aces exams and turns out wonderfully grounded young men and women with a real awareness of the world around them.
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Clifton College, Clifton
Whole School Open Day - 01 October 2022
Sixth Form Open Evening - 12 October 2022
A flourishing pre-prep, prep and upper school that offers a seamless education all the way through from age two to 18 – and has very respectable results from its broad pupil intake.
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St Mary's Calne, Calne
Open Day - 08 October 2022
Open Day - 05 November 2022
Small and nurturing, academic but not nerdy and brimming with laidback, nicely gung-ho girls, St Mary’s Calne is, says its head, ‘the best of the British boarding school tradition – with a modern twist’. Girls are equipped with firm foundations for life, leaving armed with bucketloads of confidence and self-esteem.
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Stonar School, Atworth
Senior Open Morning - 24 September 2022
Equestrian Open Morning - 12 October 2022
Year 7 Taster Day - 14 October 2022
Equestrian Open Morning - 08 March 2023
The freedom for pupils to be themselves is evident at this all-through, co-ed school tucked away in rural Wiltshire. Its ‘horsey’ reputation comes courtesy of a first-class equestrian centre, but in recent years it’s been shifting perceptions with increasingly impressive academic results.
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Wells Cathedral School, Wells
Be a Chorister for a Day - 17 September 2022
Be a Specialist Musician for a Day - 28 September 2022
Autumn Open Morning - 08 October 2022
For one of the oldest educational establishments in the world (founded in 909), Wells Cathedral School has a decidedly modern motto: Esto Quod Est (Be What You Are). This co-ed day and boarding all-through school is well set up for getting the best out of every pupil, regardless of their talents. It’s also one of only four specialist music schools in England, and the only one to operate within the broader context of a traditional school.
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