2020 Tatler Schools Guide 2020 tatler.comLONDONPUBLICQUEEN’S COLLEGE
43–49 Harley Street, W1G 8BT
Website qcl.org.uk Head
Richard Tillett, MA, since 2017;
previously Senior Deputy Head
at Harrogate Ladies’ College
Pupils 390 day girls Ages 11–18
Term Fees £6,646 Oxbridge 5%
Registration By November of
year before entry; £150 fee
Admission London 11+
consortium entrance exam,
interview and reference from
previous school Alumnae
Jameela Jamil, actress Sophie
Ward, Deborah Moggach
‘Gentle but academic, Queen’s
quietly does incredibly well with-
out creating an unhappily com-
petitive environment for the girls.
‘It is like a secret weapon,’ says
one satisfied parent. Indeed, this
school is on the up in every strand:
academic results are strong (89 per
cent of A-levels were grades A*–B),
and sport – previously something
to get out of – is becoming much
more central to life at the school,
with interest in dance spiralling
and football and netball ricochet-
ing. Music and drama are the
beating hearts here, and recent
standout performances have been
The Sound of Music and Cinderella.
There are weekly talks from clubs
and societies held at lunchtime,
focusing on all sorts – jobs, religion,
culture – to empower the girls
and give them an understanding
of what life can offer beyond the
classroom; they are also working
to introduce compulsory work ex-
perience for the senior years. Be-
yond the introduction of the new
house system, and the initiation
of weekly whole-school assem-
blies, Queen’s is pushing its
bursary fundraising, and hoping
to develop its disused basement
flat into a cutting-edge drama stu-
dio. The jaunty march of change
is being directed by relatively new
Head Richard Tillett, whom par-
ents and pupils love for his will-
ingness to listen and embrace new
ideas that will benefit the girls.
‘Mr Tillett is fantastic, but don’t
tell everyone or he will be poached,’
whispers one parent.QUEEN’S GATE
Queen’s Gate, SW7 5LE
Website queensgate.org.uk Head
Rosalynd Kamaryc, PGCE, since
2006; previously Head of Wykeham
House School, Hampshire
Pupils 494 day girls Ages 4–18
Term Fees £7,200 Oxbridge 5%
Registration By November of year
before entry; £125 fee Admission
London 11+ consortium entrance
exam, interview, and previous
school’s report Alumnae Tilda
Swinton, Lulu Guinness,
journalist Bryony Gordon
PREP Head James Denchfield
Pupils 139 day girls Ages 4–11
Term Fees £6,500
Housed in five light, airy and ele-
gant townhouses just minutes
from the museums of South Ken,
this is an immaculate school where
girls enjoy their studies in a pur-
poseful environment. Every inch
of space is utilised – including the
roof terraces where gardening club
takes place and girls can spend
their lunch breaks. Pupils describe
Queen’s Gate as ‘an oasis of calm’
compared to many of their friends’
schools. Since its foundation more
than 125 years ago, when it was
known as ‘an unschooly school’,there’s been a no-uniform policy,
meaning when travelling to and
from the buildings girls don’t draw
attention to themselves and simply
melt into London life. The science
labs are particularly impressive and
STEM clubs, Science Week and
the Medical Society are popular:
five girls headed to medical school
in 2019. But it’s not all science-
focused – the school is ‘seriously
creative’ and the top-floor art
rooms are sensational, with girls
leaving for Central Saint Martins
and City & Guilds every year.
Places are competitive, with more
than 300 girls sitting for 60
places at 11+, but Head Rosalynd
Kamaryc has been instrumental
in changing the format to make
sure the exam is a more positive
and tutor-proof experience. Every
applicant is interviewed, regard-
less of their result, meaning those
who may have underperformed
are still given a fighting chance.
Mrs Kamaryc strongly believes in
a school with mixed academic
abilities and girls flourish in the
environment she has created: last
year at A-level, Queen’s Gate was
placed in the top eight per cent of
schools in the country.ST PAUL’S GIRLS’
SCHOOL
Brook Green, W6 7BS
Website spgs.org Head
Sarah Fletcher, MA, since 2017;
previously Head of City of London
School Pupils 770 day girls Ages
11–18 Term Fees £8,629
Oxbridge 32% Registration By
November of year before entry; £125
fee Admission Pre-test, school’s own
exams and interview Alumnae
Imogen Stubbs, Natasha
Richardson, Rachel Weisz
Feted for decades as rigorous, pro-
gressive, highly academic and in a
league of its own (if it needed to
bother looking at league tables), St
Paul’s Girls’ remains firmly at the
top. In 2018, 48 leavers went to
Oxbridge and 14 chose to attend
university in the US, aided in their
applications by the in-house US
school counsellor and encouraged
by a number of visits from US
admissions representatives. There
isn’t such a thing as a Paulina, rath-
er lots of different individuals (you
really can’t put these girls in a box),
but they are united around their
collective verve and love of learn-
ing for its own sake: it’s definitely
cool to study here. Head Sarah
Fletcher is still quite fresh, but has
settled in well, sticking to the dic-
tum, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.
The arts are strong and sophisti-
cated: there are 22 dramatic pro-
ductions each year, a significant
number of which are student-led.
There are also five choirs, four or-
chestras and around 25 ensembles,
with concerts every week includ-
ing a large annual affair at St John’s
Smith Square. Sport, meanwhile,
is both played at a high level and
inclusively, meaning teams are cre-
ated according to demand rather
than limiting numbers, while elite
players are supported to compete
at regional, national and interna-
tional competitions. There is a
bewildering number of clubs,
many with a focus on charity and
community, including the popular
Minimus Club, which sees senior
pupils regularly visiting two local
primary schools to teach and men-
tor younger students. ]QUEEN’S
COLLEGEAt St Paul’s Girls’, Minimus Club seessenior pupils regularly visiting localprimary schools to mentor younger students10-19-Schools-Guide-PublicLondon.indd 20 13/08/2019 11:57