Private girls' schools - a league of their own...

A level success at Church High School, Newcastle.

Whatever you think about school league tables – an indicator of excellence or a “flawed beauty parade”- there’s no denying that independent girls’ schools have dominated the tables since their inception, despite many of them not being highly academically selective.

As the Financial Times (12/9/09) put it:
Girls’ schools put the rest in the shade
‘Any teenage girl trying to persuade her parents to let her switch from single-sex to co-ed would be well advised to hide today’s copy of the Financial Times ….. girls’ schools dominate the highest reaches of this year’s Financial Times A-level league tables for private schools…’

Private girls’ schools took 13 of the top twenty places in most published lists for 2009, an impressive proportion by any standards. Some schools though, have strong reasons for not appearing the league tables:

‘Our decision to withdraw from league tables this year was guided by our belief that they do as much to obscure as inform. League tables are by their very nature monochrome in style reflecting only one aspect of the school. They do not say anything about the pastoral care, the extra-curricular life, the international dimension or the school’s ethical and social responsibility. Indeed, with so many students now attaining the top grades, the tables do not reflect the things that set our students apart i.e. critical thinking, depth of enquiry, passion for subjects, independent learning which are intellectual attributes greatly valued by universities. They also fail to reflect the diverse examination curriculum offered in a school such as ours – GCSE, IGCSE, A Level, IBDP and the Cambridge Pre-U’
Tricia Kelleher, Perse School for Girls

While no system is perfect A Levels are still the most popular standard that students are judged by. Undoubtedly the IB and Pre U have their supporters but in every case independent schools, and girls’ schools in particular,enable their pupils to shine. Click through to see what these schools offer, and perhaps the secret of their success.