Independent Schools Reviewed By The Good Schools Guide

Independent Schools reviewed by The Good Schools Guide There are so many guides to schools it can be difficult to know where to start but,

The Good Schools Guide is the ONLY guide that 'cherry-picks' the schools it includes.

Most guides ask schools to provide the text, then charge a handsome fee for including it but The Good Schools Guide does not! We research, visit and write about the schools independently - that's why The Good Schools Guide is the number one choice for parents who truly want to give their children a head-start. We review top independent schools, the best private schools, great public schools; seek out hidden gems and weed out disasters.

Our selection

The selection of independent pre-prep, prep and senior schools is personal but it includes:

Almost 1000 independent schools have been selected for, and reviewed by, The Good Schools Guide
Over 500 independent day schools are included in The Guide.
More than 400 of the independent schools in The Good Schools Guide take boarders.
150 schools reviewed are girls only schools, a further 60 schools are girls only prior to sixth form.
70+ of the independent schools reviewed are boys only schools though an additional 30 or so schools only take girls at sixth forms. Thirty of the independent schools reviewed are boys only boarding schools (some of these will have a sprinkling of day pupils too).
55 independent special schools are reviewed, more than 40 of these have boarding or residential facilities. Some offer respite care.
In addition to the reviewed independent schools that take boarders, we carry reviews of 16 state boarding schools where the only fee charged is for boarding, not tuition.
Independent schools are frequently referred to as public schools, private schools and fee-paying schools.
State academies are sometimes referred to as independent schools because they are free of LA control but they are not included under our definition of independent schools.

How to search for and find independent schools

To get a complete, current list of independent schools reviewed by The Guide use Find A School - the key criteria is to select 'In Good Schools Guide' from the basic features element of this search. Do narrow your search by other criteria - age, location, mainstream...

If you see this symbol it indicates a school we've chosen to review (in the case of a handful of pre-prep and prep schools, the detailed review may be of the senior school with only passing reference to the junior).

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The Good Schools Guide 2012

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Farleigh School, Andover and independent school for boys and girls aged 3-13, that takes boarders.

The influence of the head is pervasive, rooting the school in value of right thinking and right conduct..

Ripon Grammar School, Ripon Grammar is a state school for boys and girls. Takes boarders.

Demand for boarding places (14 available a year) outstrips supply, especially post-GCSE. An unashamedly academic school, expemplifying much of the traditional English grammar school tradition, though certainly not an exam factory; even so, those with an IQ of lower than 120 could eventually find the pace too hot.

Discover all the inside information including:

What the head is really like.
How to get in - and where pupils go on to when they leave.
What's really on offer; both in and out of the classroom.
The facilities, frippery and finery to be found - or not!
The atmosphere - who will the school REALLY suit?
The funding you'll need and the financial health of the school.
Our opinion - what parents think, what we've uncovered...

Online only -

Subscribers to The Good Schools guide can examine:

School performance data* for KS2, GCSE and A-level
Value-added data* .Does the school make a difference to all pupils or just some?
University information*. Details of which universities pupils go on to and what they study.
And, for English state schools, make sure you make the right move by examining catchment area data and seeing which schools pupils come from and which schools they move on to.

*We indicate on a school's page here data is available. We do not have data for schools outside of England.