North London Collegiate School A GSG School

Curricula

International Baccalaureate: diploma - the diploma is the familiar A-level equivalent.

Other features

All-through school (for example 3-18 years). - An all-through school covers junior and senior education. It may start at 3 or 4, or later, and continue through to 16 or 18. Some all-through schools set exams at 11 or 13 that pupils must pass to move on.

What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmistress

Since September 2023, Vicky Bingham, previously head at South Hampstead High School since 2017, and before that deputy head of Guildford High School and head of classics at St Catherine’s School, Bramley. Read classics at Keble College, Oxford. She will be the 10th headmistress since the school was founded in 1850.

Entrance

There are 65 places at 11+ for external applicants who join around 40 moving up from the junior school. Apply by end of November the year before entry; exams in English and maths take place early January of the year of entry (school is not part of the London 11+ Consortium). Over 500 apply and just over 200 are invited back for interview, with between 120 and 130 girls offered places. No sibling policy. For girls coming from feeder preps (eg St Christopher’s, Glendower), school works closely with prep heads to ensure good fit, although around 40 per cent also join from state primaries. Prior to joining, an induction programme includes meetings with the ‘big six’ head girl team, picnics with new forms over the summer and a letter from year 8 buddy. About 25 extra places available for entry into year 12; apply by the end of November in the year prior to entry. Exams in four chosen A level subjects and subject-specific interviews with departmental staff.

Exit

No culling after GCSEs and up to 20 per cent leave at this point to either co-ed or state schools. Girls praise the university admissions process; everyone is assigned a higher education mentor in year 12, usually a departmental head. Almost all to their first choice of university; 20 to Oxbridge in 2023, with other popular universities including Bristol, UCL, King’s College London, Imperial College, LSE and Edinburgh. US universities a growth area (‘it suits some girls in terms of breadth and co-curricular’), with a specific department to support admissions. SAT/ACT preparation is now done in school (delivered by external tuition company). One to Yale in 2023. Despite hit rate at top institutions, head says school is equally supportive of girls heading to eg Sheffield to read computer science or Newcastle-upon-Tyne for interior architecture. Seventeen medics in 2023.

Latest results

In 2023, 99 per cent 9-7 at I/GCSE; 77 per cent A*/A at A level (94 per cent A*-B). IB average point score 42. In 2019 (the last pre-pandemic results), 98 per cent 9-7 at I/GCSE; 73 per cent A*/A at A level. IB average point score 41.

Teaching and learning

If you’re looking for an unashamedly ambitious and academic school, look no further. NLCS consistently tops national league tables and in sixth form is one of the only London day schools to offer both the IB plus a mixture of A levels and Pre-Us as part of its commitment to ‘personalisation of the curriculum’. Girls generally take 11 GCSEs and outstanding results are virtually a given. A cohort of around one quarter of students most years take the IB. Most girls start with four A levels, with some dropping to three and the majority (85 per cent) taking the EPQ. There are no plans for school to drop either the IB or A levels, but it feels the ‘international mindedness’ and ‘outward looking nature’ of the IB is a very close fit with the aspirations of its students, as well as lending itself well to the growth area of applications to US universities. Maths, sciences and economics are most popular subjects at A level, although across the board it’s a 50/50 split between sciences and arts/humanities. Girls and parents both praise school’s philosophy of flexible timetabling which allows students to follow the subjects they wish rather than pick from restrictive columns.

Strong languages offering; girls start in year 7 with French and Latin, with options to pick up Spanish, German or Mandarin in year 8 plus Italian and Russian in year 10 - all available at GCSE. Greek in year 10 as a GCSE option for budding classicists. We were delighted that in such an academic powerhouse, there is plenty of take up of art and drama at GCSE (over one third of year group in both cases) and not insignificant numbers at A level either. Girls attribute their success to two main factors: ‘teachers that model passion for their individual subjects’ and ‘inspirational teaching’ were recurring themes, and the girls themselves are extremely driven. The murky issue of girls being tutored outside of school was reported by a number of parents we spoke to, although school’s clear message is that ‘tutoring is never a good idea and I take action when I hear about it. Staff give a huge amount of one-to-one time outside of classes and senior students are on hand to mentor younger girls.’ Our sources told us that girls are burning the midnight oil by year 10, so relentlessly focused are they on their academic success. Could it be true? A show of hands, albeit from a small sample, told us it was – and even those putting in less time were still working for around two and a half hours a night. We were earnestly assured (by parents and girls as well as head) that this diligence is driven by the students (‘we want to live up to the school’s success’), often by parental expectations too, but not by the school.

Learning support and SEN

A surprising number of pupils on SEND register – currently over 80 with a diagnosis and a further 25 with identified traits. Targeted support offered to individual students, who receive an ‘individual education plan’, with ongoing monitoring and all staff fully briefed to ensure continuity in the classroom. Despite its extensive and complex site, school is also happy to cope with physical disabilities – ‘as long as the pupil can communicate and access the curriculum’ - working with parents to ensure the right support is in place.

The arts and extracurricular

School speaks constantly about girls ‘finding their passion’ and there’s no shortage of things for them to choose from. With around 50 activities a week on offer, students are spoilt for choice and the majority are making the most of the opportunities – sometimes to the detriment of downtime. School says it is ‘working hard to make sure students have time to breathe’, with the introduction, for example, of relaxation club comprising nature walks, yoga, knitting and running, but industriousness is so entrenched in the school culture we wish them luck with getting the message through. Overseas trips and endless productions (‘phenomenal,’ according to parents) add to the buzz of the school; the super theatre can seat 340 at full capacity and hosts performances galore from musical theatre (recently Sister Act) to plays written and directed by either staff or students themselves. Drama on curriculum for all to year 9 and school takes a production to the Edinburgh Fringe biennially.

Newly created assistant head of enrichment takes the view that ‘education is not all about exams’ and has the brief to dovetail co-curricular with the academic programme. Extensive range of enrichment activities (Duke of Edinburgh, Model United Nations, debating, Young Enterprise) help develop public-speaking skills and an appreciation of the world elsewhere. An international perspective is part of school’s DNA; exchange programmes take place with schools in the USA, Australia and Germany. In 2011, North London opened an overseas campus in South Korea, NLCS Jeju, and students have the opportunity to visit the campus and do internships here, with NLCS Dubai new in 2017. Charity also firmly emphasised, including raising money for and teaching at a school in Zambia and visiting a local school for severely disabled children.

Sport

‘Nobody would describe it as a sporty school,’ said one long-term parent, but compared to many academic London day schools we’d say NLCS is doing a pretty good job (although PE is not a GCSE or A level option); with its renewed emphasis and, according to head, a ‘shift in thinking’ we felt that girls of all levels of interest and ability were catered for. Good facilities including huge sports hall, indoor pool, fitness suite and dance studio, and tons of outdoor space – including a new X trail – compared to most London schools. Although head describes the act of implementing change as ‘like steering a luxury ocean liner’, things are looking up in the sports department with a great number of non-competitive options such as zumba, pilates, kick-boxing, self-defense and life-guarding on offer to all girls, as well as a new elite sports programme covering strength and conditioning coaching plus nutrition advice for top athletes. Plenty of sport on curriculum – although less as the years progress and non-compulsory in sixth form – with hockey top dog, plus netball, rounders, athletics and tennis all covered in games lessons. No hockey, but there’s ultimate frisbee, tag rugby, football (with a few match fixtures) and cricket on the extracurricular schedule.

Ethos and heritage

Founded in Camden Town in 1850 by the formidable Frances Mary Buss, a highly effective crusader in the cause of education for women. (She also established Camden School for Girls, with whom North London continues to share a Founder’s Day.) The school bought its current spacious, 30-acre semi-rural site in 1929 to use as a sports ground, and relocated here fully in 1940. The beautiful setting was cited by many parents we spoke to as the deciding factor for families choosing the school and we can see why. With its grand facade, leafy green surroundings and charming pond (complete with fluffy goslings on the day of our visit), the vibe is more country boarding school than London day and there’s no sense of space being at a premium. The estate formerly belonged to the first Duke of Chandos and, during his time, Handel was composer in residence. The central core of the building is a country house of 1760, now joined by a multitude of varied later additions.

The atmosphere is calm, orderly, and purposeful. Mixed reports from parents about position on the pressure scale; school describes itself as having a ‘relaxed self-confidence’ but there were a poorly disguised splutters from parents we spoke to regarding the word ‘relaxed’, indicating that regardless of who is applying it, the pressure to do well is most definitely on. Local jungle drums told us girls need to be ‘tough’ to survive here. We felt that with the academic bar set high and the constant buzz of activity, resilience, confidence and boundless energy would be a winning formula for applicants. School, however, insists that it ‘works very hard to build resilience in girls; a sense of confidence, integrity and commitment that enables even the quietest child to find her voice and feel that she can take on new challenges with humility and determination.’ We were were thrilled to see so many smiling faces (and hugs for their neighbouring junior school pupils) as girls moved around the school at break times.

Long list of illustrious old girls includes: Anna Wintour, Judith Weir, Stella Gibbons, Susie Orbach, Marie Stopes, Stevie Smith, Myfanwy Piper, Dame Helen Gardner, Gillian Tett.

Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline

First stop on the day of our visit was a session with the pastoral team which we think (and hope) speaks volumes about the direction of pastoral travel at NLCS. An entirely new team is now in place to tackle the issues that are, unfortunately, so often part and parcel of high-achieving female environments. Parents had very mixed views of pastoral provision, although our observation was that girls at the lower end of the school are having a very different experience to that of their older peers. The senior leadership team has taken the situation in hand and the new deputy head, pastoral was described as ‘outstanding’ by even the most cynical parent we spoke with.

The team we met were young and oozed genuine empathy and understanding for the plight of today’s teenagers. The pastoral structure ‘is central to our strategic thinking and underpins everything,’ we were told. All staff have a pastoral responsibility, with some forms having two or three tutors to touch base with girls at morning and afternoon registration, giving them the freedom to pick up on any issues one-to-one while the other tutors take the rest of the class. Staff INSET days often have a pastoral theme and school also says it does lots of work with parents via its programme of topical talks covering issues such as perfectionism, drugs, screen dependency, resilience and consent. Staff told us of an ‘informal culture of being there to listen – sometimes even in the minibus on the way to a fixture’, and for issues requiring a more structured approach there’s an onsite nurse, a counsellor, a mental health and wellbeing society with peer mentoring over cups of tea and a year 8 buddy system for incoming year 7s. Annual pastoral survey introduced in 2018 and the ‘big six’ head girl team meet head weekly and are her ‘eyes and ears’ on the ground.

Pupils and parents

Cosmopolitan, ambitious, professional families – many dual-income and some extremely wealthy. Girls from every conceivable ethnic background, with over 50 languages spoken at home. High percentage of Asian and Jewish families plus increasing numbers of Europeans and Americans. One or two reports of cliques amongst some groups plus occasional grumbles from girls that there aren’t as many parties as at some of their friends’ schools (not seen as a bad thing in the parents’ books). Some parents, of the belief that a private education automatically buys top grades, definitely driving their daughters hard to succeed; school says it intervenes when it feels that parental pressure is affecting girls’ mental health or happiness. Shuttle buses whisk girls to and from Edgware and Stanmore underground stations, with a coach service covering 22 different routes across north and west London and out as far as Harpenden, St Albans and Rickmansworth. Late buses to Baker Street and Potters Bar only.

Money matters

North London has always prided itself on being affordable and accessible and offers some scholarships and bursaries. From 2020 school will no longer offer academic scholarships, preferring to recognise every student’s intellectual abilities rather than single out a small number. The money formerly offered to academic scholars will be invested in greater opportunities for all students. Music scholarships at 11 and 16 (girls must pass the entrance exam as well as the audition in which grade 5 is generally the expected minimum). Means-tested bursaries (reviewed annually) range from 10 to 100 per cent of fees and can be awarded in conjunction with scholarships. Bursary funding is partially underwritten by the International franchise, with schools in South Korea, Dubai, Singapore and Hoh Chi Minh City, and the school is looking for other projects to further extend these opportunities.

The last word

A top-drawer school for super bright, confident and resilient girls, ready to throw themselves into everything on offer.

Special Education Needs

Who came from where