Highgate School A GSG School Review
What is included in the Highgate School review?
Academic results & facilities
Pastoral care and inclusivity
Fees, scholarships & bursary information
Information about the head
Teaching and learning approaches
Entrance & admissions information
Exit information - where do the children go next?
Learning support & SEN information
Arts, sports and extracurricular
Pupils & parents (what are they really like?)
What The Good Schools Guide says..
Highgate aims to be a place of ‘for learning and scholarship’, and a carefully considered and rigorous curriculum offered throughout. Facilities for everything are outstanding, but what really stands out is the teaching. ‘My children have never been pumped full of information. They were made to think,’ said a parent. Few London schools have Highgate’s expanse of playing fields, and art, music and drama also notably well served, while over 100 clubs and societies enable ‘everyone to find their thing’. Parents and pupils like the down-to-earth, low-key and…
Read more- Highgate School
North Road
London
N6 4AY - Head: Mr Adam S Pettitt
- T 020 8347 3564
- F 020 8340 7674
- E [email protected]
- W www.highgateschool.org.uk
- Highgate School is an independent day school for boys and girls aged 11 to 18, with a linked junior school. Fees for Highgate School are £26,490 pa. Interested in reading more? Access our unbiased Highgate School review.
- Boarding: No
- Local authority: Haringey
- Pupils: 1,314; sixth formers: 398
- Religion: Church of England/Christian
- Fees: £26,490 pa
- Open days: Summer, September, October
- Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
- ISI report: View the ISI report
- Linked schools: Highgate Junior School
What the school says...
Founded over 450 years ago, Highgate is one of the UK’s leading co-educational independent schools. Our pupils come from a diverse range of backgrounds across North London and beyond and attend our Pre-Preparatory School (ages 4-7), Junior School (ages 7-11) and Senior School, including the Sixth Form (ages 11-18). Our Senior School was awarded The Sunday Times London Independent Secondary School of the Decade in 2021.
Our teachers are enthusiastic, experienced and well-qualified subject specialists. Pastoral care is at the heart of all we do, and we provide extensive extra-curricular activities, including sport, music and drama.
Prospective pupils are assessed at the different entry points. Pre-Prep children are invited to a group assessment; Junior School entry is normally at the age of 7, with candidates taking an entrance examination, with a proportion interviewed in groups. For pupils joining our Senior School at 11, there are tests and a significant proportion are then interviewed. Pupils from other schools are admitted to our Sixth Form following an interview.
We offer approximately 90 means-tested bursaries at 7+, 11+ and 16+ and honorary scholarships, both academic and musical.
Our School has three principal aims:
- To be a place for learning and scholarship
Learning at Highgate is not about meeting other people’s expectations but discovering and pursuing intellectual passions. Helping pupils pursue subjects they love gives them the experiences of using discretionary effort to succeed, and makes them brilliantly employable: they choose to go beyond to fulfil their own dreams.
- To be a reflective community
We encourage our pupils to take responsibility for themselves and for their role in society. Through community action groups, volunteering, fundraising, bursaries, local school partnerships and sustainability actions, we strive together as a School to make a positive impact on the world around us.
- To be an exemplar for the healthy life
We want our pupils to enjoy their childhood to the full, to develop and pursue their academic and co-curricular passions, and to lead fulfilling exciting lives as thoughtful and open-minded young adults. Pupils leaving school will be intellectually, emotionally and practically equipped for the world of work and the challenges of day to day life. ...Read more
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Curricula
Cambridge Pre-U - an alternative to A levels, with all exams at the end of the two-year course.
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.
Sports
Rowing
Fencing
Sailing
Since 2006, Adam Pettitt, MA. Originally from Hailsham, East Sussex, Mr Pettitt attended a local comprehensive and sixth-form college before reading modern and mediaeval languages (French and German) at Oxford. Immediately on graduation, he started his teaching career, first at Eton, then as head of German at Oundle, followed by stints as head of modern languages at Abingdon and deputy head at Norwich. At the time of his appointment, Highgate was poised to become fully coeducational and shake off its ultra-sporty, boarding-school past, and he was given carte blanche to transform it into a serious contender in London’s academic secondary-school market. Few would argue that he has more than succeeded (the school was named the Times Educational Supplement’s Independent School of the Year in 2020, and the Sunday Times Schools Guide’s London Independent School of the Decade in 2021). <br...
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Overall school performance (for comparison or review only)
Results by exam and subject
Subject results
Entry/Exit
Special Education Needs
Two well-qualified specialist Learning Support teachers are employed who offer support to small groups and individuals.
| Condition | Provision for in school |
|---|---|
| ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder | |
| Aspergers | |
| Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders | Y |
| CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia | |
| Dyscalculia | |
| Dysgraphia | |
| Dyslexia | Y |
| Dyspraxia | |
| English as an additional language (EAL) | |
| Genetic | |
| Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory | |
| Has SEN unit or class | |
| HI - Hearing Impairment | |
| Hospital School | |
| Mental health | |
| MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty | |
| MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment | |
| Natspec Specialist Colleges | |
| OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability | |
| Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty | |
| PD - Physical Disability | |
| PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty | |
| SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health | |
| SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication | |
| SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty | |
| Special facilities for Visually Impaired | |
| SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty | |
| VI - Visual Impairment |
Who came from where
| School | Year | Places | Scholarships | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charterhouse Square School | 2024 | 1 | ||
| Devonshire House Preparatory School | 2024 | 2 | 1 | 1 Music scholarship |
| Hereward House School | 2024 | 1 | ||
| Highgate Junior School | 2024 | The majority of Junior School pupils move to Senior School | ||
| St Mary's School, Hampstead | 2024 | 1 | ||
| The Village School for Girls | 2024 | 2 | ||
| Trevor-Roberts School | 2024 | 3 |
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