St Catherine's School A GSG School
- St Catherine's School
Station Road
Bramley
Guildford
Surrey
GU5 0DF - Head: Mrs Alice Phillips
- T 01483 899609
- F 01483 899 608
- E admissions@stcatherines.info
- W www.stcatherines.info/
- A mainstream independent school for girls aged from 11 to 18 with a linked junior school
- Boarding: Yes
- Local authority: Surrey
- Pupils: 640; sixth formers: 160
- Religion: Church of England
- Fees: Day £26,475; Boarding £44,859 pa (last updated on 16/01/2025)
- Open days: Please telephone or see website
- Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
- Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report
- Linked schools: St Catherine's Preparatory School
What The Good Schools Guide says..
Parents say, ‘You know what you’re signing up to, it’s a very results driven environment which espouses excellence alongside kindness and care’. A school that is rightly proud of its 135+ year heritage and puts the emphasis on teaching and academics over fancy new facilities,. Indeed, the staff list reads longer than some blockbuster film credits. That’s not to say St Cat’s lacks in facilities either...
What the school says...
St Catherine’s has been a girl’s day and boarding school since 1885, and we are committed to preparing young women for their ongoing education and lives beyond school. We believe the greatest gift we can give our students is self-belief. We educate our students, from the ages of 3 to 18, to develop their strengths and, crucially, build their confidence, their ability to debate, listen carefully and courteously to the beliefs of others and frame their own ideas and core values, challenging them to take risks and offering opportunities to lead. Each aspect of teaching and learning – and every initiative whether academic, extracurricular or pastoral – is tailored to meet the needs of girls.
We are an academically selective school, offering a challenging but stimulating environment where students are taught by inspiring specialist teachers. We have a strong focus on the roundness of our education, ensuring that all of our students receive an outstanding education in the broadest sense. Our students go on to study a wide range of subjects at leading universities both in the UK and overseas.
In our senior school our house system is at the heart of the pastoral structure of the School. Every student is allocated to one of the six school houses, and each contains a vertical mix of all ages from 11 to 18, both boarding and day students. This provides a wonderfully enriching environment where each girl is given the opportunity to make her own valued contribution in a number of different areas: music, drama, art or sport and in numerous other house competitions or activities.
Boarding is also a key feature of what makes life at St Catherine’s so special. Our boarding ethos is built on kindness, tolerance and compassion to others. The strength of our boarding community is reliant on this philosophy, and it is evident in the girls’ support of one another, their deep friendships and their enjoyment of boarding life which comprises over 18 nationalities. At St Catherine’s, where 25 per cent of our students are either weekly or full boarders, we truly believe that boarding offers students a transformative experience that helps prepare them for life ahead.
We positively encourage our students to take full advantage of the wide range of extracurricular opportunities available at school encompassing sport, music and drama with over 100 clubs on offer from advanced Mandarin to dog club, Model UN to the charities board.
We are incredibly proud of the strong alumnae connections we enjoy, and which encourages and supports the next generation of students. ...Read more
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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
Equestrian centre or equestrian team - school has own equestrian centre or an equestrian team.
Rowing
Sailing
What The Good Schools Guide says
Headmistress
Since 2000, Alice Phillips, MA (Cantab). Grammar school educated, where she recalls being sat between a dustman’s daughter and a lawyer’s daughter before heading to Cambridge to read English. Says education is her vocation and teaching is in the bones – she grew up in a boarding house at Sedburgh where her father was housemaster. She has worked in just three schools over her 35+ year career, starting at the Royal Masonic School, Rickmansworth (as English teacher, then head of English) and most recently down the road at Tormead (as deputy head).
Her office is formal but calm, with textiles, paintings and other pupil artworks in abundance. Cushions are emblazoned with school mottos. It’s quietly reflective of Phillips who is gently formidable (mostly in the inspiring sense) and almost regal in...
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Overall school performance (for comparison or review only)
Results by exam and subject
Subject results
Entry/Exit
Special Education Needs
All girls are screened shortly after entry to the school to help identify any extra provision they may require. This enables all members of staff to accommodate each girl's particular strengths and weaknesses. Should it be deemed necessary, on consultation with parents, the School is able to provide individual support for pupils with mild conditions, and indeed any girl who needs support, in the form of study skills lessons, for which there is an additional charge. In addition to individual lessons, students are able to attend Subject Clinics during the week, for which there is no charge, where they can seek help from a teacher for a specific topic they may find challenging. Our students have access to a range of electronic resources too, and use iPads to access information through Google Classroom. This enables teachers and students to adapt the resources to their specific need, i.e. enlarging a font and/or changing the colour of the page. We do our best to provide for all girls in our care within the classroom environment and do not have additional Learning Support Assistants within the classroom. St Catherine’s School is a vibrant school; the girls experience a busy but dynamic education at the school and their days are filled not only with academic learning but extra-curricular activities too.
| Condition | Provision for in school |
|---|---|
| ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Might cover/be referred to as;
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Aspergers, Autism, High functioning autism, Neurodivergent, Neurodiversity, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), PDA , Social skills, Sensory processing disorder |
Y |
| HI - Hearing Impairment
Might cover/be referred to as;
Hearing Impairment, HI - Hearing Impairment |
Y |
| MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
Learning needs, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty |
|
| MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment
Might cover/be referred to as;
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, Sensory processing |
|
| OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
Might cover/be referred to as;
Downs Syndrome, Epilepsy, Genetic , OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, Tics, Tourettes |
|
| PD - Physical Disability
Might cover/be referred to as;
PD - Physical Disability |
|
| PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
Complex needs, Global delay, Global developmental delay, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty |
|
| SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
Might cover/be referred to as;
Anxiety , Complex needs, Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), Mental Health, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, Trauma |
Y |
| SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication
Might cover/be referred to as;
DLD - Developmental Language Disorder, Selective mutism, SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication |
|
| SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
Complex needs, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, Cerebral Palsy (CP) |
|
| SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Auditory Processing, DCD, Developmental Co-ordination Difficulties (DCD), Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Handwriting, Other specific learning difficulty, SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) |
Y |
| VI - Visual Impairment
Might cover/be referred to as;
Special facilities for Visually Impaired, VI - Visual Impairment |
Who came from where
| School | Year | Places | Scholarships | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barfield School | 2024 | 2 | 1 | 1 music scholarship |
| Longacre School | 2024 | 1 | ||
| Rydes Hill Preparatory School | 2024 | 1 | ||
| South Farnham School | 2024 | 2 | ||
| St Catherine's Preparatory School | 2024 | 41 | 2 | 2 music scholarships. |
| St Hilary's School | 2024 | 1 | ||
| Twickenham Preparatory School | 2024 | 1 | 1 | Art Scholarship |
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