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Reviewed

St Augustine's Priory

Independent school · London, W5 2JL
  • All through
  • Girls
  • Ages 2-18
  • From £21,006 pa
  • 367 pupils
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Unpretentious and a bit scruffy round the edges, we once described St Augustine's as quietly brilliant. We stand by this though its shininess is becoming louder. We can’t think of many girls who wouldn’t flourish in the space and with the care they will have here. A school that has always been good but just gets better and better.

Why read our school review?

Unlike other websites, schools can't pay to be included in The Good Schools Guide. This means our review of this school is independent, critical and fair, and written with parents' best interests at heart.

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Overview & data

Pupil numbers
367 ·
Sixth form numbers
28 ·
Religion
None
Fees
£21,006 - £25,146 pa
Local authority
London Borough of Ealing
Area guides

Headteacher

Head

Mrs Christine Macallister

Since 2023, Christine Macallister BA (Hons) PGCE ACA, previously deputy head academic. Educated at a Cambridgeshire comprehensive before going onto Durham University and a first-class degree in combined arts (music, English and business management).

Entrance

An all through school with various entry points from nursery (about 15 places – boys welcome at this stage) through to reception (an additional 12 places, girls only from this point), year 5, year 7 (the largest cohort), year 12 and any number of

Open days
April, June and September

Exit

Popular university destinations include Exeter, Leeds, UCL, Nottingham, City and Manchester Metropolitan. One to Cambridge in the last four years (but none in 2025). Huge range of courses include dental surgery at the university of Plymouth,

Latest results

In 2025, 66 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 67 per cent A*/A at A level (88 per cent A*-B).

A levels or equivalent - Average points score (2024)

School
46.97
LA avg.
36.16
Eng. avg.
34.45
Data highlight

What is this?

These figures tell you the average grade and average points that pupils achieved in their academic qualifications. A maximum of 60 points are available for a grade A* at A level.

Teaching & learning

We were unashamedly gripped (even in a year 6 maths class) by almost every lesson we attended; on more than one occasion we had to be hauled from the room to stick to our tight schedule. We were impressed by the rapt faces of eager girls during a

Qualifications taken in 2024
  • A level
  • GCSE
5:1
Pupil to teacher ratio
15
Average class sizes

Learning support & SEN

As impressive a team as we have seen in any mainstream school. Seventeen per cent of pupils have additional learning needs. While dyslexia is still most common there has been a significant rise in the number with ADHD and ASD. The SENDCo who has been

0.54 %
Students with a SEN EHCP
21.25 %
Students with SEN support

Arts & extracurricular

Overwhelming number of theatrical productions each year. To describe the drama here as vibrant would be an understatement and it all ties in with a recurring theme: confidence. Each year group gets involved and though the main hall with stage and

Sport

The usuals with netball, hockey and athletics and more recently football and cricket all played with gusto throughout the school. Basketball, cheerleading, strength and conditioning and current hot favourite, tag rugby with a former team GB coach to

Ethos & heritage

Originally founded in 1634 in Paris by Abbess Mary Tredway, a resolute English nun determined to follow her religious vocation as she escaped persecution in England, the school has been on its current site since 1915. The last nuns dispersed in 1996

Pastoral care, inclusivity & discipline

A nurturing ethos is so carefully sewn into the fabric of the school that it feels disingenuous for pastoral care to have its own heading. Parents struggled to find the superlatives required to praise the individual support given to their daughters.

Mobile phone policy

A clear mobile phone policy is a really important part of modern schooling. This school has provided us with their policy.

Mobile phone policy

Provided by the school and not part of our review

No phones allowed to be used in the school.

Updated May 2024

Pupils & parents

Refreshingly diverse with many families living locally having descended onto this corner of a hill in Ealing from all over the world including the Far and Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Australia and the USA. The majority who are not

367
Number of pupils

Money matters

A timely moment for Mrs Macallister, with her shrewd financial acumen to take the helm. Decisions are being made to ensure that any potential future tax burdens can be managed as far as possible without fees rocketing. Building projects can wait,

Fee information
£21,006 - £25,146 pa

The last word

Unpretentious and a bit scruffy round the edges, we once described St Augustine's as quietly brilliant. We stand by this though its shininess is becoming louder. We can’t think of many girls who wouldn’t flourish in the space and with the care they

Inspection reports

St Augustine's Priory school badge

What the school says

Welcome to St Augustine’s Priory, a top performing Catholic girls’ school with boys also in the nursery and, subject to DfE approval, re-introducing boys into the prep and pe-prep from September 2026. A visionary school with a unique community, our pupils and staff have the courage and appetite to tackle everything which life throws at us. We have been educating girls in the Catholic tradition since 1634 and we actively welcome girls of all faiths. This means that students leave us rooted in values which make them effective in their personal and professional lives.

Much use is made of our unique outdoor space – for bespoke outdoor classrooms or other learning. All of our pupils benefit from our 13 acres with an unrivalled freedom to enjoy growing up. What we also know is that an outstanding education for the future – or what many people are styling Education 4.0 – hinges on self-confidence, collaborative skills, emotional intelligence and self-awareness. All of these soft and hard skills are embedded in our way of proceeding at St Augustine’s Priory. We see the pastoral intertwining with the academic.

Our girls go on to the best universities in the world. Our students have accepted offers from Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College along with many other world-class universities such as Durham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Exeter and Kings College London, to name a few. They do not drop out of university. A recent head girl graduated from Edinburgh with first class honours in business management and walked straight into a job. Our students are highly employable and when talking to all our leavers who have recently graduated, it is gratifying just how many are in work. This is no accident. Indeed, latest research shows that these are skills cherished by employers.

The tangible happiness in our lovely school is proof that while we are living in new times (and have been precipitated into the 4.0 industrial revolution at a greater speed than we could have thought possible), we are not living in a dystopia as some people would have us believe. We are simply human beings working together to ensure that we equip our children with everything they need for their future and their children’s future.

We are joyful, visionary and courageous and we warmly welcome prospective parents and pupils to come and visit St Augustine’s Priory. Our main entry points are nursery, reception, year 5, year 7 and year 12, with entry considered in other years, subject to availability.

Last updated 30 July 2025

Contact the school

Address

Hillcrest Road
Ealing
London
W5 2JL
Get directions

Telephone: 020 8997 2022

Email: admissions@sapriory.com

Website: https://www.sapriory.com

Local authority: London Borough of Ealing

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School data & information St Augustine's Priory Hillcrest Road, Ealing, London, W5 2JL
367 Pupil numbers
28 Sixth form numbers
15 Average class sizes
5:1 Pupil to teacher ratio

Mobile phone policy

Provided by the school and not part of our review

No phones allowed to be used in the school.

Updated May 2024
Our review contains additional results data reported to us by St Augustine's Priory and is updated annually. See the review

This is an independent school and therefore does not have Key Stage 2 SATs results. While some independent schools choose to sit SATs, they are not required to do so and the UK government does not collect or publish their results. Find out more.

GCSE-level results data is not reliably reported on for independent schools. We have chosen to show only the results achieved in individual subjects. Find out more

Subjects entered at GCSE level (2024)

Pupils attending this school entered exams in these subjects. The list only includes qualifications approved for inclusion in the performance measures. The subjects and qualifications on offer at this school may change year on year. For a full list of subjects and qualifications on offer at this school, visit the school or college website or contact the school directly. Find out more

Subject Qualification Entries Avg. grade
Spanish GCSE (9-1) Full Course 21 8
Russian GCSE (9-1) Full Course 6 9
Religious Studies GCSE (9-1) Full Course 66 8
Physical Education/Sports Studies GCSE (9-1) Full Course 7 7
Mathematics GCSE (9-1) Full Course 66 7
Geography GCSE (9-1) Full Course 38 7
French GCSE (9-1) Full Course 12 8
English Literature GCSE (9-1) Full Course 66 7
English Language GCSE (9-1) Full Course 66 7
Drama & Theatre Studies GCSE (9-1) Full Course 24 8
Computer Studies/Computing GCSE (9-1) Full Course 15 7
Classical Civilisation GCSE (9-1) Full Course 11 6
Art & Design GCSE (9-1) Full Course 27 7

% of pupils achieving AAB or higher, including at least 2 facilitating subjects (2024)

School
45.5%
LA avg.
18.1%
Eng. avg.
17.1%

What is this?

Facilitating A levels are ones that are commonly needed for entry to leading universities. They are: biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, further mathematics, geography, history, English literature and classical or modern languages. The % of pupils achieving AAB or higher may therefore decrease if many pupils have opted not to take two or more of the facilitating subjects mentioned.

Average points score (2024)

School
46.97
LA avg.
36.16
Eng. avg.
34.45

What is this?

These figures tell you the average grade and average points that pupils achieved in their academic qualifications. A maximum of 60 points are available for a grade A* at A level.

Entry and exit data

Here we report figures on pupils moving between schools at the usual entry and exit points, as well as student destinations into higher education. We publish publically available data for state schools. For independent schools, The Good Schools Guide collects data from its prep schools as to where their pupils go on to. Find out more

Our review contains additional entry and exit data reported to us and is updated annually. See the review

Recent feeder schools

SEN overview

St Augustine's Priory is a mainstream school. The school may provide support for students with special educational needs as detailed below. If you require more information on conditions the school can support, we encourage you to contact the school directly.

SEN statement

Provided by the school and not part of our review

At the heart of the learning support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is the outstanding teaching they receive from each and every teacher, as well as the assistance provided by the Learning Support team. As a small school, lessons are planned to take into account the needs of every child, and pupils with SEND make extremely good progress at St Augustine’s Priory.

Senior school subject teachers offer a wealth of extra provision from 1:1 support for a particular problem, to regular drop-in sessions. In the Junior School, highly qualified teaching assistants (TAs) support pupils in class and work with small groups or individual pupils in breakout areas. Our strong, well-qualified Learning Support Department works closely with all teachers to ensure that all pupils are being supported appropriately.

Where pupils have a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia, their progress is closely monitored and they will usually have additional lessons on a 1:1 basis with one of our specialist learning support teachers. Pupils in the senior school with SEND are offered assessments to determine whether they are entitled to extra provision (such as additional time, word processors, voice activated software, and rest breaks) in public examinations to ensure they are not disadvantaged.

Pupils for whom English is not their first language are offered additional support lessons on a 1:1 basis with one of our specialist English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers. SEND and EAL specialist support is at an additional charge.

Updated Jan 2021
0.54 %
Students with a SEN EHCP UK mainstream school avg. 2.7%
21.25 %
Students with SEN support UK mainstream school avg. 12.9%

SEN conditons supported

Schools report the conditions they might be able to support. Please note, this may not be a complete list. Find out more.

Conditions (Might cover/be referred to as) Provision
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder Aspergers, Autism, High functioning autism, Neurodivergent, Neurodiversity, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), Social skills Yes
HI - Hearing Impairment Yes
MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty Learning needs
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment Sensory processing
OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability Downs Syndrome, Epilepsy, Genetic, Tics, Tourettes
PD - Physical Disability Yes
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty Complex needs, Global delay, Global developmental delay
SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health Anxiety, Complex needs, Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), Mental Health Yes
SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication Selective mutism
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty Complex needs
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Auditory processing, Developmental Co-ordination Difficulties (DCD), Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Handwriting Yes
VI - Visual Impairment Special facilities for Visually Impaired
Our data explained
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