Number of pupils: 520
Percentage of boarders: 60%
Percentage of international pupils: 16%
Av. class size: senior school - 16 / 6th Form - 8
Closest international airport: London Heathrow, one hour away by car.
Fees per term for 2023/2024: £14,217
Students at St Swithun's have been improving their GCSE grades by about one grade compared to their predicted grades based on prior performance for years. At A-Levels, they achieve on average half a grade better than expected.
In the 2023 GCSEs, 80 percent of the girls achieved top grades of 9 to 8. In the 2023 A-Levels, 61 percent of the girls achieved A* and 89.8 percent achieved A. These are truly outstanding results!
The school's approach is to maximize the academic excellence of each individual pupil. Since St Swithun’s has been one of the High-Performance Learning schools since 2020, parents can expect contemporary teaching methods and maximum support. Nevertheless, or perhaps for this reason, the admissions process is not unrealistically selective. With SEN (Special Educational Needs) support, students with learning difficulties are optimally supported. However, the entrance exam must be passed.
Mathematics and the natural sciences hold a special place at St Swithun's. For instance, sciences are taught at an elite level across three floors with special laboratories equipped with laser cutters and much more. It's little wonder that many graduates choose to pursue scientific studies, such as medicine. Among its alumni, St Swithun's is particularly proud of Emma Walmsley, who, as CEO of the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, excellently embodies what the school stands for.
Around 60 percent of girls live in the boarding facilities. Of these, 16 percent are not from the UK but from a total of 17 countries.
In addition to houses for day girls, there are three houses for boarding students. In Le Roy, the younger students live in shared bedrooms. In the middle years, the girls live in the four senior boarding houses Earlsdown, High House, Hillcroft, and Hyde Abbey. Here, two students share a room for the duration of a term before the allocation is redistributed to ensure everyone gets to know each other. While in the middle years, day students are accommodated in separate houses from full-time boarders, in the upper years, everyone comes together in Finlay House. Here, the senior boarding students live in single rooms.
Each house has cozy common rooms and house mothers who live with the girls in the house and are always available for any concerns. For sick girls, there are isolation rooms, and a health center is available to the students. In addition, a psychologist offers discreet appointments in the old school chapel.
St Swithun's School has an exeat weekend in the summer term. It is always scheduled to include a public holiday to give the boarding students an extra day.
Although St Swithun's is not overly selective and does not have strict admission conditions, the academic results are really extraordinarily good.
What we also like are the school's science department and the wide range of recreational activities that have something for every girl.
The musical education at the school is exemplary. Here, over 70% of the girls play at least one instrument. There are orchestras, bands, and choirs.
The teachers and house parents - all extremely dedicated boarding school staff!
Nothing we could discern. We are big fans!