Nonsuch High School is an all-girls'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

with an academy status, located in

Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, south-west of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to tw ...

, in the borough of

Epsom and Ewell Epsom and Ewell () is a local government district with borough status and unparished area in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was m ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on the border of the

London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is a London borough in south-west London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croydon to ...

, and standing in of grounds on the edge of

Nonsuch Park Nonsuch Park is a public park between Stoneleigh, Cheam, and Ewell in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. It is adjacent to the boundary of the London Borough of Sutton. It is the last surviving part of the Little Park of Nons ...

. The school is a specialist science college and languages school and is currently ranked as the 9th best performing state school by GCSE results in 2019. Nonsuch High School for Girls also ranked in 13th highest place nationally for the value added progress their students make at GCSE according to the Department for Education's (DFE) performance tables.

History

The school was founded in 1938. The first headmistress was Marion Dickie who stayed on as headmistress until 1964. Nonsuch holds two entrance examinations which must be passed in order to go to the school. This examination system was first introduced on 21 December 1937 and continues to this day.

Awards

The school has won various awards such as Beacon status, Sportsmark Award, Schools Achievement Award and Education Extra - Distinction. It also gained specialist science college status in July 2004 and then language school status. This means extra funding was provided. Every year, along with St Philomena's Catholic High School for Girls, Nonsuch provides the ball girls for the

Queen's Club Championships The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) T ...

as well as providing ballgirls for the ATP tournament. The school was awarded academy status on 1 June 2011.

Selection

As Nonsuch is a

, girls are required to take the 11+ exam to gain entry into year 7, which used to be a shared selection test with

Wallington High School for Girls Wallington High School for Girls is an all-girls selective grammar school in the London Borough of Sutton, England, specialising in STEM subjects and Languages. Admissions It is a grammar school, with Richard Booth as the Headmaster since Septem ...

, but was made separate in 2009, and then in 2016 they were recombined. However, there are sometimes additional places in other year groups, and these are allocated based on tests in English, Mathematics and Science. There is another intake for the

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

, which is based on GCSE results. An average points score of 50 points and a grade B or above in GCSE Mathematics and English Language is needed for this.Nonsuch High School for Girls Admission Policy
accessed 19 October 2013 The Nonsuch catchment area is defined by a circle with a radius of 5.25 km from the front door of the school. 80 places are awarded each year to those with the highest scores in the Entrance Test, whether they live inside or outside the catchment area. Those who pass the test and live within the circle on the cut-off date as defined by the Pan-London Co-ordinated Admissions System are ranked according to the score they achieve. Places are initially allocated according to the ranked order. If however, two or more girls have the same score and fewer places are available, the place or places will be offered to the girl or girls who live nearer to the school. The Year 7 selection test consists of two papers, Maths and English, with a short break between them. The pass mark for admission to Year 7 in 2010 was 202.

Astronomy

The school has an observatory on the roof where the astronomy society frequently meets. The school has two teachers for this GCSE. In 2008 all 5 students achieved either an A or A* grade. The Epsom and Ewell Astronomical society meet at the school observatory once a month.

Notable former pupils

Joanna Rowsell Shand Joanna Katie Rowsell MBE (born 5 December 1988) is a retired English cyclist on the Great Britain Cycling Team who competed on track and road. Her greatest successes were the gold medals won in the women's team pursuit at the 2012 London Olym ...

, Olympic cycling champion (2000–2007) * Elizabeth Kay, author of books such as: '' The Divide trilogy''(1960–67) *

Katie Melua Ketevan Katie Melua (; ka, ქეთევან "ქეთი" მელუა, ; born 16 September 1984) is a Georgian and British singer and songwriter. She was born in Kutaisi and raised in Belfast and London. Under the management of comp ...

, singer-songwriter *

Melanie South Melanie Jayne South (born 3 May 1986) is a former English tennis player. She won six singles and 24 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 2 February 2009, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 99. On 9 March 2009, she peaked at No. ...

, tennis player *

Susan Lalic Susan Kathryn Lalic (née Walker; born 28 October 1965) is an English chess player, holding both International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM) titles. She is five-time British Women's Chess Champion: 1986, 1990–1992, and 1998. Lalic ...

, (née Walker) British Ladies chess champion. *

Christina Lamb Christina Lamb OBE (born 15 May 1965) is a British journalist and author. She is the chief foreign correspondent of ''The Sunday Times''. Lamb has won sixteen major awards including four British Press Awards and the European Prix Bayeux-Calva ...

, war correspondent, author of seven books including ''

The Africa House ''The Africa House'' is a 1999 biography by British journalist and writer Christina Lamb. The book is subtitled ''The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream'', and was published in London in 1999 by Viking Penguin. Synopsis '' ...

'' and ''

I Am Malala ''I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban'' is an autobiographical book by Malala Yousafzai, co-written with Christina Lamb. It was published on 8 October 2013, by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the ...

''. *

Carrie Quinlan Carrie Quinlan is a British actress and comedy writer. She is a cast member of ''John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme'' and the youngest child of Mary and Michael Quinlan. History Quinlan attended Nonsuch High School in Surrey and Cherwell Sch ...

, British actress, comedy writer and journalist. *

Suzannah Lipscomb Suzannah Rebecca Gabriella Lipscomb (born 7 December 1978)
, Library of Congress Name Authority File is a Britis ...

, British historian and television presenter. Reflecting on her days at Nonsuch in 2022, she said "It was completely part of the culture that there was an older girl that you had a crush on and that was for everybody, no matter. Though many people ended up not identifying themselves as being gay."Not Just the Tudors podcast by History Hit; Episode - Sister Queens: Mary II and Anne 29:56-30:14
accessed 20 June 2022 *

Lolly Adefope Ololade "Lolly" Adefope (born 14 September 1990) is a British stand-up comedian and actress, specialising in character comedy. She is known for playing the role of Fran in the Hulu comedy series '' Shrill'', and as Kitty, the ghost of a Georgian ...

, comedian and actor.

References

External links

The Nonsuch website

Nonsuch Managed Learning Environment
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1938 Girls' schools in London Grammar schools in the London Borough of Sutton 1938 establishments in England Academies in the London Borough of Sutton