St Paul's Girls' School is a
private day school
A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...
for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in
Brook Green,
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
It ...
, in
west London, England.
The school is included in
The Schools Index as one of the world's 150 best private schools and among top 30 UK senior schools. In 2025 SPGS was named the London Independent School of the Year for Academic Excellence and the Independent School of the Year by Academic Excellence by the Sunday Times Newspaper (Parent's Power
History
St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the
Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part of the endowment of the foundation set up by
John Colet, to create a girls' school to complement the
boys' school he had founded in the sixteenth century. The governors hold proprietorial responsibility, and some are representatives of the Universities of
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
and
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
The buildings for the school were designed by the architect
Gerald Horsley, son of the painter
John Callcott Horsley and one of the founder members of the
Art Workers Guild.
The school has had several distinguished directors of music, most notably
Gustav Holst (1905–34) and
Herbert Howells (1936–62). Holst composed his ''
St Paul's'' and ''
Brook Green'' suites for the pupils at the school. Holst also composed what is arguably his best known work, "
The Planets", while teaching at St Paul's.
John Linton Gardner held a part-time position as director of music at the school.
Exam results
St Paul's girls regularly perform extremely well in the
GCSEs and
A Levels. In 2014, 99.3% of GCSEs were graded at A*s or As with 93.6% graded at A* alone. This was the highest ever A* percentage achieved by the school and in the country. In 2016, the school achieved the highest A Level results in its history with 60.0% of entries achieving an A* grade and 93.8% of entries achieving A* or A grades.
In 2023, 80.5% of GCSE entries were awarded a 9 grade and 94% of entries gained an 8 or 9 (which are equivalent to the old A* grade). This is the eleventh consecutive year that the proportion of A* equivalent grades has exceeded 90%.
In the 2023 A level and Pre-U results, 53% of entries attained an A* grade (or the Pre-U equivalent D1 or D2). 87.04% of entries achieved an A* or A grade and 97.1% a B grade or higher (or the Pre-U equivalent of M1 or M2).
Music
Gustav Holst was director of music at the school from 1905 to 1934 when he died, including the period he composed his
orchestral suites, including ''
St Paul's Suite'' and ''
The Planets''. He was succeeded by
Herbert Howells before
John Gardner followed in the 1960s. Gardner wrote many memorable pieces for the school, including his popular Christmas carols ''
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day'' and ''The Holly and the Ivy''.
Hilary Davan Wetton was director of music from 1979 to 1994. In 1988 a CD with ''Children's favorite songs'' was released on the label
Spectrum records.
Drama
The school's main theatre, where most school productions are staged, is named after alumna
Celia Johnson. Other productions are staged in the drama studio which is a smaller space.
Sport
Rowing
The school has an active
rowing club called the St Paul's Girls' School Boat Club which is based on the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
. The club is affiliated to
British Rowing (boat code SPG) and has produced four British champion crews at the
1992 British Rowing Championships,
2002 British Rowing Championships,
2003 British Rowing Championships and
2011 British Rowing Championships.
High Mistresses
The headmistress of St Paul's Girls' School is known as the
High Mistress.
*
Frances Ralph Grey (d.1935), High Mistress 1903–1927
*
Ethel Strudwick (1880–1954), High Mistress 1927–1948, daughter of the
Pre-Raphaelite painter
John Melhuish Strudwick
*Margaret Osborn (1906–1985), High Mistress 1948–1963
*
Alison Munro (1914–2008), High Mistress 1964–1974
*
Heather Brigstocke, Baroness Brigstocke (1929–2004), High Mistress 1974–1989
*Helen Elizabeth Webber Williams (born 1938), High Mistress 1989–1992
*Janet Gough (born 1940), High Mistress 1993–1998
*Elizabeth Mary Diggory (1945–2007), High Mistress 1998–2006
*Clarissa Mary Farr (born 1958), High Mistress 2006–2017
*Sarah Fletcher, High Mistress 2017–present
Alumnae
Alumnae of the school, known as "Old Paulinas", include:
Arts
*
Gillian Ayres – artist
*
Mischa Barton – actress
*
Nicola Beauman – publisher, founder of
Persephone Books
*
Helen Binyon – artist
*
Lesley Blanch – author
*
Justin Blanco White – architect
*
Celia Brayfield – author
*
Sophie Hunter – theatre and opera director
*
Brigid Brophy – dramatist
*
Lucy Briers – actress
*
Margaret Calvert – graphic artist
*
Miranda Carter – biographer
*
Edie Campbell – model
*
Cecilia Chancellor – model
*
Joan Cross – singer
*
Emma Darwin – author
*
Monica Dickens – author
*
Suzi Digby – conductor and musician
*
Flora Fraser – author
*
Justine Frischmann – retired musician and artist
*
Gluck (Hannah Gluckstein)
(born Hannah Gluckstein; 13 August 1895 – 10 January 1978) was a List of British painters, British painter, who rejected any forename or English honorifics, honorific (such as "Miss" or "Mr"), also using the names Peter and Hig. Gluck joi ...
– artist
*
Francesca Gonshaw – actress
*
Imogen Holst – musician
*
Sarah Hobson – travel writer
*
Ursula Howells – actress
*
Celia Johnson – actress
*
Rachel Johnson – journalist and editor
*
Jane M. Joseph – musician and composer
*
Amy Key Clarke – poet and author
*
Marghanita Laski – author
*
Nicola LeFanu – composer
*
Amanda Levete – architect
*
Alice Lowe – actress/author
*
Jessica Mann – author
*
Yvonne Mitchell – actress/author
*
Emily Mortimer – actress
*
Lucy Moss - playwright/director
*
Santha Rama Rau – author
*
Joely Richardson – actress
*
Natasha Richardson – actress
*
Georgina Rylance – actress
*
Katherine Shonfield – architect
*
Dodie Smith – playwright
*
Catherine Storr – author
*
Imogen Stubbs – actress
*
Emma Tennant – author
*
Angela Thirkell – author
*
Mary Treadgold – author
*
Salley Vickers – author
*
Samantha Weinberg – author
*
Rachel Weisz – actress
*
Antonia White – author
Business
*
Isabel dos Santos – wealthiest woman in Africa as of 2020
*
Grace Beverley – founder of Tala and Shreddy
Culinary arts
*
Thomasina Miers – chef and founder of ''Wahaca'' restaurant chain
*
Henrietta Lovell – founder of the Rare Tea Company
Education
*
Eleanora Carus-Wilson – economic historian
*
Sheila Forbes – former principal,
St Hilda's College, Oxford
*
Henrietta Harrison – professor of Modern Chinese Studies,
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
*
Jessica Rawson – warden,
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...
*
Barbara Reynolds – scholar
*
Joan Robinson – economist
Humanitarianism
*
Myrtle Solomon – pacifist and former chair War Resisters' International
*
Ruth Wyner – homeless charity director
Law
*
Sonia Proudman – High Court Judge
Journalism and media
*
Emily Buchanan – BBC World Affairs correspondent
*
Clemency Burton-Hill – broadcaster and author
*
Edie Campbell – model and socialite
*
Victoria Coren Mitchell – presenter, poker player
*
Daisy Donovan – TV presenter
*
Stephanie Flanders – BBC Economics editor
*
Amelia Gentleman – journalist
*
Bridget Harrison – journalist
*
Bronwen Maddox – senior journalist at '
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
' newspaper
*
Veronica Pedrosa – Al Jazeera English correspondent
*
Sophie Raworth – news reader
*
Susanna Reid – news presenter
*
Anne Scott-James – journalist and editor
*
Alexandra Shulman – editor-in-chief, Vogue 1992–2017
*
Carol Thatcher – journalist
*
Erica Wagner – author, critic, and literary editor of ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
''
*
Eirene White, Baroness White – journalist and Labour politician
*
Petronella Wyatt – journalist
Politics
*
Jane Bonham Carter –
Liberal Democrat peer
*
Vicky Ford, Conservative
MP and formerly
MEP
*
Harriet Harman –
Labour MP, former Acting Leader of the Labour Party, former Leader of the Opposition and former Cabinet minister
*
Susan Kramer – former Liberal Democrat
MP
*
Mavis Tate – Conservative
MP and women's rights campaigner
*
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Conservative
MP
*
Jo Valentine, Baroness Valentine – member of the British House of Lords
*
Eirene White, Baroness White –
Labour Minister of State then
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...
*
Shirley Williams – former Labour
Education Secretary and co-founder of the
Social Democratic Party
Science
*
Kate Bingham – venture capitalist
*
Ruth Bowden – anatomist
*
Caroline Deys – doctor
*
Rosalind Franklin – scientist, research led to discovery of the structure of DNA
*
Jean Ginsburg – physiologist, endocrinologist
*
Christine Hamill – mathematician
*
Kathleen Kenyon – archaeologist
*
Irene Manton – botanist
*
Sidnie Manton – entomologist
*
Onora O'Neill – philosopher
*
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin – astronomer
*
Catherine Peckham – doctor and scientist
*
Joan Beauchamp Procter – zoologist, herpetologist
Sport
*
Kitty Godfree – tennis player
*
Lara Prior-Palmer – equestrian
*
Cecilia Robinson – cricket
*
Zoe de Toledo – rowing
Notable former staff
*
Margaret Cole – socialist politician, former
Classics
Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
teacher
*
Gustav Holst – composer, pioneer of music education for girls
*
Nicola LeFanu – director of music during the 1970s
*
Clara Taylor – chemist and science teacher, 1913-1921
Controversy
The school was in the news in November 2017 with allegations of sexual abuse between the 1970s and 1990s. One teacher resigned on 22 November 2017 amidst these allegations.
References
External links
Official School Website*
ISI Inspectio
Reports
Profileon the
ISC website
Profileat ''
The Good Schools Guide''
Profileat ''
Tatler'' Schools Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Paul's Girls' School
Private girls' schools in London
Educational institutions established in 1904
Private schools in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association
History of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
1904 establishments in England