SENDING YOUR CHILD TO A SCHOOL JUST OUTSIDE LONDON, LIKE ST CATHERINE’S BRAMLEY

UNDER AN HOUR FROM LONDON, in the beautiful Surrey Hills, St Catherine’s, Bramley offers London families a school where girls flourish educationally and emotionally, where teaching and facilities are exceptional, and girls can grow up at their own pace, not one dictated by others. Many London parents send their daughters to St Catherine’s, Bramley, to board during the week, not just as an alternative to oversubscribed London day schools but as a deliberate decision to secure a school place outside the capital, offering high standards, superb academics, and that extra space.

Happiness. Successful outcomes. Opportunities.  Academic outcomes at GCSE and A-level ensure a great springboard for higher education and future careers. Opportunities galore combined with fabulous facilities to pursue all sorts of interests abound. When parents and prep school heads visit St Catherine’s, they always comment on the sheer amount of space and green vistas… features you are less likely to find inside London.

The school understands girls.  From their first days settling in to when they leave as capable and confident young women, St Catherine’s boarders benefit from a caring, collegiate and active boarding experience. Boarders achieve top A-level grades, allowing them to go on to study at the prestigious Russell Group Universities, including Oxbridge and other world-class institutions; 91 per cent of A-levels were A*/B in 2017. Boarding staff are highly trained in pastoral care and are teachers in their own right – handy when it comes to some tricky prep in the evenings!

There is no excuse to say, ‘I’m bored.’  Boarding is at the centre of the action. As the four boarding houses are all on-site, girls have unparalleled access to first-class facilities for music, sport, art and drama. They enjoy music practice rooms, tennis courts, a professional dance studio, fitness suite, swimming pool and multi-purpose sports hall, which is at their disposal every evening and weekend. No wasted hours sitting in traffic – it is there, on tap.

All-important skills for life.  Boarders learn essential organisational skills, while still benefiting from structured support. They understand the need to ‘work smart,’ learning to balance time and commitments – something St Catherine’s parents report on positively when their daughters are home. Prep is done, initially, under close supervision, but as they grow older, boarders appreciate the gradual independence they are awarded with their own quiet work space. Friendships made in the boarding community can last a lifetime.

Value without compromises.  Once parents look at how much is on offer, the financial sums add up. In the Best Schools league tables (www.best-schools.co.uk ) St Catherine’s, Bramley is comfortably in the UK’s Top five Girls’ Boarding Schools based on the percentage of A* and A grades gained at A-level, and yet, has the lowest fees by some margin.

A school that understands families.  St Catherine’s seeks to make family life as convenient as possible. Staying in touch is easy. London parents can pop down the A3 to see their daughters perform in a concert or play or, perhaps, in a lacrosse or netball match on Saturday morning, and still be back in time for lunch. A midweek birthday? No problem, you can go out together to celebrate when school is so close.

With the added convenience of pick-up and drop-off points in London, we offer the perfect solution to sleepless nights thinking about entrance exams, to tutor or not to tutor and how to juggle the competing demands of family life. Why not visit to find out more?

www.stcatherines.info