Tatler Schools Guide 2021

Each year, Tatler round up their top schools in the UK – once again, South Hampstead made the list.

Parents feel incredibly lucky to have Vicky Bingham at the helm of SHHS, and pupils are equally enamoured: ‘She cares about every single one of us as individuals.’ The school, housed in attractive modern buildings near Finchley Road tube station, ‘is proudly feminist and full of go-getters’, according to one parent.

Proudly feminist and full of go-getters.

The future here is green: Mrs Bingham has pledged not to buy any new clothes for a year and encouraged pupils to make similar eco-friendly resolutions, while one member of staff is a UN-accredited climate change teacher. A new state-of-the-art concert hall and performance space is phenomenal and parents praise Dr Collisson, Director of Music, as ‘a genius and absolutely inspirational.’ The school has appointed a Director of STEM and coder-in-residence, and pupils love trying their hands at digital composition in music lessons.

Girls are fuelled by delicious, healthy and sustainable food (the breaktime cookies are legendary – everyone is after the secret recipe). Cricket and football are growing in popularity and an inclusive sport-for-all approach ensures that every pupil finds a niche.

Results continue to impress with 77 per cent of GCSE grades A* and 56 per cent of girls receiving a clean sweep of straight A*/As at A Level in 2019. It’s no surprise then that over 20 per cent of leavers received Oxbridge offers. Questioning the status quo is actively encouraged at SHHS; ‘We are expected and encouraged to challenge things.’

The article first appeared in the ‘Tatler Schools Guide 2021: the top prep and public schools in the UK’, published in conjunction with the October 2020 edition of Tatler.