Cheltenham Ladies' College is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to provide "a sound academic education for girls". It is also a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school badge depicts two pigeons, taken from the Cheltenham town coat of arms, above three stars, which are in turn above a daisy, a school symbol. In 2020, Cheltenham Ladies' College was named Southwest Independent School of the Decade by ''

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and

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''.

History

The school was founded in 1853 after six individuals, including the Principal and Vice-Principal of Cheltenham College for Boys and four other men, decided to create a girls' school that would be similar to Cheltenham College for Boys. On 13 February 1854, the first 82 pupils began attending the school, with Annie Procter serving as the school's Principal. In 1858, upon Procter resigning from her position, the Principal's post was taken by Dorothea Beale, a prominent

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

educator. who later founded St Hilda's College, Oxford. She was commemorated by a Cheltenham Civic Society blue plaque in 2017.

Structure and academic results

The school is divided into three divisions, Lower College ( KS3), Upper College ( KS4) and Sixth Form College ( KS5). The school gives pupils a choice in what they study. A range of subject combinations is available to Upper College girls at GCSE, and for Sixth Form girls at A-level or

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. Tutors are full-time academic members of staff and advise girls on matters relating to their academic work and progress, while the Professional Guidance Centre gives advice on career options and university applications. Most pupils go on to continue higher education. The school's academic results are high, both compared to the national average and within the independent sector. From 2014 to 2017, the school reported that over two thirds of A-level results and approximately 90% of GCSE results were A* or A grades. Since 2015, the school has been the top girls boarding school in the country for IB results for three consecutive years. In 2019, 71% of students scored A*/A for their A-level examinations awhile 90% scored A*/A for GCSE. Members of an alumnae association of over 9,000 former pupils, across 80 different countries, keep in contact and offer work placements and careers advice. According to Vicky Tuck, the school's Principal in 2011, the school's pupils succeed in " chemistry,

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, economics and

maths Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

Houses

The school is made up of around 80% boarders and 20% day girls. Whether boarders or day girls, pupils are part of a junior or senior house and are supervised by a Housemistress and a team of House Staff. Girls who board live in one of eleven boarding houses. There are six junior houses for 11- to 16-year-olds, and five senior houses for sixth form girls. The junior houses are Farnley Lodge, Glenlee, Sidney Lodge, St. Austin's, St. Helen's, and St. Margaret's. At Sixth Form, all girls move to a senior house. The senior houses are Beale, Cambray, Elizabeth, Roderic and St. Hilda's. Each house is run by a housemistress and several resident staff. The housemistresses have a lighter teaching load with a full-time commitment supervising their boarders. Junior day girls have their own base in Eversleigh, where the three junior houses, Bellairs, Glengar and St Clare, are located. The senior day girl house, Bayshill, is situated in the main college site.

Co-curriculars

Over 160 co-curricular activities are available.

Music and Drama

The Music and Drama departments offer productions and concerts each year involving all age groups. Over 1,000 individual instrumental lessons take place each week. In October 2009, Sir Richard Eyre opened the school's new drama building, The Parabola Arts Centre (PAC). The building was built by Foster Wilson Architects and cost over £12.5 million, funded by donations. The school is a major sponsor of the Cheltenham Music, Literature, Jazz and Science Festivals and events are hosted at the centre annually. The PAC building was awarded the RIBA award. In 2010, Sharman Macdonald (Keira Knightley's mother) was commissioned to write the college's play. In 2016, the school also invested in a new recording studio.

Sports

In 2018, the school opened a new Health and Fitness Centre. Sports facilities include a 25-metre six-lane swimming-pool, netball courts, tennis courts, squash courts, AstroTurf fields, lacrosse pitches, a spin studio, two dance studios and two sports halls. Over 30 sports are offered, and students are encouraged to maintain their fitness and wellbeing through physical exercise. The main sports are Netball, Lacrosse and Hockey in the winter, and Tennis, Swimming and Athletics in the Summer. The school also has a well-established Rowing Club, and Equestrian and Ski teams.

Admissions

The school is one of the hardest UK private schools to get into, with competition for places at sixth form being "fierce". Entry to Cheltenham Ladies' College is by examination for girls aged 11+, 13+ and 16+ (Sixth Form), as well as occasionally at 12+ and 14+ where only a few students are admitted.

Inspections

The school was last inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in October 2014. It achieved the grade "Excellent" in all areas. In the ''

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secondary school ranking, Cheltenham Ladies College was placed at no. 14 in 2010 and no. 34 in 2011. The college was the top girls boarding school and 6th overall in UK rankings for the International Baccalaureate Diploma in 2017. The ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

School Guide 2018'' notes that "confident, resilient, clever girls flourish" at the college. The '' Good Schools Guide'' described the school as "a top flight school with strong traditional values and a clear sense of purpose. For the bright and energetic all rounder this school offers an exceptional education that is both broad and deep, with endless opportunities for fun and enrichment along the way." In 2020, Cheltenham Ladies' College was named South West Independent Secondary School of the Decade by ''

and

''. The awards, published in the "Parent Power" schools guide, commend schools that have achieved academic excellence and provided an outstanding education over the previous decade.

In popular culture

As one of the oldest and most prestigious all-girls' boarding schools in the UK, the school has often been referred to as "the girls' Eton". However, the school has worked hard to play down this reputation. BBC Four made a three-part documentary series titled ''My New Best Friend'' to emphasize the importance and nature of friendship among children. The first episode tracked the journey of four young girls starting at Cheltenham Ladies' College. Cheltenham Ladies' College is mentioned in the film '' St Trinian's'' (2007) as the previous school of the main character.

List of Principals

* Annie Proctor, 1854–1858 * Dorothea Beale, 1858–1906 *

Lilian Faithfull Lilian Mary Faithfull CBE (12 March 1865 – 2 May 1952) was an English teacher, headmistress, women's rights advocate, magistrate, social worker, and humanitarian. She was one of the "Steamboat ladies" who were part of the struggle for w ...

, 1906–1922 * Beatrice Sparks, 1922–1937 * Margaret Popham, 1937–1953 * Joan Tredgold, 1953–1964 * Margaret Hampshire, 1964–1979 * Joan Sadler, 1979–1987 * Enid Castle, 1987–1996 * Vicky Tuck, 1996–2011 * Gwen Byrom, 2011 (Acting) * Eve Jardine-Young, 2011–present

Notable staff

* Winifred Lily Boys-Smith (1865–1939) * U. A. Fanthorpe (1929–2009), poet * Charlotte Laurie (1856–1933), botanist * Eleanor Mary Reid (1860–1953), palaeobotanist * Mary Watson (1856–1933), chemist *

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

(1874–1934), composer * Agnes Tschetschulin (1859-1942), composer and violinist

Notable pupils

Guild is the association of College's former pupils.

The arts

Florence Farr Florence Beatrice Emery (''née'' Farr; 7 July 1860 – 29 April 1917) was a British West End leading actress, composer and director. She was also a women's rights activist, journalist, educator, singer, novelist, and leader of the occult ...

, actress and mistress of

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in Norwood, Londo ...

, artist * Sophie Solomon, violinist *Dame Kristin Scott Thomas, actress *

Serena Scott Thomas Serena Harriet Scott Thomas (born 21 September 1961) is an English actress and documentary producer. Her television roles include Diana, Princess of Wales in '' Diana: Her True Story'' in 1993. Her film appearances include ''The World Is Not Eno ...

, actress * Katharine Hamnett, fashion designer * Damaris Hayman, actress * Cherry Healey, television presenter * Judith Ledeboer, architect and housing reformer * Leyly Matine-Daftary, modernist painter * Charlotte Reather, comedy writer and actress * Talulah Riley, actress * Amanda Wakeley, fashion designer

Politics, law and civil service

* Violet Brooke-Hunt, community organizer and volunteer in

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

Elizabeth Gass, Lady Gass Dame Elizabeth Periam Gass, Lady Gass, ( ''née'' Acland-Hood; born 2 March 1940) was Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset from 1998 to 2015. Early life and education She is the eldest daughter and co-heiress of the Honorable John Acland-Hood, a barrist ...

, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset since 1998 *Dame

Cheryl Gillan Dame Cheryl Elise Kendall Gillan (; 21 April 1952 – 4 April 2021) was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chesham and Amersham from 1992 until her death in 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, she served a ...

, Conservative Member of Parliament and former

Secretary of State for Wales The secretary of state for Wales ( cy, ysgrifennydd gwladol Cymru), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member ...

* Sally Keeble, Labour Member of Parliament *

Lizzy Lind af Hageby Emilie Augusta Louise "Lizzy" Lind af Hageby (20 September 1878 – 26 December 1963) was a Swedish-British feminist and animal rights advocate who became a prominent anti- vivisection activist in England in the early 20th century. Born t ...

, speaker and writer antivivisection and feminism *

Rachel Lomax Janis Rachel Lomax (born 15 July 1945) is a British economist, banker, and former government official who served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, sitting on the Monetary Policy Committee from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2008. Early life Lom ...

, the first woman Deputy Governor of the Bank of England * Fiona Mactaggart, Labour Member of Parliament *

Cicely Mayhew Cicely Elizabeth Mayhew, Baroness Mayhew (''née'' Ludlam; 16 February 1924 – 8 July 2016) was a British diplomat. She was the second woman to work for the British Foreign Office, and its first female diplomat. Early life She was born on 16 Fe ...

, UK's first female diplomat *

Gareth Peirce Gareth Peirce (born Jean Margaret Webb; March 1940) is a British solicitor and human rights activist. She has worked on a number of high-profile cases involving allegations of human rights injustices. Her work with Gerry Conlon and the Guildf ...

, defence lawyer *

Amber Rudd Amber Augusta Rudd (born 1 August 1963) is a British former politician who served as Home Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2018 to 2019. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hastings and Rye, fir ...

, former

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

* Catherine Williamson, Canterbury's first woman mayor & Irish politician

Sciences, technology, engineering

Mary Archer Mary Doreen Archer, Baroness Archer of Weston-super-Mare ( Weeden; born 22 December 1944) is a British scientist specialising in solar power conversion. She is married to Jeffrey Archer, a former chairman of the Conservative Party. Early life ...

, scientist and chair of the trustees of the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...

Group * Prue Barron, surgeon * Louisa Aldrich-Blake, first female Master of Surgery * Mary Collins, immunologist *

Maud Cunnington Maud Edith Cunnington (''née'' Pegge; 24 September 1869 – 28 February 1951) was a Welsh archaeologist, best known for her pioneering work on the some of the most important prehistoric sites of Salisbury Plain. Early life, education, and m ...

, archaeologist * Miriam Violet Griffith, electrical engineer, technical author and pioneer of ground source heat pumps * Lillias Hamilton, doctor and author * Constance Leathart,

Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factori ...

pilot in Second World War, first woman in Britain to design and fly a glider *

Margaret Lowenfeld Margaret Frances Jane Lowenfeld (4 February 1890 – 2 February 1973) was a British pioneer of child psychology and play therapy, a medical researcher in paediatric medicine, and an author of several publications and academic papers on the study ...

, paediatrician and child psychotherapist *Dame Clare Marx, first female President of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

(2014-2017), Chair of the General Medical Council (January 2019) * Helen Mackay, first female Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians * Liz Miller, former neurosurgeon and mental health campaigner *

Jennie Pryce Professor Jennie Elizabeth Pryce (born 1972) is a quantitative geneticist based in Melbourne, Australia. Jennie is thDairyBioanimal program leader in conjunction with her role as principal research scientist foAgriculture Victoriaand Professor of ...

, quantitative geneticist * Frances Ritchie, nurse * Lucy Wills, haematologist *

Helena Rosa Wright Helena Rosa Wright (17 September 1887 – 21 March 1982) was an English pioneer and influential figure in birth control and family planning both in Britain and internationally. With her husband she undertook missionary work in China for five yea ...

(née Lowenfeld), doctor and pioneer of family planning * Nur Amalina Che Bakri, Doctor

Journalism and authors

* Hilary Andersson, journalist and presenter * Phyllis Bentley, novelist and authority on the

Brontë family The Brontës () were a nineteenth-century literary family, born in the village of Thornton and later associated with the village of Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte (1816–1855), Emily (1818–184 ...

* Theodora Bosanquet, writer, reviewer, editor, amanuensis to Henry James, director and literary editor of

Time and Tide (magazine) ''Time and Tide'' was a British weekly (and later monthly) political and literary review magazine founded by Margaret, Lady Rhondda, in 1920. It started out as a supporter of left wing and feminist causes and the mouthpiece of the feminist Si ...

. *

Rosie Boycott Rosel Marie "Rosie" Boycott, Baroness Boycott (born 13 May 1951) is a British journalist and feminist. Early life The daughter of Major Charles Boycott and Betty Le Sueur Boycott, Rosel Marie "Rosie" Boycott was born in Saint Helier, Jersey. S ...

, journalist and former editor of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' and the '' Daily Express'' * D. K. Broster, novelist * Katharine Burdekin, author * Amy Key Clarke, mystical poet, author and senior teacher at the school, also wrote histories of the school * Janet E. Courtney, writer * Tatiana Hambro, fashion writer and editor for Moda Operandi * Beatrice Harraden, writer and suffragette * Phoebe Hesketh, poet * Lisa Jardine, historian, author and broadcaster *

Margaret Kennedy Margaret Moore Kennedy (23 April 1896 – 31 July 1967) was an English novelist and playwright. Her most successful work, as a novel and as a play, was '' The Constant Nymph''. She was a productive writer and several of her works were filmed. T ...

, novelist * Sue Lloyd-Roberts, television journalist * Kate Reardon, journalist * Betty Ridley, journalist *

Mira Sethi Mira Sethi (born January 12, 1987) is a Pakistani actress and writer. The daughter of journalists Najam Sethi and Jugnu Mohsin, she attended Lahore Grammar School and Cheltenham Ladies' College then graduated from Wellesley College in 2010; she ...

, journalist * May Sinclair, writer * Caroline Spurgeon, literary critic * Robin Stevens, children's author * Jenny Uglow, biographer * Margaret Winifred Vowles, author * Sarah Wardle, poet * Grace Wyndham Goldie, first Head of

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

History

Structure and academic results

Houses

Co-curriculars

Music and Drama

Sports

Admissions

Inspections

In popular culture

List of Principals

Notable staff

Notable pupils

The arts

Politics, law and civil service

Sciences, technology, engineering

Journalism and authors

Sports

Other

References

External links