Queen’s Gate School is an independent school for girls aged 4-18 located on Queen’s Gate, in South Kensington, London. Founded in 1891, the school has long held a reputation for its originality. Our fundamental goal is that each girl should become the very best version of herself, making the most of her individual strengths, gifts and talents. Our girls hold themselves and each other to high standards, but always with a lightness of heart. At Queen’s Gate, we are not afraid to laugh at ourselves.
“Individuality abounds here and students are given the tools with which to flourish academically and creatively, without pressure” – Good Schools Guide
Queen’s Gate is an academically aspirational school, where we seek for each girl to go beyond her individual academic potential. We have no one-size-fits-all definition of success; rather, we provide the guidance and conditions for each girl to reach beyond what she might have thought possible. At Queen’s Gate, we aim to be a greenhouse rather than a hothouse – deliberately cultivating a supportive, collaborative and positive atmosphere, governed by our belief that happy girls are more likely to overachieve.
Our academic results are excellent: every year, countless girls are successful in attaining straight 8/9 grades at GCSE and A/A* at A level. However, our priority is that each girl should feel valued for the effort she has put in, and the progress she has made. We know there will be lower grades that have been just as hard won – if not more so – and we are determined that those girls should be celebrated, both for the determination they have shown, and the many other gifts and talents they offer our community.
Our success in supporting each girl to exceed her potential is proven by our incredible value-added scores, measures of how far beyond her baseline potential each girl has gone. Here, we are consistently placed among the top-ten schools in the country, proof of what Queen’s Gate enables our girls to achieve.
University destinations are as varied and individual as our girls. We are able to boast of girls attending top UK universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, as well as overseas institutions such as Harvard and NYU. We have an incredibly strong record of sending girls onto some of the most elite art schools in the world, including Central St. Martins, Camberwell School of Art and Parsons School of Design (New York). With our strength in STEM subjects, many of our girls have gone on to courses such as Computer Science at St. Andrews, Mechanical Engineering at UCL and Creative Computing at the University of the Arts, London.
“Around the corner from the Natural History, Museum, Queen’s Gate is a dream location with strong academics and a homely vibe to boot” – Muddy Stilettos
Housed in five of the iconic Victorian mansions that dominate South Kensington, we are ideally situated to take advantage of the nearby museums, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Academy of Music, and many parks and sporting facilities. Girls are able to pop into the V&A during a normal timetabled lesson, visit the Natural History Museum as a lunchtime club, and jump on the tube to reach the theatres of the West End and Southbank. London really is our playground, offering endless opportunities to extend our girls’ academic learning, enrich our co-curricular offering and enhance their personal development.
“Each and every member of the staff at Queen’s Gate is so dynamic and supportive, to a degree I have never seen at other schools” – recent parent survey
As a smaller school, staff at Queen’s Gate are truly able to get to know our girls as the individuals they are. Learning is more of a partnership between teacher and pupil, with close, personalised support throughout her academic journey with us. Our staff demonstrate their dedication through consistent provision of extra lunchtime clinics and holiday revision classes, designed to enable all learners to embark upon assessments and exams feeling as confident as possible.
“Pupils are at the heart of leaders’ decision making” – ISI Report, November 2024
The wellbeing of our pupils guides us in all aspects of school life. High-quality pastoral care and the safeguarding of pupils underpin everything that we do. Our PSHE programme is regularly reviewed to ensure we are meeting the needs of our girls, while the strong staff-pupil relationships mean girls feel safe to come forward and share worries.
Our co-curricular programme is broad and forward-thinking, spanning super-curricular options, creative activities and those choices that are simply there for fun and to give girls a space where they can relax and feel they belong. Music, Drama and Sport are all well-represented, while pupil voice is central, with girls having the opportunity to serve on a number of committees dedicated to giving them a forum in which to put forward ideas and share feedback. As we work to tackle societal gender inequality, it is especially important to us to encourage our girls to learn how to use their voices, and not hold back from sharing their ideas.
“A unique mix of cultures and perspectives, creating a vibrant atmosphere” – 2024/25 Head Girl Team
As a cosmopolitan, central London community, we are naturally multinational and multifaith. Celebrating all our cultural traditions, including religious festivals, provides a rich environment for our girls to discover and explore the values of diversity and respect. All share in each other’s traditions, whether that’s Lunar New Year, Hannukah, Ramadan or our Christian festivals, and embrace the meaning of inclusion. Families of all backgrounds enjoy gatherings such as our Carol Service, welcoming warmly the reflective, thoughtful and welcoming atmosphere we create.
“These traditions and activities provide our girls with a holistic education that transcends the curriculum” – current parent
It is our insistence on providing an experience that goes beyond pure academic education that our families most value. Our aim is for each girl to become the best version of herself – as a learner, as a friend, as a leader and as a future citizen.
“Girls are warmly self-confident, without any arrogance” – Recent visitors
Visitors routinely comment on how natural our girls are and how generously they welcome guests to the school.
