In a complex world, full of change and uncertainty, what can you do to support your daughter’s education as she navigates her future path?

Oxford High School GDST is the only all-through school for girls from 4-19 years in Oxford. As an outstanding, award-winning school specialising in girls’ education, we provide a unique learning experience, designed to develop confident girls who know themselves, find their voices and use them to influence their world for the better of everyone.

As part of the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), Oxford High School benefits from unrivalled expertise in how to teach girls in the best way possible. While the challenges and expectations for girls have evolved, we strongly believe that the need for a tailored education for girls is even more urgent today. We understand how high-achieving women learn, thrive and flourish. Our teaching and learning is designed to build and nurture confidence, curiosity and spark, alongside subject specific knowledge and expertise, so that our pupils can be successful learners and active participants in society, both now and in the future.

We place equal value on the learning process and the outcome. The 'how' of learning is as important as the 'what,' and a pupil's mindset towards her education matters just as much as her achievements. Our goal is for pupils to succeed through active engagement, independence, organisation, collaboration, and participation. As part of the GDST, our girls can access a network of over 25 other schools, conferences run by women for women across the country, and an astonishing alumnae network of over 100,000 former pupils who are extending a hand to help your daughter find her own place in the outside world.

In a girls’ school, a girl can study whatever interests her and what she chooses - free from societal stereotypes. Research demonstrates that girls in single-sex schools continue to perform better, are more likely to take further maths and STEM subjects to A-level and are more likely to continue sports than peers in co-educational settings.

At Oxford High School, our community is characterised by collaboration and discussion-led learning which encourages girls to try new and different things and to fail without the fear of embarrassment. This creates a uniquely supportive environment that nurtures confidence.

Across our curriculum and co-curricular activities, girls are free to explore subjects and passions that suit their individual interests. Our unique ‘Life Ready’ programme, spanning from Reception to Year 13, is shaped by our students and designed to nurture well-rounded, confident girls, equipping them with the life and career skills, mental agility, and wellbeing tools needed for success. We have listened to our pupils to ensure that both the academic and pastoral experience support every girl who chooses to learn here.

Our community and culture offer positive role models and wide-ranging opportunities for leadership, helping each pupil build confidence, a strong sense of identity, as well as lasting friendships. Our teachers work in close partnership to focus on the individual needs of every student, empowering them to achieve more than they ever thought possible - whether that be presenting an innovative project at NASA in Houston, or running coding on the International Space Station as part of the ‘Astro Pi: Mission Space Lab’ competition.

To amplify our students’ voices, we hosted a TEDx Youth event this year: ‘New Realities: The Big Questions Shaping Our Future’ featuring talks by 24 student speakers from Year 5 to Year 13. Watch their incredible talks at oxfordhigh.gdst.net/TEDx

Our students will shape the world and so we believe that equipping them from a young age with a wealth of knowledge and experience from different countries and cultures will provide them with a strong foundation. Our Global Studies curriculum creates opportunities for exploring diversity and inclusion, global citizenship (linked with PSHE), individual responsibility, the power of our voices, and living in a more sustainable world.

Being a progressive, global school with a focus on girls being future ready, we have launched Earth Studies. Pupils have the freedom, time and space to critically think, discuss and feel as they examine the different elements of our changing world, exploring the impact of our behaviour on our environment; we empower even the youngest in our school to be that change.

This commitment to holistic learning and future readiness is reflected in our students' academic achievements. Our 2024 exam results demonstrate the diversity of interests and dedication of our students:

·    53% of GCSEs awarded were Grade 9s, 18% of pupils achieved straight 9s at GCSE

·    At A-Level, two-thirds of pupils (63%) celebrated achieving A* and As. 1 in 6 (17%) students have successfully secured places at Oxford or Cambridge with subjects ranging from Medicine, Natural Sciences, English, Classics, History and Modern Languages.

And yet our greatest measure of success as a school is whether our students are happy. The efforts all staff make every day to provide the kind, caring and nurturing environment that supports the individual student were also rewarded with Oxford High School being a finalist in the Independent School of the Year Awards for Student Wellbeing.

As highlighted by the 2023 Independent Schools Inspection, “Pupils show outstanding levels of confidence, talking with an easy self-assurance that had no hint of conceit.” Our 2023/24 pupil survey further reinforces this, with students expressing that ‘their voices are heard and valued.’ Most tellingly, the word they chose to describe their school experience was ‘fun’ - a powerful testament to the positive, empowering, and engaging environment we cultivate.

It is still a difficult world for so many women in 2024. However, we know that our students are ready, self-aware and globally conscious strong moral citizens who will use their voices for the benefit of all.