Entry for October 2007

A rival of St Paul’s Girls’ School. While St Paul’s is inner city and cosmopolitan, North London has the ivory- tower campus feel of a country boarding school. Set in 32 acres of green belt on the London Hertfordshire borders, it caters to the super-bright daughters of aspirational suburbanities and North London intellectuals.

The academic fare is truly outstanding. In 2006, 99 per cent of A -Level candidates were awarded an A or a B, and the lowest grade – in any subject – at GCSE was B. An early adopter of the IB, the School recently topped the competition in that ferocious exam as well.

This however, is not a school that teaches solely for exams. Its aim – and its achievement - is to broaden minds. In the sixth form, it supplies philosophy, ethics and critical thinking as well as organising symposia with Winchester and Whitgift - an approach that clearly pays off since 44 of its 110 upper sixth formers were offered Oxbridge places in 2006.

Wonderful facilities – sporting, artistic, dramatic (a new 350-seater auditorium) all against the idyllic backdrop of a 1760 mansion owned by the Duke of Chandos.

Alumnae: Marie Stopes, Anna Wintour, Rachel Weisz, Esther Rantzen