Which girls school is currently considered most equivalent to Eton?

[Hebburn]

Which boarding school? Benenden?

I'm not sure what Harrow's reputation is, but it is very selective, probably the most difficult of the all-boys schools to get in. It is usually among the top schools nationally in events like Maths and Chemistry Olympics and unlike most other schools (similar to Radley) encourages boys to take more than 3 A levels. Last year almost 30 boys had 4 or more Astars at Alevel.

Harrow is, without a doubt, not the most difficult boys' school to get into by quite a long way.

Harrow well below Winchester, Eton.

Maybe in similar bucket to Charterhouse, who have had to introduce co ed recently.

I would disagree. Eton is the most famous boys’ school in the world. Harrow next and then Winchester by some distance, third. The further you head north even within the Uk, the fewer people have even heard of Winchester. I imagine it has a lot of London parents for some reason. I live further north and whilst have plenty of friends who have gone (or their children go) to E and H. Not a soul even mentions W.
if famous boys schools were a quiz on BBC Pointless then Eton would be 100, Harrow 60 and Winchester 5 .

Oh are we talking famous schools? Why is that important?

On Winchester, sorry don't know the school that well, but I would say it ranks high in the famous camp too, and much much higher that Harrow in the academic camp

Interesting. Schools evolve. Harrow will have plenty of trad families, but coming from the perspective of a central London prep schools the families we knew who chose Harrow were monied professional West London families, often American, whose perfectly nice sporty kids were not going to get into Westminster or St Pauls, or indeed the next tier down: Latymer Upper, Dulwich, Highgate, Kings Wimbledon etc. Looking for a rounded education at a known school (this type of American seemed to place weight on the school/college you went to) and not wanting country boarding, they would opt for Harrow rather than, say, Emanuel or St Bens. Harrow is in London so close enough to watch matches etc, and with lots of extra-curricular activities, so important for the US Ivy application.

Eton in contrast was the first choice for the sort of fathers who had been at Eton or wished they had been Eton. It is a big school and confident types do well. Winchester was for clever kids who might not be overly happy in a robust sporty environment. Boris and Rishi are good examples. Those two schools, Westminster and St Pauls were pretty much on a par in terms of prestige as far as London parents went. It was more boarding or not boarding, and the type of child. (Westminster is more Hogwarts than St Pauls, seems to suit the bright but "quirky", has Saturday morning school and scope for boarding especially in sixth form, and on a cramped central London site, has fewer sports facilities, but a half-decent chapel.)

Only that the OP was looking for a girls school equivalent to Eton. Probably the only thing that sets Eton apart from some schools is its fame - otherwise there is nothing you can find at Eton that you can’t find somewhere else , save for tail coats and a rowing lake perhaps!

The conversation had extended to boys schools like Harrow. I think the conclusion is that Eton is a one off in terms of its fame. So no girls school equivalent.

And that Eton's reputation varies depending on who you are talking to. People who have both a bright child and the money do not necessarily aim for Eton, so for them other schools are seen as equivalent.

Spot on

Not a coincidence that the Harrow families ai know are exactly the profile you describe - plus North London based

Eton also upped their entry standards around after Harry left. No longer having an Etonian father/grandfather or being connected to Royalty is enough of a qualifier. So academic standards have been going up, probably on par with St Paul's / Westminster. On the other hand, they do carry a negative equity when it comes to Oxbridge, numbers ever dwindling atm.

St Paul’s, Westminster and Kings are generally in a different bracket to Eaton. I’m London based as well and around here I don’t know anyone who has Eaton as a first choice but perhaps it’s different elsewhere

In our friends' case Downe House.

Its probably money. Eton and Harrow, indeed boarding, is a lot more expensive, and London has a number of equally academic day schools.

My DC are in their mid 20s but back then we knew several who included Eton as one of their options. One was rich enough to hold onto to offers at St Pauls till the very last minute before deciding day rather than boarding. (His son then switched at Sixth Form.) We knew at least three who did not get into Westminster so opted for Eton. One who opted for Eton rather than Westminster because of family tradition, though the boy was probably better suited to Westminster. A couple who turned down Westminster in favour of Winchester and Oundle, and one whose sons transferred from Colet (now St Pauls Junior) to Radley. (The first was the boy's choice, the latter two because they liked the roundedness of the schools and family connections. I kept in touch with the last family and the boys did well - sports scholarships to the top US colleges.)

Westminster, as well as its own merits, hit a sweet sport for international parents, who did not have a traditional of boarding but were not sure they would remain in the UK for the duration of their sons' schooling as it offered the scope to switch to first weekly boarding and then to full boarding at sixth form.

Eton dropped it "name down at birth" a long time ago. Harry was an aberration. It was not planned that he went there, but his mother died and they decided to keep the two boys together, and close to Windsor. He had to spend in extra year at prep school and even then it appears he was at the bottom academically, a horrid place to be in any of these schools. Gordonstoun, where Zara went, would have suited him better. That said, Eton's intake appears academically broader than at Westminster/St Pauls. All these schools are seeing Oxbridge numbers drop, though Westminster seems to be holding up slightly better, possibly because they attract some uniquely talented kids. Their own pupils opting for the US, plus international competition for and contextualisation at Oxbridge. I suspect that there may be more Oxbridge or bust at Eton. Even in my DC's day large numbers on their central London raised peers happily trotted off to LSE, UCL or Imperial, perhaps with an eye on the US for post-grad.

Westminster consistently has the highest rate of Oxbridge acceptances to applications of any boarding school. Okay, it’s coed rather than just girls. I don’t think Oxbridge is the be all and end all, but this is a reasonable proxy for excellence.

SPSG had the highest ratio of any school in the UK for the 2021 application cycle, about 47%. But it is a day school. Still, it is rather cool that a girls’ school has taken this honour.