Which independent girls' school is the classiest in the UK?

[capstix]

This is just a hypothetical question. Both my kids are now at university. But purely out of interest, I would love to know which girls' school or schools people think are the poshest, classiest, most revered, most elite in the country. Please also let me know why you think so.

This is just a 'for instance' and I hope it doesn't cause any offence!

Ones I can think of in the top echelons would be (in what I think is a possible order):

Cheltenham Ladies'
St Mary's Ascot
Downe House
St Paul's Girls
Wycombe Abbey
Benenden
Heathfield
Tudor Hall
Sherborne Girls
Roedean
Francis Holland SW1
St Mary's Calne
Francis Holland NW1
St George's Ascot
St Swithun's
City of London Girls
James Allen's Girls' School (Jags)
Queen Margaret's
Woldingham School
Godolphin
Godolphin & Latymer
The Lady Eleanor Holles School
Malvern St James

I’ve got friends who went to St. Paul’s, benenden, Roedean and cousins who went to Cheltenham ladies college. Not sure ejat you mean by classiest but fairly good educations.

Not sure if it’s classy but two girls I know went to Streatham and Clapham Girls School.

Stepdads godson went to charterhouse yes girls go there but isn’t it 6th form only.

@Gonnagetgoing

Not sure if it’s classy but two girls I know went to Streatham and Clapham Girls School.

Stepdads godson went to charterhouse yes girls go there but isn’t it 6th form only.

SCGS isn’t in the same league for “classiness” as those other schools. It’s an ordinary pleasant day school, not particularly academic and not swish.

Well calling any girl a slag is a poor reflection on whoever is doing the name calling rather than the girl(s) involved IMO.

@Jazzy1000

So glad I live in a country where this old boys school stuff doesn't exist. Yes some schools are private and schools have differing reputations but putting a national list like this together would be impossible.

Which country would this be then? I have friends from Sweden, Germany, France, Estonia, Czechia, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, China, HK, and Taiwan who have all discussed doors opening and doors closing dependent upon which school or university they attended. Schools and universities which are often the oldest, and usually the best funded will become elitist wherever you are.

That's too bad @KoalafiedAwesome. Coming from outside London with a daughter who wanted to go to an all girls for sixth form, we were ignorant if any social standing of these schools and just wanted one that fit location wise (on the District line) and seemed to fit academically and appealed when visited.
She's now at FHSS, and is either totally oblivious to any 'class' differentiation or it exists no more than at other all girls central London schools. Sure if it's February it's Gstaad for some, and many girls live locally indicating a high net worth, but she doesn't see any more bitchiness (in fact less as there really aren't any cliques) than at her non selective middle of the road independent.

So glad I live in a country where this old boys school stuff doesn't exist. Yes some schools are private and schools have differing reputations but putting a national list like this together would be impossible.

Me also. The majority of people here couldn't care less about this sort of nonsense.

I know someone who went to Cheltenham Ladies College, she is incredibly classy and well spoken.

Her father was an officer in the army and the fees to board were peanuts in comparison to what you would usually expect to pay without a military contribution.

To the poster who asked where Kate Middleton went to school, she was at Downe Hose for a year, and apparently hated it. Then she transferred to Marlborough which is Co-Ed. She was reportedly very happy there. Princess Eugenia also went to Marlborough after St George’s. Not sure if this makes Marlborough “classy” or not.

How on earth would you know unless you’ve been to them all?

Another one that has been missed out is More House in London. I had several friends go there, and again daughters of wealthy international parents. It wasn’t very academic but more into music and arts. Not in the same league as Cheltenham, etc but would say is akin to FH NW1.

@Dancingdreamer

To the poster who asked where Kate Middleton went to school, she was at Downe Hose for a year, and apparently hated it. Then she transferred to Marlborough which is Co-Ed. She was reportedly very happy there. Princess Eugenia also went to Marlborough after St George’s. Not sure if this makes Marlborough “classy” or not.

From what I know about the school, and from people who I know went there, I genuinely don’t think it falls into the category that OP is trying to get at.

For the previous poster, finishing schools still exist, though most now have academic years followed by a cultural and skills type curriculum. My dd went to Surval Montreux for a term after sixth form.
In London the last formal finishing school was called Lucie Clayton college.. I'm. Not sure when it closed but I was there in the 80's.
Though a quick Google shows new ones have opened.. Maybe a resurgence?

My tongue in cheek annotation. I went to one of these and have never said ‘classy’ in my life.

Cheltenham Ladies' - academic, socially smart-ish. Quite tough.
St Mary's Ascot - academic. Very socially smart for Catholics.
Downe House - academic. Socially smart Berks/oxon. Probably biggest overlap in siblings with Eton, partly to do with geography
St Paul's Girls - very academic, very pressured, but a day school. Some elements of grandeur but mostly MC competitive.
Wycombe Abbey - very academic, pressured, socially not particularly smart- too many Americans and Russians. Elite international rich.
Benenden - moderately academic. Socially smart enough for Kent, but hardly anyone lives in Kent.
Heathfield - not very academic. Socially extremely smart.
Tudor Hall - traditionally where Earls sent their daughters if they educated them at all. middling academically but socially very pukka. Girls equivalent of Radley.
Sherborne Girls - quite academic, very army, but also a lot of less ostentatious aristocracy and foreign royalty. Stealth Smart for those in the know.
Roedean - not especially grand and hasn’t been for decades. Considered to be almost entirely Chinese now, and in the ‘wrong’ bit of England. Middling academic.
Francis Holland SW1 - very socially smart for Londoners, not the county set, and not super academic
St Mary's Calne - academic, small small small, smart amongst Wiltshire set who want girls close to home. Their brothers go to Marlborough. Agree Calne is a dump.
Francis Holland NW1 - nothing in nw1 is smart. a bit more academic
St George's Ascot - middling both ways but gained cachet from the not very bright York princesses
St Swithun's - more of a local MC school
City of London Girls - London academic, not smart at all
James Allen's Girls' School (Jags) - academic, social desert
Queen Margaret's - in Edinburgh? Nuff said
Woldingham School - never heard of it
Godolphin - salisbury MC, not smart at all
Godolphin & Latymer - Hammersmith. London so academic not smart
The Lady Eleanor Holles School - more academic social Siberia
Malvern St James - you have to be kidding

You missed out the Marcia Blaine School for Girls.

Everyone knows the girls are “the creme de la creme”.
Not “classy”, that is perfectly vulgar.

When I was at secondary school my school played a hockey match again Tudor Hall. We were served stale cupcakes and very weak orange squash afterwards.
Their uniforms were a bit shabby (because apparently they had to look after themselves). I was at the dentist in town one day and one of the girls was there. Her uniform skirt had the hem hanging down with a load of loose threads.
This was about 35 years ago though so might be very different now obviously

Red Maids school is the oldest girls school in England (founded 1634, when few females learned to read and write). It's selective and has impressive exam results.

I suspect @JTK392, @GetOffTheTableMabel, @MissyB1, @merrymouse, @Onthetrain75, @cherryonthecakes and @Moobootoyoutoo have been watching too much American television. I agree that when Donald Trump says "Classiest" it does sound somewhat gauche.

@capstix
What does American television have to do with the use of the word “classiest?” I am baffled at your assertion. Perhaps someone else on your too-much-American-television hit list could enlighten me.

I haven’t seen Trump on television because I intentionally avoided the news and television for years.

@KoalafiedAwesome

Well calling any girl a slag is a poor reflection on whoever is doing the name calling rather than the girl(s) involved IMO.

@KoalafiedAwesome - was never me who said it - was just other girls from private schools - in jest - one from Alleyns and the other from Streatham and Clapham Girls.

@Theredjellybean

For the previous poster, finishing schools still exist, though most now have academic years followed by a cultural and skills type curriculum. My dd went to Surval Montreux for a term after sixth form. In London the last formal finishing school was called Lucie Clayton college.. I'm. Not sure when it closed but I was there in the 80's. Though a quick Google shows new ones have opened.. Maybe a resurgence?

@Theredjellybean - my DGM wanted to send me to Lucie Clayton - I'm sure it is still open.

I mean I went to a boring, normal private convent school but there was no way I wanted to be 'finished' at Lucie Clayton so I declined.

The amount of inverted snobbery here is stupid.

I went to Lucie Clayton. They taught me how to get out of a car without showing my knickers. Invaluable.

Can't believe that:
A) you have the inclination to even think of this question
B) you have the time to write such an exhaustive list. Is it for a book character or something?

Fwiw, don't discount the international ones. My great aunt went to a finishing school in Switzerland and it was ridiculously posh and 'classy'.

The word “classy” in America is anything but. Professional and upper middle class Americans would never use the word. It’s “cheesy.”

A neighbor’s daughter went to Lucy Clayton. It’s now a secretarial school. She is a PA at a big American bank in the city.