School choices: Y9 place in St Catherine's Bramley vs James Allen Girls School

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We are an overseas family to be relocating to UK this year. My DD passed 13+ entry and got the Y9 offers on above 2 schooles. Understanding that SC and JAGS are located in a very different location, we can settle down in either place. Ignoring commuting and home location issue, i just would like to consider which school fits my DD more.

My DD is not a fan of science but keen on maths. She is not a lover of english literature and history but like music and some social science subjects e.g. geography. She has not explored any economics subject during her Year7-8, but sometimes she would think of how to earn pocket money by trading her goods/toys with classmates. She does not have particular talent in music or arts, but loves to play piano and oboe for lesiure. Her academic level shall be ok, otherwise can't be accepted by these two competitive schools. However, she is definitely not the top tier in the class, so we do not aim at Oxbridge. If she can go to UCL or LSE, I already feel blessed.

I noted that the A-level academic results are similar to both schools. Just wonder whether JAGS is more prestigious as it is located in Central London - would it help the graduates more if they will work in London in the future? However, being a city girl, as a mother, I also worry about her future connection with the teen boys nearby. On another hand, we love Guildford area compared to East London. But whether studying in St Catherine's would be labeled as a country girl? Please excuse me, as I really have no idea about the culture in London. Thank you for any advice given in advance.

I would ask each school how many dd are joining at the Year 9 stage with your dd. It's always quite hard to join a cohort esp if there are only a few of you.
I wouldn't think about uni's, the U.K. university admissions process is under tremendous pressure to make it fair to everyone in the U.K. regardless of education & where you live, for example from 2025 entry they are getting rid of personal statements and replacing it with questions. There will possibly be no space on the application to mention extra curricular etc. (This is all positive & welcomed by schools and parents).

It's said time and time again but also go with where you would feel most happy to live as a family as a happy home life is the most important factor.

I don't know either school well but in terms of academic performance I would look at pre COVID results- the last 3 years have been skewed.
JAGs is known as being very academic and hard to get into, far more than St Catherine's. There are other schools in Guildford that would be considered 'more prestigious' but that doesn't mean your daughter would be happier there!
Also JAGs is in Dulwich which isn't really central London but does have good connections to central London. It's considered a very desirable place to live if you're in the nice bits!
Hopefully someone with daughters at either school can give you more info but basically JAGs is more 'academic' but St Catherine's may be a gentler experience.

I'm familiar with JAGS but don't have a daughter there - I don't think you need to worry about girls at the school being much more "streetwise" than girls at similar schools in Surrey (I don't know much about St Catherine's specifically). What I would say is that the combination of being academic, and a single sex school, means it attracts a lot of families who are fairly socially conservative. Given you are coming from overseas it may also be worth thinking about cultural diversity at each school - no idea about St C's, but the Dulwich foundation schools, particularly JAGS and DC, do have a lot of pupils whose parents have come from other places (Europe, Asia, Australasia etc.)

Thank you for those replies. It sounds like that JAGS has a high fame in London and very known as highly selective school. I appreciated your comments, particularly “more prestigious” does not mean happier, and also need to consider the number of intake in the cohort. I just want my daughter to gently settle in a new school while double check if I would have overlooked any critical element.

My close friends actually shared their views that nowadays who would care what secondary school you attended as long as you get good A-level results. And the girl will be a city person when she studies in universities in London. I am advised to weigh which living environment fits all family members more.