What are The Study’s aims and ethos?
The Study is a creative and inspiring school, offering a challenging, broad and balanced curriculum. Highly nurturing and proud to be non selective at Reception, we strive for exciting opportunities and personal growth for every one of our girls.
Our ethos centres around our four values – compassion, curiosity, creativity and courage – which encapsulate what it really means to be a Study girl.
We aim to achieve more for our girls than just an excellent education, always striving to reach high, promoting creativity and individuality as we help every Study girl become the very best she can be.
What age can my daughter join The Study?
The Study is a prep school for girls aged between four and eleven.
The majority of our pupils join us in Reception aged four, but girls can join us in other year groups at any time, providing there are places available.
Why is The Study non-selective?
The Study is proudly non-selective at Reception. It’s our firm belief that every child has potential and we’re hugely experienced in taking girls at every level and supporting them to thrive.
Our teachers are skilled in finding our pupils’ strengths and talents, ensuring each child is nurtured and developed at their own pace. As a stand alone, dedicated prep school this helps us to form a view on the right senior school for your daughter to continue her education when she moves on from The Study. Our aim is to build a positive attitude to learning, self-esteem and confidence.
The Study’s excellent academic results, alongside our nurturing, inclusive and all-round education ensures our girls are consistently successful at gaining places at a wide range of impressive senior schools. We are incredibly proud of their achievements.
How is the school structured?
We have two school sites, Wilberforce House and Spencer House.
Wilberforce House occupies a beautiful spot on Wimbledon Common’s west side and is where our pre-prep pupils from Reception to Year 2 are taught. Year 3, the first year of prep, is also taught at this site.
Spencer House is on Peek Crescent, in the heart of Wimbledon Village, and is where the remaining Years, 4 through to 6, are taught.
What is the geographical catchment of Study families?
More than half of our families live close to the school, either in Wimbledon Village or in the wider SW19 area, including Wimbledon Park, Southfields and Raynes Park.
Other families come from further away including Putney, Wandsworth and Fulham. A few come from further afield, from areas such as Kingston and Surrey.
Why should I choose a girls-only school?
The Study has been a proudly all girls’ learning environment since the school was founded in 1893. Created by two characterful (and formidable!) women, Miss Sidford and Miss Farman, The Study has been building and developing our expertise in girls-only education since then.
Girls thrive in our environment. Every pupil is given the space and support to discover her strengths, passions and to find her own voice. Being an all girls school means that every opportunity is up for grabs – there’s no unconscious bias or gender stereotyping when it comes to academic subjects.
Our ethos and values have been developed with girls’ distinctive learning needs in mind and we aim to empower every Study girl to become a compassionate, curious, creative and courageous young woman.
Study girls move on to a wide range of senior schools including excellent all girls’ and co-educational settings, depending on what is the right school for each child’s onward educational journey. We believe there is no best type of school but there will be a right school for your daughter.
Why should I choose a prep school rather than a through school?
The things you are looking for from a school when your daughter is four years old are very different from the things you are looking for when your daughter is ready for senior school.
It is impossible to say, aged four, what your daughter’s strengths and interests will be in seven years, or to predict the personality of the young woman she’ll be turning into.
Our aim as a stand-alone, dedicated prep school is to nurture the individual, understanding each child for who they are, what their strengths are and what will help them to continue to grow and thrive. Our team excels in this, and is highly practised at working closely with each Study girl and her family to find the right school for her onward educational journey.
Over the last three years our girls have gone on to more than 28 different senior schools and almost 30% of the offers received have included a scholarship or award, including academic, sport, music, drama and performing arts scholarships. These figures demonstrate the breadth and variety of the girls’ successes.
What religious denomination is The Study?
The Study has always welcomed girls from all religions, and none and we are representative of the diverse world in which we live.
Traditionally, we are Christian non-denominational. We celebrate the main Christian festivals, in an inclusive way, and enjoy celebrating festivals from other religions too: in assemblies, in RE lessons and through visiting speakers. We also welcome visits from parents to give talks and promote understanding of their faith.
We have assemblies at least three times a week on both sites, and they usually begin with a hymn. Our assemblies often focus on the current value but will also cover topical themes and events. We use a wide selection of religious and non-religious stories and resources in our assemblies.
Our Religious Education curriculum covers all the major world religions and is enhanced by visits to places of worship, workshops and visiting speakers. It promotes an appreciation that everyone has beliefs and some people have religious beliefs.
Our aim, which aligns with our school values, is for children to be respectful of other people’s beliefs and cultures, as well as giving them an opportunity to reflect upon their own beliefs.
When was The Study founded?
The Study was founded in 1893 by Miss Sidford, a governess who taught in the study of a large house in Wimbledon.
From these modest beginnings, the growing school moved first to The Lecture Halls on Lingfield Road and then, in 1903, to a purpose built premises in Peek Crescent, now known as Spencer House.
In 1992 Wilberforce House, on Camp Road, was acquired to help with burgeoning pupil numbers and to provide a light, colourful and welcoming environment for our younger girls.
In 2021, the redeveloped Wilberforce House building was opened with the excellent facilities enjoyed by the girls today.
What senior schools do you feed into?
Our girls go on to attend a wide range of leading senior schools, including selective, independent day schools, boarding and grammar schools as well as local faith and secondary schools.
Wimbledon, Sutton, Putney, Surbiton and Guildford High schools, along with Lady Eleanor Holles, Notre Dame, Marymount, St Paul’s, Godolphin and Latymer and Francis Holland (SW1) are always popular choices for those wishing to continue their education in an all-girls learning environment.
Epsom College, St John’s, Kingston Grammar, Emanuel, Ibstock Place, Claremont Fan Court and Radnor House are all recognised for their co-educational excellence and are growing increasingly popular.
Boarding schools, including Brighton College, Marlborough and Stowe all provide an excellent offering for families interested in this option.
Tiffin and Nonsuch remain popular grammar school propositions, as well as the local secondary schools of Ricards Lodge High School and Ursuline High School in Wimbledon.
Of course, the schools listed here are not exhaustive but are indicative of the types of senior school education our pupils have applied to and accepted places at in recent years.
