Quick answer. St Paul's Girls' School appointed a new High Mistress in summer 2025. The W6 day school continues to operate without a uniform and without formal Year-7 exams, and is adding a structured pastoral programme led by a new Deputy Head of Pastoral Care. The school remains in the most selective tier of London independent admissions, with entry at 11+ and 16+, and means-tested bursaries below a £150,000 household-income threshold.
On this page
- A new High Mistress at St Paul's Girls' School
- What continues at SPGS
- What's new
- SPGS in context
- Admissions at SPGS
- Key facts at a glance
- What this means for parents
- FAQs
A new High Mistress at St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School appointed a new High Mistress in summer 2025. The role is the senior leadership position at the W6 day school, equivalent to the headship at comparable independent schools.
The new High Mistress joined SPGS in summer 2025 after roughly two decades in senior leadership at independent girls' schools in the Ascot area, where she had been head of one school for nine years and deputy head of another for ten. The earlier part of her teaching career was in mixed-sex and boys' independent schools outside London.
The previous incumbent's tenure ran for the preceding period and is not the subject of this update. In line with standard editorial practice, the school's former head is not named here.
On strategic direction, the school has signalled continuity on its most distinctive policies and an expansion of its pastoral provision. The school has framed exam results as a byproduct of the education rather than the goal, and has reiterated its position that academic rigour should sit inside the classroom rather than in external signalling. The Sixth Form remains research-led and the school continues to publish destination data at the top of the national range.
What continues at SPGS
Several long-standing policies at St Paul's Girls' School pre-date the leadership change and are being retained.
The school does not require a uniform. The policy applies to staff as well as pupils. The school's no-uniform policy is framed as part of a culture focused on classroom work rather than on visible markers of academic identity.
The school does not run formal exams in Year 7, and many papers in the first year are ungraded. The school's stated position is that academic feedback at the start of senior school should be formative rather than ranked, and that the transition into a highly selective environment does not need to be amplified by an early grades regime.
The school continues to take a deliberately non-competitive posture once pupils are in. The selection process is among the most competitive in the country; the internal culture is designed not to amplify that competition further. Entry remains at 11+ into Year 7 and at 16+ into the Sixth Form. There is no 13+ entry.
What's new
The school has appointed a new Deputy Head of Pastoral Care with a brief covering adolescent neuroscience and structured conversations with pupils about regulation and the teenage brain. The work is being foregrounded in school communications in a way it was not under the previous regime.
The school has also expanded its parent-engagement programme. A more active parents' guild and a series of set-piece events, including events for families who hold 11+ offers but have not yet accepted, are part of the new approach. The school has noted that London day schools have historically given less attention to parent engagement than out-of-London schools, and the current programme is positioned to close that gap.
The pastoral framing also includes a modelled-balance element, in which the school's leadership references its own routine, including time away from the building in the evenings, as part of the wider message to pupils about workload and recovery.
SPGS in context
Sector consultancies continue to place St Paul's Girls' School in the most selective tier of London independent admissions, alongside Westminster and St Paul's. Published 11+ score guidance from industry briefings indicates that successful candidates sit well above the assessment's minimum threshold.
The school's bursary policy, in line with the wider St Paul's policy, means-tests awards against a household-income threshold below £150,000, with the value of each award scaled to assessed need. The threshold sits above the bursary income limits at several London independent peers, though competition for awards is correspondingly intense.
Admissions at SPGS
Girls join SPGS at 11+ into Year 7 or at 16+ into the Sixth Form. The 11+ uses a written assessment and interview. The 16+ uses subject-specific tasks alongside an interview. There is no 13+ entry, which sets SPGS apart from boys' schools at the same tier. The school has begun running events specifically for 11+ offer holders ahead of the acceptance deadline.
Key facts at a glance
- Leadership: new High Mistress appointed summer 2025
- Location: Brook Green, W6 / Hammersmith
- Type: Day girls, 11-18
- Entry points: 11+ and 16+ (no 13+ entry)
- Uniform: none
- Year 7 exams: none
- Selectivity tier: most selective, per sector consultancies
- Bursary income threshold: below £150,000 household income
What this means for parents
- Treat the no-uniform and no-Year-7-exams policies as confirmed continuing features, not as items under review.
- Ask at open days how academic feedback is delivered in Year 7 in the absence of formal exams.
- Probe the pastoral structure: form-tutor system, how the school identifies a struggling pupil early, how the neuroscience-led work lands for an individual girl.
- Check the parent-engagement calendar: parents' guild events, year-group socials, 11+ offer-holder events.
- For bursary candidates, confirm the household-income threshold and the supporting financial documentation required.
