St Catherine’s, Bramley

Whether you are visiting the site as a prospective parent, or an existing or past member of the School, we hope you will find everything you need and will enjoy looking in on a thriving School Community.

St Catherine’s is an academically selective Church of England School with a strong focus on roundedness. It offers all its pupils access to a first rate education in the broadest sense. There are approximately 900 pupils, aged 4 - 18, including some 270 in the Preparatory School, 120 boarders in the Senior School (boarding is from 11+) and 175 in the Sixth Form.

Founded in 1885 as a girls’ school for day and boarding pupils, the School’s traditions are well established. The first hundred and thirty years of its history reflect the School’s steady evolution into a forward-looking educational establishment for girls and young women which still retains the best values of the past whilst embracing new educational approaches and committing to preparing young women for their ongoing education and lives beyond School. In September 2015 the School celebrated its 130th Anniversary and remains proud of its past and optimistic for its future.

In 2014 we were proud to welcome Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall, on a visit during which she officially opened the 125th Anniversary Halls and the refurbished Speech Hall Library. Her links with the School go back to her great, great grandfather, Lord Ashcombe, one of our Founders, and in 2015 we were delighted that she agreed to become our Patron.

Set in the beautiful countryside of the Surrey Hills, 3 miles south of Guildford, the School’s 25 acre campus in the village of Bramley, boasts up-to-date facilities - all on site - as well as attractive boarding accommodation for Senior School pupils.

Our pupils enjoy outstanding success in every field - academic, sporting, cultural - and we are proud of all that we help them to achieve. We then watch with equal pride the many things that our alumnae go on to achieve in their lives and professional careers beyond School, and welcome them back warmly as lifelong members of the St. Catherine’s Association who provide invaluable careers input and networks for our current pupils.

By creating an environment in which their confidence can grow, we ensure that our girls thrive. How do we create such an exceptional environment? By treating each girl as an individual, by constant encouragement and by striving to ensure that every pupil is happy at school. St. Catherine’s is about education in its broadest sense. Moreover, as a girls' school, St Catherine's ensures that its students develop in an environment which suggests to them in everything they see around them that there is nothing that a woman cannot achieve.

We believe that St Catherine's girls are well placed to pursue their further education when they leave school at eighteen as independent, sensible, caring and competent young women who will have much to offer in life. We provide sound advice and guidance on further education and careers and we prepare them to take their place as citizens of the world.

Academic results are important - the school is comfortably placed in the infamous league tables - but we believe that there is much more to an all-round education for the young women of the 21st century. Our hallmarks are the breadth of opportunity afforded to our students and the special atmosphere of support and encouragement. The philosophy that happiness at school is the key to success and enjoyment for each individual underpins everything we do.