According to one parent, ‘incredible’ headmistress Danuta Staunton could easily be the CEO of a FTSE company, such is the skill and sure touch with which she runs this much-loved Roman Catholic school. (It still celebrates the birthday of its 19th-century founder Mary Ward, while the Shrove Tuesday fancy-dress parade is another key event in the calendar.) Most notable is how the whole community cares for the pupils. Every teacher is also a tutor; there’s both a wellbeing coordinator and a student wellbeing committee; and a Skills for Life programme instils a strong awareness of mental health. The addition of a new house won’t increase the school’s size – roughly 390 pupils – but will allow numbers in the others to be smaller, ‘thus ensuring better pastoral care for the girls’, St Mary’s explains. All the typical sports are on offer at a high level and with phenomenal facilities. Dance is a big draw, with classes in pointe, tap, contemporary and modern. Actors can participate in up to nine productions a year in the Rufus Sewell Studio, while the annual film competition sees girls scripting, producing and editing works that are adjudicated at a red carpet gala event in the summer term. Thanks to small class sizes, focused tutor groups and excellent learning support, results are impressive. Eighty per cent of A-levels came in at A*-A, and 10 per cent of recent leavers were offered Oxbridge places.
Location: St Mary's Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 9JF
Website: st-marys-ascot.co.uk
Head: Danuta Staunton, MA, since 2019; previously in Senior Leadership Team
Pupils: 390 girls: 15 day, 375 boarding
Ages: 11–18
Term fees: Day: £10,821; boarding: £15,290
Oxbridge: 10%
Admission: School’s own exam and interview
Alumnae: Lady Antonia Fraser DBE, journalist Louise Minchin
