A record breaking year for Queen Anne's School, Caversham, Berkshire

Published by Queen Anne's School on Monday 24th of August 2026

Queen Anne’s School, Caversham is celebrating an exceptional summer of results, with girls achieving outstanding outcomes at both GCSE and A level. At GCSE, 29% of all grades were awarded at Grade 9, 47% at Grades 9–8 and 68% at Grades 9–7, while 100% of Upper Five students taking more than five GCSEs achieved at least five grades at 9–4, including English and Mathematics. English was once again a particular strength, with 97% of English Literature grades and 87.5% of English Language grades awarded at Grades 9–7. It continues an exceptional period for a department already recognised as No.1 in the UK independent sector for pupil progress in English. These results are not an isolated success. Queen Anne’s is ranked 5th nationally out of 344 independent schools for GCSE pupil progress, placing the school in the top 1.5% in the UK. At A level, the Class of 2026 also achieved the school’s highest proportion of A grades in eight years*, with 23% of all grades at A* and 48% at A–A*. The results are particularly striking in the context of a wider national conversation about what is happening to girls in education. BBC News reported following this year’s GCSE results that, although girls continue to outperform boys overall, the attainment gap between the sexes is narrowing. This comes against evidence that girls’ GCSE attainment has declined since before the pandemic while boys have made progress, prompting questions about why girls are beginning to lose ground. The Education Policy Institute has similarly highlighted a post-pandemic decline in girls’ attainment during secondary school and called for further investigation into links with wellbeing, school belonging and mental health. At Queen Anne’s, we are seeing a very different picture. Our girls are bucking the trend. And importantly, this is not simply about one exceptional year group. Queen Anne’s has continued to deliver strong GCSE outcomes in the years since Covid, while its A level results have continued to strengthen. For the school, it reinforces an important question: what happens when education is designed specifically for girls? In an all-girls environment, every academic achievement, leadership position, sporting captaincy and opportunity to take centre stage belongs to a girl. There are no subjects that become perceived as being more naturally suited to boys and no leadership spaces in which girls become the minority. Girls see girls leading. They see girls excelling in Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science; competing at the highest levels of sport; performing on stage; creating art; debating ideas and taking intellectual risks. That visibility matters. Research into girls’ education also points towards differences in subject choice. Girls educated in girls’ schools are significantly more likely to choose traditionally male-dominated STEM subjects at A level than their peers in co-educational schools. But the value of a girls-only education cannot be measured by examination results alone. At Queen Anne’s, the aim is to give girls the confidence to discover who they are without limiting themselves according to expectations about who they should be. It means creating an environment in which ambition is normal, making mistakes is part of learning and girls are encouraged to speak up, challenge assumptions and try something they may not initially believe is “for them”. That philosophy extends across school life — from academic teaching and the school’s award-winning approach to wellbeing, to outstanding creative arts provision and a sporting programme in which girls compete at regional, national and international level. As Head of School Ms Elaine Purves said following this year’s GCSE results: “What stands out is not only the strength of achievement across the cohort, but the progress our girls have made. At Queen Anne’s, success is never about expecting every student to fit the same mould; it is about knowing each girl, recognising where her strengths lie and giving her the support she needs.” At a time when the national picture is raising important questions about girls’ attainment, Queen Anne’s results provide an encouraging counterpoint. Girls are capable of extraordinary things. The right environment gives them the confidence, opportunity and freedom to discover just how much they can achieve. At Queen Anne’s, where she starts is only the beginning.