The tragic amounts it costs to go to the highest achieving UK private schools in 2024

Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does seem to buy 9s at GCSE. The Telegraph used data from the Independent Schools Council to work out which UK private schools did the best in GCSEs in 2024. Here are the 10 UK private schools where students got top grades (which The Telegraph defines as a 7, 8 or 9) in their GCSEs in 2024, and how crushingly expensive it is to go to them.

Bear in mind that a few of the most famous and most snobby UK private schools – including Eton College, Harrow School and Winchester College – don’t give their data to the Independent Schools Council, so they can’t be included in league tables.

The fees are all for a year in sixth form, according to each school’s website.

10. Withington Girls’ School – £15,576

The girls at this day school in Manchester just did well enough in their GCSEs this year to make the top ten. 93.06 per cent of grades were 7s, 8s or 9s. Withington Girls’ School costs £15,576, which makes it the least extortionately expensive private school on this list.

9. South Hampstead High School GDST – £24,474

God, this school looks gloomy
(Credit: ceridwen via Creative Commons)

South Hampstead High School compensates for its ugly buildings with the promise of good grades. 93.21 per cent of GCSE exams in 2024 were grades 7 or above. It’s a girls’ day school, and costs £24,474 per year.

8. Brighton College – £55,470

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This is by far the most expensive private school to make this list. Boarding in sixth form costs £55,470. Yikes. Brighton College is known for it’s bouginess and for being dragged in The Telegraph for being too woke. 94.2 per cent of the students got 7s or higher in their GCSES this year.

7. Wimbledon High School GDST – £24,891

GDST stands for the Girls’ Day School Trust – it’s this organisation of 25 private girls’ schools with a separate set of admissions exams. 94.3 per cent of the GCSE students at Wimbledon High School got top grades in 2024. Their fees were £24,891 each year.

6. City of London School For Girls – £25,206

If this school was a university, I’d be nominating it for The Tab’s ugliest UK unis poll. The buildings are brutalist, and I mean that in a derogatory way. However, City of London School for Girls produces great GCSE grades. 94.76 per cent of the girls got 7s or above. It’s a day school, so costs £25,206 a year.

5. King Edward VI High School for Girls – £17,862

This all girls’ day school is really cheap (in comparison to Brighton College, anyway). A year of fees at King Edward VI High School for Girls adds up to just £17,862. That’s a small fortune, as opposed to a very large fortune. 95.1 per cent of the GCSE results in 2024 were 7s or higher.

4. Wycombe Abbey –  £50,925

This all girls’ school is in the middle of the Buckinghamshire countryside, so is for parents willing to pay a small fortune to keep their daughters as far away from boys as possible. 96.97 per cent of Wycombe Abbey girls get top grades in their GCSEs. Boarding there for a year will set you back  £50,925.

3. Guildford High School – £22,308

I guarantee the Year Elevens have Macbooks bigger than they are
(Credit: Colin Smith via Creative Commons license)

At this day school for girls, 98.09 of people get top grades at GCSE. This supposedly justifies the harrowing fees at Guildford High School of £22,308 each year.

2. King’s College School, Wimbledon – £30,326

This isn’t even a boarding school, yet it still charges £30,326 per year. They must be getting caviar and truffles for lunch. 98.26 per cent of GCSE exams at King’s College School resulted in top grades.

1. Westminster School – £52,488

Westminster School is the brainiest in the country (or at least, the school where students seem to get the most A*s in the country). It really is right in the heart of Westminster, so the rich children can stare out the window at the Houses of Parliament and daydream about how they too could wreck the country one day. 98.59 per cent of students got 7s or higher. Success isn’t cheap – boarding there in sixth form costs a truly tragic £52,488.

Feature image credit: Antiquary via Creative Commons. Image was resized.

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