Facts & Figures

Membership

• The Girls’ Schools Association (‘GSA’) represents the heads of the UK’s independent girls’ schools.
• GSA member schools educate over 100,000 pupils at 179 schools. Approximately 9,500 of these are boarders.(i)
• Girls’ Day School Trust school heads are part of the GSA.

Market Share

• Nearly 40% of the girls in the UK’s ISC accredited independent schools go to GSA schools.(i)
• There are more single sex schools for girls in the UK than there are for boys – 66% of single sex schools in the independent sector are girls’ schools.(i)

Public Examination Performance

• In 2011, 22.3% of A Level exam entries from GSA girls were awarded the top A* grade, as compared with 18.3% from girls from co-educational independent schools.(ii)
• 59.6% of A Level exam entries from GSA girls were awarded grade A or higher (ie A / A*) in 2011, as compared with 52.8% from girls from co-educational independent schools.(ii)

Higher Education

• 95% of GSA sixth formers go on to higher education and 92.5% to university. This is the highest university transition rate in the independent schools sector.(i)

Educational Initiatives

• GSA schools are at the forefront of national developments – eg the first independent school to be awarded Training School status in 2011 was a GSA school.(iii)
• The GSA organises inter-school conferences for pupils as well as its head teacher members. They include:
  - Girls Go Gold – an annual event to inspire young female sportswomen, featuring top speakers such as, in 2011, gold medallist athlete Dame Kelly Holmes
  - Science Festival – a celebration and dissection of the latest scientific discoveries and developments with cutting edge key note speakers.
• Girls in over 68% of GSA schools routinely represent their country at international level in their chosen sport and over 87% of GSA schools have pupils who compete at national level.(iv)
• GSA schools are involved in a wide variety of – often pioneering – partnerships with business, the arts, universities and other schools. The Business School at Harrogate Ladies College and the Academy Schools projects of James Allen’s Girls’ School are just two examples.

History

• The GSA can trace its origins back to 1874 when the movement for girls’ education was gathering momentum and The Association of Head Mistresses was born. In 1974 two of this association’s sub-groups – the Association of Heads of Girls’ Boarding Schools and the Association of Independent and Direct Grant Schools – merged to form the Girls’ Schools Association.

(i) Independent Schools Council 2010 Census
(ii) Independent Schools Council 2011 Exam Results Survey
(iii) King Edward VI High School for Girls
(iv) 2011 survey of over 180 GSA members and associate members