Wycombe Abbey
In Fide Vade
Founded in 1896 by Dame Frances Dove, previously headmistress of St Leonards School, Wycombe Abbey is one of England's most academically distinguished all-girls boarding schools, set across 170 acres of Victorian Gothic buildings, woodland, and gardens in Buckinghamshire. Dove founded the school with the explicit aim of giving girls an education equal in seriousness to that available to boys, and that founding purpose remains close to the surface of school life today.
Key Facts
Location : High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Type : All-girls, full boarding
Age Range : 11 to 18
Pupil Numbers : Approx. 650 girls
Founded : 1896
Motto : In Fide Vade ("Go in Faith")
Academic Profile
Girls at Wycombe Abbey follow a deliberately varied curriculum to GCSE and IGCSE, before A Levels in the Sixth Form, where the Carrington enrichment programme includes a piece of independent research. Its Seniors proceed to Oxford and Cambridge, alongside Imperial College London, LSE, and Ivy League universities.
Co-Curricular Life
Music is a genuine strength, with the great majority of girls learning one or two instruments and a full range of orchestras, bands, and choirs performing through the year. Drama and dance are equally lively, with girls writing, designing, and staging their own productions in the school's theatre alongside an annual dance show. Sport is led by a distinguished lacrosse tradition, with the school a former National Schools champion and its match against Eton a fixture of the calendar, across some two dozen sports supported by extensive playing fields, a sports centre, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool, all set within 170 acres of Victorian Gothic buildings, woodland, and gardens.
Admissions Essentials
Girls join Wycombe Abbey at 11, 13, or 16, with the majority entering at 11. For 11+ entry into Year 7, registration takes place by the start of the summer term of Year 5. Candidates sit the ISEB Common Pre-Test in the autumn term of Year 6, alongside a school reference, and selected candidates are invited to an Assessment Day at the school in November of Year 6, comprising a group activity, an interview, and exams in English and Maths, with firm offers following in December. For 13+ entry, registration takes place in the summer term of Year 7, ahead of a cognitive abilities assessment and a school reference. Selected candidates are invited to an Assessment Day at the school in the spring term of Year 8, comprising exams in English, Maths, Humanities, and a modern foreign language, an interview, and a practical science assessment, with offers following shortly after. At both 11+ and 13+ entry, scholarships and exhibitions are available in academic and music categories, with choral awards also offered within the music category.
In Essence
For a girl with a real love of learning and the drive to go far, Wycombe Abbey offers a close full-boarding community in which ambition and aspiration are shared by all, and every girl is expected to reach high.