Prior's Field is an independent girls' boarding and day school in Guildford, Surrey in the south-east of England. Founded in 1902 by Julia Huxley, it stands in 42 acres of parkland, 34 miles south-west of London and adjacent to the A3 road, which runs between the capital and the south coast.
Today, the school has 350 pupils aged 11 to 18 attend Prior's Field, with a third of UK and foreign students boarding on a full, weekly or flexible basis. The Headteacher is Ms Zoe Ireland, who joined in 2024 from Farnborough Hill, Surrey and is the school's 12th head.
Prior's Field pupils typically take 10 GCSEs in Year 11 and have a choice of 24 A-levels in the Sixth Form. In 2024, at A Level, 51 per cent of girls achieved A*/A grades, 76 per cent A-B grades and the pass rate was 100 per cent. At GCSE, 28 per cent gained A* grades, 42 per cent A*-A and 61 per cent A*–B. Students participate in over 40 termly clubs, including creative writing, model UN, philosophy, drone club, chess and debating. A supportive university application process ensures that girls move to higher education, the majority to Russell Group universities.
Prior's Field School opened on 23 January 1902, with only seven pupils. It was founded by Julia Huxley, the mother of Julian Huxley and Aldous Huxley, niece of the poet Matthew Arnold and granddaughter of Dr Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby School, immortalised in the novel Tom Brown's Schooldays . The Huxley Family is interesting historically for achievements across the fields of science, medicine, literature and education. Julian Huxley became a biologist, the first Director of UNESCO and a founder member of the World Wildlife Fund. Aldous Huxley was the author of Brave New World (1932). [1] W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and Lewis Carroll were family friends. The school motto, "We live by Admiration, Hope and Love," is from The Excursion by William Wordsworth.
Starting with a five-acre (2 ha) plot and a moderately sized house designed by C.F.A. Voysey, Julia Huxley opened her school with one boarder, five day girls, a wire-haired terrier and her 7+1⁄2-year-old son, Aldous. [1]
Julia Huxley was married to Leonard Huxley, a biographer and writer and former assistant master at Charterhouse School. She died in 1908 at the age of 46, after only six years as Headmistress, and was succeeded by Mrs Ethel Burton-Brown, who was Head from 1908 to 1927. The school magazine first appeared in June 1908, by which time there were 85 pupils and 86 Old Girls. [1]
Both Julia Huxley and Ethel Burton-Brown are buried in Compton Cemetery, the grave of the latter being designed by Mary Watts, wife of the painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts (1817–1904).
Prior's Field, originally called Prior's Garth, was designed by prominent English Arts and Crafts movement architect C.F.A. Voysey. The house has been Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England since May 1985. [2]
Many of Voysey's original features – stylised keyholes, door handles, air vents, and fireplaces – can still be seen in the school today, for instance in the Oak Hall, the Senior Common Room and the Bursary offices. The additions to the original house – formerly known as Private Side – were designed by Voysey's pupil, Thomas Müntzer. [3]
The design of Prior's Field's rose garden was created by Leonard Huxley in collaboration with Gertrude Jekyll. It includes herbaceous borders, dry Bargate stone walls, a dipping pond and rock garden. In the early years, the care of the gardens was in the hands of lady gardeners trained at Swanley Horticultural College. [3]
To mark the school's centenary in 2002, a £1.2 million sports hall was built. Designed in the style of Voysey and named the Centenary Sports Hall, it was opened by the physiologist and biophysicist Andrew Huxley, the recipient of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and younger son of Leonard Huxley by his second marriage to Rosalind Bruce. [3]
The 110th anniversary of Prior's Field's foundation was marked in 2012 by a service in Guildford Cathedral, construction of an all-weather sports pitch opened by the British Olympian hockey player Crista Cullen, and the annual Huxley Lecture in memory of the school's founder, delivered by the scientist and academic Susan Greenfield in November.
In September 2013, actress Diana Rigg opened a new three-storey teaching centre, siting the Creative Arts subjects in one area, providing six additional classrooms, a new school entrance and facilities for maths and modern languages.
In March 2017, the former Prior's Field Head Julie Roseblade opened a new Science, Technology and Music Centre, named the Arnold Building in memory of the school's founder, Julia Huxley. [4]
The main entry ages for Prior's Field are 11+, 13+ and 16+. Girls attend a Preview Day in October, when they undertake a series of activities and have an informal interview; They then sit an Entrance Exam in the November. At 16+, entrance is dependent on GCSE results and the outcome of an interview. [6]
Leonard Huxley was an English schoolteacher, writer and editor.
University College School, also known as UCS, is a private day school in Frognal, Hampstead, London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views.
North London Collegiate School (NLCS) is a private day school for girls in England. Founded in Camden Town, it is now located in Edgware, in the London Borough of Harrow. Associate schools are located in South Korea, Jeju Island, Dubai, Vietnam, and Singapore, all of which are coeducational day and boarding schools offering the British curriculum. It is a member of the Girls' Schools Association.
The Huxley family is an English family; several of its members have excelled in science, medicine, arts and literature. The family also includes members who occupied senior positions in the public service of the United Kingdom.
St Catherine's School is an independent girls' boarding and day school in the village of Bramley, near Guildford, Surrey, England. The school is divided into a senior school, for ages 11–18, and a preparatory school for girls aged 3–11.
Oxford High School is a private day school for girls in Oxford, England. It was founded by the Girls' Day School Trust in 1875, making it the city's oldest girls' school.
Nailsea School, located in Nailsea, North Somerset, England, is a mixed secondary school and sixth form. It has Technology and Media Arts College specialist school status, and became an academy on 1 September 2012. Academy status means Nailsea School now receives funding directly from the government, where before it was funded by the local authority, however the daily running of the school stays much the same.
Prior Park College is a co-educational public school for both boarding and day pupils in Bath, south-west England. Its main building, Prior Park, stands on a hill overlooking the city and is a Grade I listed building. The adjoining 57-acre (23 ha) Prior Park Landscape Garden was donated by Prior Park to the National Trust.
Leighton Park School is a co-educational private school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having been founded as a Quaker School in 1890. The school's ethos is described as achievement with values, character and community. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England.
St Dominic's Grammar School for Girls, formerly St Dominic's High School and originally St. Mary's Dominican Convent, is a Catholic grammar school for girls aged 11–18, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Wimbledon High School is a private girls' day school in Wimbledon, South West London. It is a Girls' Day School Trust school and is a member of the Girls' Schools Association.
Headington School is an independent girls' school in Headington, Oxford, England, founded by a group of evangelical Christians in 1915.
The Henrietta Barnett School is a grammar school with academy status for girls, in Hampstead Garden Suburb in London. The Good Schools Guide called the school 'One of the best academic state schools in the country, providing a gentle, inspiring education in a wonderful setting for very clever girls', and the school consistently ranks amongst the top state schools in educational league tables. The school was named among the 'magnificent seven' in 2005, following three mentions as being 'outstanding' in Ofsted's inspections. Following its latest Ofsted inspection in May 2022, the school was recategorised as "Good".
St Mary's School Ascot is a Roman Catholic independent day and boarding school for girls in Ascot, Berkshire, England. It is a member of the Girls' Schools Association. It was named 2015 "Public School of the Year" at the annual Tatler Schools Awards. It was ranked No. 1 in the U.K. by The Daily Telegraph in the 2018 GCSEs.
Harrogate Ladies' College is a private boarding and day school located in the town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a girls' senior school in 1893, the college includes Highfield Prep School and educates girls from ages 2 to 18 and boys up to age 11. It is a member of the Girls' Schools Association and Allied Schools.
Sherborne Girls, formally known as Sherborne School for Girls, is an independent day and boarding school for girls, located in Sherborne, North Dorset, England. There were 485 pupils attending in 2019–2020, with more than 90 per cent of them living on campus in the seven boarding houses. Recognition for Sherborne Girls has included a double "excellent" rating in its Independent Schools Inspectorate Report and the title of Best Public School of The Year at the Tatler Schools Awards 2017/2018.
Brighton Girls, formerly Brighton and Hove High School, is a private day school for girls aged 4 to 18 in the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England and is part of the Girls' Day School Trust.
St Swithun's School is an independent day, weekly and full-boarding school for girls in Winchester, Hampshire. It is named after Saint Swithun, a Bishop of Winchester and patron saint of Winchester Cathedral.
Ashford School is a coeducational private boarding and day school in East Hill, Ashford, Kent. There are 480 students in the senior school and 360 in the prep school.
JuliaHuxley was a British scholar. She founded Prior's Field School for girls, in Godalming, Surrey in 1902.
| Towns, villages and hamlets |
|  | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parks | |||||
| Churches |
| ||||
| Education |
| ||||
| Transport | |||||
| Buildings and structures | |||||
| Sport |
| ||||
