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Godolphin
Godolphin
Godolphin
Godolphin
top 200
Godolphin Salisbury, Wiltshire Visit
school
Godolphin
Salisbury
430 pupils, ages 11-18
Girls only
Day and Boarding

Godolphin

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Our view

This might be one of the oldest single-sex boarding schools in the country, but there’s nothing stuck in the past about this Salisbury senior where pupils are instantly recognisable by their signature blue pinny uniforms. It’s refreshingly down to earth, parents work hard to send their daughters here and greatly value the opportunities that Godolphin has to offer.

Where?

Winding through the streets of Victorian villas around Milford Hill, overlooking Salisbury, we felt like the handsome but modest red-brick main building was a pleasant distance from the bustle. Salisbury dwellers will have to contend with the occasional bottleneck on their drive to Godolphin but once at the school, there is ample parking and even enough space for the sixth-formers we spotted to begin and end their driving lessons in the spacious car park.

The train station is 20 minutes away on foot and the school has a handful of bus routes from local towns and villages, but is always happy to consider additional pick-ups where demand arises. London is only 90 minutes away by train, making it easily accessible for boarders.

Head

Jenny Price came to Godolphin in 2018 as deputy head pastoral, before officially taking on the top job in January 2023. She is warm and relaxed with a kindly aura and a keen understanding of what pupils need both academically and pastorally to succeed and, indeed, to be happy.

‘My aim is not to change the school,’ she says emphatically, although she also recognises that in education, change is the only constant and so they can’t afford to stand still either. But it’s more about ‘growing Godolphin and making sure that we have a sustainable future rather than change for change’s sake,’ she explains.

And she’s right not to want to reinvent the wheel, as the past year has seen the highest A-level grades the school has ever recorded and value-added scores that are the best they can be.

But all heads should have a grand plan tucked away somewhere and, if finances and planning permission were not a barrier, Mrs Price’s would be a dedicated STEAM area bursting with eco-credentials so let’s watch this space. Sustainability is a high priority for this head, and with a green-flag accreditation under the school’s belt already, it’s a momentum that she is eager to maintain. Keen to remain visible among the pupils, Mrs Price has retained her Year 8 tutor group and has also taken over the previous head’s role as leader of the orchestra. From September, she will also teach music to the Year 7 cohort, making certain that she gets to know every child from the very beginning of their senior journey.

Admissions

The main joining points are at 11+, 13+ and 16+. Traditional open days have been ditched in favour of Snapshot Mornings (involving a tour with Year 8 or 9 girls and a Q&A with the head) for a more informal and personal experience and prospective pupils can then come along for a taster day.

Around 75 per cent of girls at Godolphin prep will make their way up the hill to the senior, and there’s no need to sit any tests if they have been in the Godolphin fold for at least two years. Pupils from other schools will need to take formal tests in maths and English, have an interview with the head and provide a reference from their current school – although it all falls under the banner of ‘softly selective’, which we think is rather nice. Bursaries are available and there are scholarships for academics, sport, drama, art and music.

Academic and university destinations

There are three classes in Year 7, rising to four or five forms in Year 9 with roughly 18 pupils per class but often with much smaller teaching groups for GCSE and A-level. The 65-minute lessons are interspersed with regular breaks and lunchtime is a generous 70 minutes, meaning that girls have plenty of time to take part in a club or activity or catch up on any admin. Years 7 to 10 work on school-leased Surface Pro laptops.

The science department is a belter and is famous for its annual science week and the ever-popular all-school inter-house quiz. The approach to learning here, as with everything else at Godolphin, is about the individual. Pupils are allocated tutors according to the style of care they will best respond to and guided to choose subjects they will enjoy.

Career guidance is excellent, with a range of initiatives such as ‘Find Your Future Friday’ and the Bright Futures programme, which brings in inspirational speakers – from a vet to a fashion stylist, a psychologist to a financier – to encourage the children to think about a very wide variety of careers. There’s also a buddy system linking current pupils with career-relevant old girls for a more personal viewpoint.

Results are solid, with 2022 seeing the school's best-ever A-level results, but it’s the value-added scores that are seriously noteworthy and something parents should certainly acknowledge.

Not counting one deferral, every single one of last year’s leavers got into their first choice of university which the school feels is a success of both their academic and pastoral approach. Staff know their pupils so well that they are able to help them select courses for themselves that are aspirational yet achievable. Destinations have been more varied than ever (but still included both Oxford and Cambridge last year) and students are choosing UK courses with work and travel built in rather than running the gauntlet of lengthy American or European applications.

Interest in apprenticeships has reached an all-time high (one recent pupil bagged a place at the Dyson Institute) and parental buy-in is excellent as they value how well the school knows their daughter and what makes them tick. In short, Godolphin doesn’t have a standard exit – because there's no such thing as a standard pupil.

Co-curricular

A flurry of recent team wins and some high-performing individuals have put Godolphin back on the sporting map of late. The small suburban campus doesn’t afford a huge amount of pitch space, but the recently resurfaced tennis courts provide a useful multi-sports pitch and the indoor pool is a superb bonus. Participation is key, but the balance is struck accurately enough for those pupils with sporting talents to be able to play for their county or club outside of school hours.

Art is definitely a flagship department, and the standard really is knock-your-socks-off brilliant. Mr Egg (Nick Eggleton) is the art dynamo behind this success and his three-stage art rotation gives girls an opportunity to try their hand at a variety of techniques, as well as being wowed and inspired by the school’s own artist-in-residence.

Drama too is top drawer, and the purpose-built theatre has retractable tiered seating to offer maximum flexibility. Annual performances alternate between a whole-school production and an upper and a lower school play, but all are extremely impressive. Music has received a boost too with the appointment of a new director of music who will no doubt make their mark.

For extracurricular enrichment, there’s a whole host of clubs and activities that take place either at lunchtime or after school. CCF and DofE are huge – last year saw a school-record-breaking five- team entry into the Ten Tors CCF Challenge with one pupil even offering to hike the longer route with another school who had lost a teammate just days before. ‘This is where pupils learn resilience,’ says the head, ‘you can’t sit children down and teach them about resilience in the classroom’ – and sure enough, everyone was in school on time the next day, albeit with special permission to wear flip-flops on their blistered feet.

The on-site Leiths cookery school is a massive bonus for girls wanting practical skills to supplement their academic studies.

Boarding

There are four boarding houses: Walters for the junior boarders (ages eight to 13), Cooper for Years 9,10 and 11 and School & Jerred House for the sixth form (known here at the Godolphin Sixth). We hung out in Cooper, home to 60 boarders and a spacious and buzzy environment with pupils happily beetling in and out to sign in for lunchtime registration, attend the Friday talk or change for activities and games. All unobtrusively supervised by the Cooper house staff (affectionately known as ‘the dream team’) strategically positioned to just keep an eye on everyone or, as we saw, ready to whisk any worried-looking individuals off for a cup of tea and a reassuring chat.

Pupils can full board, flexi board or day board, and numbers increase as you go higher up the school with around 60 per cent of girls boarding at some point during their time here. Boarding for the Godolphin Sixth takes on a more university-like vibe, with more independence and facilities for pupils to do their own laundry – although amusingly the girls themselves seemed unaware that this was an option.

Weekends offer a change of pace – there’s no Saturday school and so boarders will take part in activities, go into town or catch up on prep before the afternoon sports matches. Despite the flexibility, there remains a significant cohort of boarders here at the weekend.

School community

Godolphin has between 35 and 40 staff with mental-health training, and pastoral care is much more than window dressing here. Staff across the board really do seem to take very good care of all the pupils. We noticed multiple phone calls in the boarding house just checking where people were, swapping info on who is doing what and even the marketing department sometimes uses social media posts and PR as a thoughtful way to boost a pupil’s morale. The individual is very important here – and as an ex-pastoral lead, this is a cause the new head is keen to champion.

And finally...

Godolphin’s newly announced values are a genuinely good summary of the school itself, as is the fact that ‘ambitious, authentic, courageous and kind’ are intended mantras for pupils and staff alike. Staff evidently get on well with each other and the professional, yet relaxed and convivial atmosphere must surely rub off on the pupils – it’s friendly, thoughtful, unstuffy and genuinely delightful.

Gallery See All

Girl in blue helmet and white pads batting in cricket
Girls in white lab coats and safety glasses doing a science experiment
Girl playing lacrosse in blue sports kit with a black and yellow stick
Music teacher in a suit conducting a girls orchestra playing musical instruments
Girls outside one in a white apron holding a blue baton
Selfie in front of the hockey goal with the whole team in red and blue sports kit
Girls on stage in drama production wearing jeans, shirts and blazers
Girls in blue and red tops cheering on holding hockey sticks
Girl with red face paint running on athletics track in white top and black shorts
  • Academic results

    GCSE results
    A level results
    Download results as PDF
  • University destinations

    3% of leavers went on to Oxford or Cambridge university.
    61% of leavers went on to a Russell Group university.
  • Subjects offered

    GCSE

    Art & Design
    Biology
    Business Studies
    Chemistry
    Classical Civilisation
    Computer Science
    Design and Technology
    Drama and Theatre Studies
    English Language
    English Literature
    Food Technology
    French
    Geography
    History
    Information Technology
    Latin
    Mathematics
    Physics
    Religious Studies
    Spanish
    Geology

    A Level

    Ancient Greek
    Art & Design
    Biology
    Business Studies
    Chemistry
    Classical Civilisation
    Computer Science
    Design and Technology
    Drama and Theatre Studies
    Economics
    English Language
    English Literature
    Food Technology
    French
    Further Mathematics
    Geography
    History
    History of Art
    Information Technology
    Latin
    Mathematics
    Music
    Physical Education
    Physics
    Psychology
    Religious Studies
    Spanish
    Geology
    Classics
  • Fees and bursaries

    Day fees per term

    Year 7£7,385
    Year 8 £7,385
    Year 9 £7,385
    Year 10£8,205
    Year 11£8,205
    Year 12£8,205
    Year 13£8,205
    Boarding fees per term

    Year 7£10,625
    Year 8 £10,625
    Year 9 £10,625
    Year 10 £12,465
    Year 11£12,465
    Year 12£12,465
    Year 13£12,465




    Bursaries
    Godolphin has a wide variety of scholarships offered for a number of different disciplines and circumstances at 11+, 13+ and 16+. It also offers a means-tested bursary programme that can either supplement existing scholarship awards or stand alone, giving up to 100 per cent fee remission depending on need. Bursaries are either awarded on entry at 13+ and 16+ or as hardship bursaries that are ringfenced to support existing families whose financial situation has changed.

    For more information, contact Director of Admissions, Corinna Florence: admissions@godolphin.org

    godolphin.org/admissions/bursaries-scholarships
    godolphin.org/resources/downloads/Scholarship-Booklet.pdf 

    Bursary contact:
    Director of Admissions Corinna Florence
    florencec@godolphin.org
  • SEND

    This school currently supports the following kinds of learning needs, health needs and physical disabilities:
    The school's Learning Support Department supports students who have additional needs around the curriculum. Once a teacher has identified a learning need, Godolphin's Head of Learning Support, Mrs Claire Firth, meets with the student and her parents before an assessment by an Educational Psychologist, Specialist Teacher, Occupational Therapist, Speech and Language Therapist or Vision Therapist.



    This school currently delivers the following interventions to pupils in class and outside class to support their learning, health and/or physical needs:
    Following an assessment and once there is a clear diagnosis, the student will receive one-to-one support. If the student needs support but doesn’t have a specific learning need, a member of Godolphin's support staff will work with them to manage their needs. If they have a specific learning difficulty, one of the Dyslexia trained teachers will teach them during school hours and they will remain part of the core curriculum. When possible, they will be taken out of non-core subjects for additional lessons before school starts, at lunch times or after school. All additional lessons are organised by the Learning Support department with agreement from the students, parents and teachers.

    This school currently provides the following support for pupils' mental health needs
    The school's pastoral team support all students. The School Nurse and School Chaplain offer support on a day to day basis. Additional support can be provided from the School Counsellor. They have an active programme of events where Wellbeing is at the forefront. Their aim is to support students, parents and staff alike.

    Co-ordinator: Mrs Claire Firth admissions@godolphin.org
  • Transport links

    School Transport
    School daily bus network

    Public Transport
    Nearest mainline train station: Salisbury
    Journey time to London by train: 90 minutes
    Nearest international airport: Bournemouth (25 miles)


School Updates

  • Godolphin’s ISI Inspection Report 2023 ‘Excellent’ in All Areas

    Godolphin is proud to announce 'Excellent' inspection results from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) 2023.
    Godolphin’s ISI Inspection Report 2023 ‘Excellent’ in All Areas
  • Two Lower Sixth students selected for the U20 England National Lacrosse Academy

    Two Lower Sixth students selected for the U20 England National Lacrosse Academy
  • See Goldophin School in our All-through Schools Guide.

    See Goldophin School in our All-through Schools Guide.
  • See Godolphin School in our Senior Boarding Schools Guide.

    See Godolphin School in our Senior Boarding Schools Guide.
  • Students Step-Up to Fashion Project

    Salisbury is not normally associated with luxury fashion, but some young students from Salisbury are challenging this. Godolphin’s art students designed bespoke boots, after being inspired by an art project.
    Students Step-Up to Fashion Project
  • Godolphin releases World Premiere of motet by Master of Queen's Music

    Godolphin releases World Premiere of motet by Master of Queen's Music

Godolphin is
linked with:

Essentials

Address
Milford Hill, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 2RA

Contact
admissions@godolphin.org
01722 430500

Website
godolphin.org

ISI Report

Fees

Term Dates


Open Days

Open days and how to visit View Open Days Register for open Day

Senior Snapshot Morning
23 June 2023


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