St Mary's School Ascot

St Mary's follows the English system rather than the International Baccalaureate. Girls take nine or ten GCSE and IGCSE subjects in Years 10 and 11, with the option of an AQA Higher Project Qualification instead of a tenth subject, and Science can be taken as Double or Triple Award. In the Sixth Form most girls start four A Levels and continue with three, alongside General Religious Studies and a Skills for Life programme. A dedicated team supports university applications in the UK and abroad, including Oxbridge preparation.

St Mary's covers Years 7 to 13 (ages 11 to 18). Years 7 to 9 provide a broad curriculum including three separate sciences, French, Latin and a second modern language. Years 10 and 11 lead to GCSEs and IGCSEs. The two-year Sixth Form prepares girls for A Levels and university. Main entry points are 11+, 13+ and 16+.

St Mary's aims to provide a modern, holistic Catholic education that inspires young women to play a full part in the global community. It seeks to nurture each girl's sense of her own worth, a love of learning and independent thought, personal responsibility, kindness and a commitment to social justice, and an enjoyment of the spiritual life of the Church. Following Mary Ward, the school values freedom of spirit, sincerity and a cheerful disposition, and its motto is Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam.

The 55-acre estate combines Victorian buildings with modern additions. The Chapel sits in the main building, and girls have a Senior Library and Reading Room open from early morning to late evening, an atrium social space and the Rose Theatre with professional sound and lighting. Sports facilities include a 25m heated indoor pool, a six-lane athletics track, two floodlit AstroTurf pitches that convert to 21 tennis courts in summer, further hard courts, grass football and cricket pitches, and the Orchard Centre with a sports hall, fitness suite, squash courts and two dance studios. Sixth Formers live in purpose-built town houses around courtyards, and there is a Wellbeing Garden.

Pastoral care is built around tutors, residential staff who live within the boarding areas, a School Counsellor and an Independent Person whom girls can consult in confidence. The Health Centre is staffed by nurses 24 hours a day. The Learning Support Department screens all new pupils and provides small-group workshops and individual help where needed. Meals offer hot and cold choices and a salad bar, with a pupil Food Committee. The school organises academic, cultural and sports trips in the UK and abroad, and offers scholarships and means-tested bursaries.

St Mary's is a full boarding school, with a few day places for local girls. Younger girls share boarding areas with others in their year, most girls still share in Year 10, and every girl has her own room from Year 11. Each year group has its own common room, and residential staff live in flats within the boarding areas. Sixth Formers live in purpose-built town houses around central courtyards, with en-suite study bedrooms in the Upper Sixth. Girls may keep their own small pets in the pet shed. Boarding fees for 2025-26 are £21,912 per term.

Sport is part of every day. The main sports are hockey, netball, cricket, football, tennis and athletics, with swimming, polo, golf, squash, basketball, volleyball, badminton, gymnastics, yoga, pilates and zumba also available, and paid options such as fencing and trampolining. Girls ski in the British Schools Ski Races. The music department runs an orchestra, several choirs and a jazz band, and drama stages up to nine productions a year. Dance includes ballet, tap, pointe, contemporary and street styles. There are more than fifty clubs and societies, including debating, Model United Nations, coding and creative writing, plus the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.