Oxford High School is a private day school for girls in Oxford, England. It was founded by the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) in 1875, making it the City of Oxford's oldest girls' school.
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History
Oxford High School was opened on 3 November 1875, with twenty-nine girls and three teachers under headmistress Ada Benson, at the Judge's Lodgings (St Giles' House) at 16 St Giles', Oxford. It was the 9th school opened by the Girls' Public Day School Company. Pupils were given a holiday when the Assize Judge visited. The school moved to 38 St Giles' in 1879 and then to 21 Banbury Road at the start of 1881, in a building designed by Thomas Graham Jackson, just south of the location of another Jackson building, the Acland Nursing Home. By this time, the headmistress was Matilda Ellen Bishop.
Rapid expansion led to the ultimate removal of the school to Belbroughton Road in 1957. It became a direct grant grammar school in 1945 under the Education Act 1944 and chose to become independent in 1976 after the scheme was abolished. It absorbed two preparatory schools, Greycotes and The Squirrel, which meant girls could now be educated at Oxford High School from age 3 to Sixth Form.
Examination results
Oxford High School regularly ranks as one of the country's highest achieving independent schools in terms of examination results. The school was ranked first in the South East in a Sunday Times survey based on exam results and "value for money". In the 2011 examinations it was ranked amongst the top 20 independent schools nationwide for GCSE results and the best performing girls' school in the A Levels.
In 2006, the school became the first in Oxfordshire to make Mandarin a compulsory subject. Pupils study it for at least a year, alongside French, and can choose to either continue Mandarin or continue French.
Facilities and houses
As a day school, Oxford High does not have a boarding programme. Pupils in the senior school are divided into four houses, each named after an Ancient Greek deity:
Zeus (green)
Ares (blue)
Athena (yellow)
Poseidon (red)
Headteachers
As of 2025, the head teacher is Marina Gardiner Legge.
Marina Gardiner Legge 2019–
Philip Hills 2017–2019
Judith Carlisle 2011–2016
Felicity Lusk 1997–2010
Joan Townsend 1981–1996
Elaine Kaye 1972–1981
Mary Warnock 1966–1972
M.E. Ann Hancock 1959–1966
Violet Evelyn Stack 1937–1959
Rosalind Brown 1902–1932
Margaret Gale 1932–1936
Edith Marion Leahy 1898–1902
Lucy Helen Soulsby 1887–1897
Matilda Ellen Bishop 1879–1887
Ada Benson 1875–1879
Notable alumni
Josephine Barnes (1912–1999), first woman President British Medical Association
Ursula Bethell (1874–1945), New Zealand poet and social worker
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge
Vicky Bowman, née Robinson, former British diplomat
Emma Bridgewater, potter
Jacintha Buddicom, poet and childhood friend of George Orwell
Nancy Cadogan, artist
Muriel Chapman (1894–1988), chemist
Catherine Conybeare, academic and philologist
Charithra Chandran, actress
Gail Davey, professor of epidemiology
Cressida Dick (b. 1960), former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police
Sian Edwards, conductor
Sos Eltis, author and academic
Rebecca Flemming, classicist
Amelia Fletcher, economist and indie band singer
Diana Fox Carney, economist, climate policy expert, and wife of Mark Carney
Martha Lane Fox, entrepreneur lastminute.com