Prior's Field School

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. Current ratings Today, the school has 440 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 Mrs Tracy Kirnig, who joined in 2015 from Caterham School, Surrey and is the school's 11th head. In a 2011 report, the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) awarded Prior's Field its top rating – excellent – across all categories of inspection. Prior's Field pupils typically take 9 GCSEs in Year 11 and have a choice of 24 A-levels in the Sixth Form. In 2016, at A-level, 15 per cent of girls achieved A* grades, 76 per cent A-B grades and the pass rate was 100 per cent. At GCSE, 28 per cent gained A* grades, 55 per cent A*-A and 79 per cent A*–B. Students participate in over 40 termly clubs, including silversmithing, philosophy, riding, chess and debating. A supportive university application process ensures that girls move to higher education, the majority to Russell Group universities. History 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). 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.