Plymouth High School for Girls, Plymouth

In its own words: "It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Plymouth High School for Girls, a long-established and much-loved city selective school. In 2024, we celebrated our 150th birthday, a proud moment in the school's distinguished history."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include choir, orchestra, art, debating and Duke of Edinburgh.

On phones, the school says: "However, phones must be away in bags (except Year 7 who will have handed theirs in, see below), not in blazer pockets, and they must be switched off whilst students are on the school site."

Coming up: an open evening on Monday 30 November 2026. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.

In 2026, pupils at Plymouth High School for Girls averaged an Attainment 8 score of 65.7, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 47.3 in Plymouth and 47 across England.

92% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Plymouth and 47% in England.

That is in line with 2025, when the score was 65.5.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.24: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 62.3, against 66.1 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 3.8 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 21 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Biology, Physics and Chemistry.

Plymouth High School for Girls is a grammar school: places go to children who reach the required standard in its entrance test, and only then are the oversubscription criteria applied.

For September 2026 entry, 104 families put Plymouth High School for Girls as their first choice and 317 named it as one of their preferences, for 119 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 33 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Plymouth High School for Girls admits pupils through an entrance test, usually called the 11-plus. Children have to be registered for it in advance, normally in the spring or summer of Year 5; the test itself is usually sat in September of Year 6, and results come out in October, before the 31 October deadline for naming secondary schools.

Passing the test makes a child eligible rather than guaranteeing a place: when more children pass than there are places, Plymouth High School for Girls ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Plymouth's admissions pages and the school's own policy for this year's registration deadline - a child who is not registered in time cannot sit the test.

Plymouth has 3 state grammar schools in all, so a child who passes may have several selective schools to choose between.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Plymouth High School for Girls are Lipson Co-operative Academy (0.8 miles, Good, Attainment 8 44.6); Stoke Damerel Community College (1 mile, Good, Attainment 8 38.3); Scott Medical and Healthcare College (1 mile, Good, Attainment 8 47.2); and Millbay Academy (1 mile, Good, Attainment 8 37.3).

Plymouth High School for Girls's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

Plymouth High School for Girls is one of 26 schools run by The Thinking Schools Academy Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 45.9 in 2024/25.

Of the 116 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 94% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 13% to a further education college and 4% to an apprenticeship.

Of the 121 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 53% went on to university or other higher education, 6% to apprenticeships and 22% into work. 26% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

13.4% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 8.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (76%) and Mixed (6%).

In 2026, 22 pupils (2.8%) received SEN support and 2 (0.3%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is autism.

The nearest railway station is Plymouth Rail Station, about 530 metres away (roughly a 7-minute walk).

27 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Plymouth Girls High 1, 90 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 1144 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and criminal damage and arson. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Plymouth (196), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Plymouth High School for Girls issued 14 suspensions, 1.8 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Plymouth High School for Girls are Mount Street Primary School (0.3 miles), Hyde Park Infants' School (0.4 miles), Hyde Park Junior School (0.5 miles) and Holy Cross Catholic Primary School (0.5 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.