Wolverhampton High School for Girls

If you have a bright daughter and you want her to be stretched without being made to feel that exam results are the whole point, Wolverhampton Girls' High School is worth a close look. It is a selective girls' grammar on Tettenhall Road that has taught the daughters of the city for more than a century, since 1911, and a place here carries no fees. Girls join from Year 7, drawn from Wolverhampton and the surrounding area, and the school is plain that being proud of its traditions does not mean standing still. Its motto, "Ludus Supra Praemium", puts taking part above the prize, and that idea genuinely runs through how the place works.

Day to day, the house system gives the school much of its warmth, with sport, music, drama, debating and trips abroad sitting alongside lessons rather than squeezed in around them. Pastoral care is taken seriously here, with real attention to wellbeing and to helping each girl build confidence, determination and the resilience to handle setbacks. Older pupils in the Sixth Form take on leadership roles and become the role models younger girls look up to, which gives the school a settled, looked-after feel.

This suits an academically able girl who will enjoy high expectations held alongside genuine support and a strong sense of belonging. What parents tend to remember afterwards is less the results and more that their daughter felt known here, and left ready for whatever came next.