St. Teresa's School, Effingham

Worth knowing if you're looking at Year 7 entry: St Teresa's is a Catholic girls' school, but its sixth form is co-educational and shared with two other schools in the same trust. It is an independent day and boarding school on a hill outside Effingham in the Surrey Hills. Boarding is available from Year 7 on a full, weekly, flexi or occasional basis, though most girls are day pupils.

The school was founded in 1928 by the Religious Order of Christian Instruction, in Effingham Hill House, a mansion built in 1799 that is still the middle of it. The last nun to be headmistress retired in 1977 and a lay trust has run it since. It describes itself as 'a Catholic School which welcomes pupils of all faiths and of none', and there is no faith criterion anywhere in the published admissions process. There is an equestrian centre and a tennis academy in the grounds.

Entry at eleven is the ISEB pre-test, an Experience Day in November and an interview, with offers at the end of that month. Phones go into pouches for the school day, the sixth form excepted. Parents told the Good Schools Guide the school is 'a beautifully self-contained world', and the Guide's own line is that for families wanting 'a gentle values-based education, where girls can be inspired and remain unaffected for as long as possible, it's worth taking a hike up the steep hill'. It suits a girl who does not need to be in a hurry to grow up.