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Northwood College for Girls

School type

Independent

Also known as

Address

Maxwell Road

Northwood

London

England

HA6 2YE

Northwood College for Girls is an independent day school for girls. The 11+ entrance exam for Year 7 entry uses the Quest Admissions board, and there is no interview stage. Specific pass marks and selectivity information are not available.

For a hard-working, ambitious girl who would value warm pastoral care as much as academic challenge, Northwood College for Girls is the kind of school that earns loyal parents. The Good Schools Guide sums it up as a down-to-earth, friendly school with strong teaching, where care for the individual is built into daily life alongside a purposeful, ambitious culture. The reviewers describe go-getting girls who want to make a difference, and a parent body that values how aware of the wider world their daughters become; the pupil community is diverse, and parents report a notable absence of cliques.

This is an independent day school in north-west London, taking girls from nursery through to the sixth form. It was founded in 1878 near Euston by the headmistress Catherine Buchan-Smith, who moved the school out to Northwood fifteen years later, and it joined the Girls' Day School Trust in 2014. Her motto, that education is an atmosphere, a discipline and a life, still sits at the centre of how the school describes itself. The all-through setting shows in the facilities, including a 25-metre indoor pool where even the youngest pupils have weekly lessons, a sports hall with a climbing wall, and a performing arts centre with its own drama studio and recital hall.

Led since 2021 by headmistress Mrs Rebecca Brown, an Oxford historian by training, Northwood suits a girl who might join at one of several entry points and who wants to be stretched and looked after in equal measure as she grows up.

Key facts

Gender

Girls

Year 7 places

Annual fees

Pass mark

Selectivity ratio

Website

Visit school website

Admissions

Open day

Oct

Registration opens

Registration closes

Nov

CAF deadline

Admissions contact

admissions@nwc.gdst.net

Admissions phone

0192 384 5007

Registration form

https://northwoodcollegeschoolgdst.applicaa.com/9

Sibling policy

What this school tests

11+ Assessment

English

Grammar
Punctuation
Reading Comprehension - Comparison
Reading Comprehension - Evaluation
Reading Comprehension - Grammar and punctuation
Reading Comprehension - Inference and Deduction
Reading Comprehension - Information Retrieval
Reading Comprehension - Language Techniques and Imagery
Reading Comprehension - Sentence-level Comprehension
Reading Comprehension - Sequencing
Reading Comprehension - Structure, Form, Voice and Tone
Reading Comprehension - Summarising
Reading Comprehension - Text Classification and Purpose
Reading Comprehension - Types of Words and Phrases
Reading Comprehension - Word Meaning / Choice
Spelling
Vocabulary

Maths

Algebra
Angles and Degrees
BIDMAS
Coordinate Grids
Estimation and Rounding
Factors and Multiples
Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
Measurement
Money
Number and Place Value
Operations
Perimeter, Area and Volume
Position and Direction
Properties of Shapes
Ratio and Proportion
Reflection, Rotation and Symmetry
Sequences
Special Numbers
Speed, Distance and Time
Statistics
Time

Non-verbal Reasoning

Figure Analogies
Figure Matrices
Figure Series
Grid Matrices
Horizontal Codes
Match to a Group of Figures
Most Like Three Figures
Odd Figure Out
Odd Shaped Matrices
Star Matrices
Triangle Matrices
Vertical Codes

Verbal Reasoning

Alphabet Logic
Anagrams
Compound Words
Embedded Words
Form a Word
Insert 2 / 3 Letters
Insert a Letter
Letter Analogies
Letter Sequences
Move 1 / 2 Letters
Ordering Words
Rhyming Synonyms
Shuffled Sentences
Synonyms
Word / Logic Puzzles
Word Analogies
Word Completion
Word Match
Word Opposites
Word Pairs
Word Relationships
Word Swap
Words and Codes

Critical Thinking

Logical & Deductive Reasoning
Inference & Evaluation
Extracting & Distilling Information
Visual Sources
Comparison & Ordering
Data Analysis
Codes & Decoding

Puzzles And Problem Solving

Number Properties & Proportion
Logic & Systematic Thinking
Geometry, Measures & Data
Equations & Early Algebra
Magic Shapes & Additive Puzzles
Calculation Fluency

Spatial Reasoning

2D Rotations
2D View of 3D Shape
3D Rotations
Block Counting
Building Blocks
Combining Shapes
Diagonal Reflections
Figure Missing from Image
Fold and Punch
Folding Cubes
Hidden Shapes
Missing Face of Cube
Nets of 3D Shapes
Shape Completion

Catchment area

Selection review and safety net

Previous exam results

GCSE results

In 2025 students achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 69.9 across their GCSEs. 94.3% gained a grade 5 or better in both English and Maths. 31.4% achieved the English Baccalaureate at grade 5 or above. Reference: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/

A-level results

In 2025 students achieved a B+ average grade per A-Level entry. 34% gained AAB or better including two facilitating subjects. Reference: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/

Frequently asked questions

What exam board does Northwood College for Girls use for the 11+?

Northwood College for Girls uses the Quest Admissions board for its 11+ entrance exam.

Does Northwood College for Girls interview as part of the 11+ process?

No, there is no interview stage for the Northwood College for Girls 11+ admissions process.

Is Northwood College for Girls a single-sex or co-educational school?

Northwood College for Girls is a single-sex independent day school, admitting girls only.

What is the official website for Northwood College for Girls admissions?

You can find admissions information on their website: https://www.northwoodcollege.gdst.net/admissions/year-groups/senior-school-year-7/

What is the 11+ admissions process like at Northwood College for Girls?

The 11+ admissions process at Northwood College for Girls is a single stage, using the Quest Admissions exam, and does not include an interview.

Location

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