Devonport High School for Girls

Devonport High School for Girls is a selective girls' grammar school in Peverell, Plymouth, founded in 1908. The school describes itself as a 21st-century grammar school that keeps the best of its academic traditions, and it builds its identity around "Nurturing Excellence". With about 916 pupils and a mixed sixth form presence in the data, DHSG has a smaller scale than many urban grammars, which makes its seven-year academic and pastoral model especially important.

The curriculum is presented as a seven-year journey rather than a set of disconnected key stages. DHSG names its phases Lower Years: Knowledge Seekers, Middle Years: Subject Masters and Upper Years: Critical Scholars. The stated curriculum vision is challenging and scholarly, with intellectual curiosity, creativity and preparation for a global society running through the subject offer. In the sixth form, the Scholars Baccalaureate combines three or four A levels with the EPQ, employability competencies through Unifrog, enrichment, super-curricular activity and work-experience opportunities.

Student leadership is a distinctive part of school life. DHSG publishes a detailed leadership structure, from student council and house roles through to the sixth-form Student Executive, House Captains, Academic Mentors, Peer Mentors and Subject Ambassadors. Music, choir, orchestra, sport and house activity also appear in the school material, and the sixth-form pages point to a high level of student involvement in leadership. The school-published 2025 GCSE results add academic context, including 69.7% of grades at 7 to 9 and 98% strong passes in English and mathematics.

Year 7 admission has a published admission number of 158 and no catchment area. The 2027 entry process uses Quest Assessments in English and mathematics across two September test dates, and candidates are considered only if they reach the required standard. The school then sits within Plymouth's wider selective admissions timetable, with the local-authority application still needed for a place. Published measures show a Good Ofsted judgement from November 2019, +0.78 Progress 8, 99.2% grade 5+ in English and maths, and 23.1% AAB or better at A level.