Kendrick School

Kendrick School is a selective girls' grammar school for ages 11 to 18 in Reading, with a reputation for very high academic standards and an unusually explicit civic ethos. The school traces its foundation to charitable bequests from John Kendrick, who died in 1624, and Mary Kendrick; it opened in 1877 with 40 pupils before moving to its London Road site in 1927. The modern pledge - friendship, kindness, respect, equality, tolerance and justice - gives the school a clearer public voice than many high-performing grammars.

The academic offer has a science, mathematics and languages tradition: Kendrick has held specialist status in those areas since 2003, while also stressing English, arts, humanities, music, drama, computing and technology. The school says it combines the virtues of a traditional grammar with modern approaches to teaching, learning and leadership. Sixth form is selective and sizable, with external entrants joining the continuing Year 11 cohort; 2025 results show 79% of A-level grades at A*-B, 26% at A*, and 90% of GCSE grades at 9-7.

Kendrick's school life is not presented as decoration around results. The house system is described as central to the year, and the welcome material talks about community, support and an ambitious curriculum. The school also runs outreach-linked admissions work, including the Widening Horizons programme for pupils receiving pupil premium or service premium and children in care or previously in care.

Year 7 admission is highly area-sensitive. The published admission number is 128, and candidates sit two GL Assessment papers of about one hour each covering verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English and mathematics, with no creative writing element. The school states that no candidate living outside the designated area has been offered a place since that area was introduced in 2013. Official benchmarks record Ofsted Outstanding, +1.07 Progress 8, 100% grade 5+ in English and maths, and 51.4% AAB or better at A level.