School guide · Cambridge · Girls · Day & boarding · 3–18
St Mary’s Cambridge: a Catholic-heritage girls’ school with boarding from Year 5
St Mary’s combines a Cambridge city education with boarding from Year 5. It is academically selective, while the school describes an intake spanning a broad range of ability. The useful question is whether its girls-only environment, Catholic heritage, entry route and boarding pattern suit your daughter—not whether the Cambridge postcode sounds impressive.
Updated · Sources last reviewed · By Eleven Plus Diary
Start with the environment your daughter would actually feel
St Mary’s is an independent girls’ school for ages 3–18, with day places throughout and boarding from Year 5. Its Catholic heritage remains visible—Religious Studies continues to GCSE—but the school describes a community open to pupils of all faiths and none.
Our view: it deserves consideration from a family wanting a girls’ school with several boarding patterns. The school says its intake typically falls within the top 60% of national ability, from just below average to very high ability. That is a school description, not an acceptance rate or independently verified distribution. It may be a weaker fit when the child wants a mixed school, an IB sixth form or one self-contained campus.
The teaching sites and Mary Ward boarding house are not one compound. That city model can feel grown-up and connected; it also makes the journey between school, activities and home a practical part of the decision.
The academic offer is broad, but the headline results need context
Pupils move through a broad Senior curriculum into GCSE and IGCSE subjects. Religious Studies remains compulsory to GCSE. Sixth form offers A levels, EPQ and wider Philosophy, Ethics and Religion rather than an IB route.
School-published 2026 results show 24% grade 9 and 67% grades 9–7 at GCSE. At A level, 15% were A* and 73% A*–B. These are proportions of grades, not pupil pass rates, a measure of progress from entry or proof that one school is “better” for a particular child.
Full boarding is term-time boarding: the house closes for holidays
Boarding begins in Year 5 and comes in three forms. Full boarders live at school during term and go home for half terms and holidays. Weekly boarders normally leave at the end of the school week and return Sunday evening or Monday morning. Flexi boarding can cover occasional nights, a regular weekly night or several weeks.
The school says Mary Ward House has around 90 places, but the 2025 ISI inspection recorded 55 boarders at that point. Neither figure establishes an available bed for 2027.
There are no fixed exeat weekends. To leave, parents send written permission to the Housemistress at least 48 hours in advance. Younger boarders share larger rooms; the pattern moves toward smaller rooms and Upper Sixth singles. Ask who stays at weekends, what is compulsory, how pocket money and devices work, and what happens during a short illness.
Families without a UK family member must arrange a guardian. The current guardianship page says within 50 miles, despite an old document that said 75. Use the current standard and obtain approval before accepting.
Rehearse the weekday journey, not just the open-day journey
Preschool and Junior accept arrivals from 8:00, with Junior finishing at 3:35 in Years 1–2 and 3:45 in Years 3–6. Senior and Sixth register at 8:30 and finish at 4:00. Free Senior homework club runs to 6:00 Monday–Thursday and 5:00 Friday; paid late stay at Mary Ward House can extend to 8:30.
The current minibus service covers Trumpington, Babraham, Madingley, Cambourne and an AM-only Milton route. Return fares from September 2026 are £3.50 for the three Park & Ride routes and £5.20 for Cambourne. Services are first-come, fixed-booking and traffic-dependent; normal Senior departure is around 4:15, so it does not solve late-club collection.
Cambridge station is described as about a ten-minute walk from the Junior, Senior, Sixth and boarding sites. Test the real trip on a dark weekday and model late collection, lunch, music and activities before deciding the headline day fee is affordable.
We also found no clear current public pupil-phone rule.
The inspection gives useful support evidence—and one clear next step
The September–October 2025 ISI inspection found all inspected standards met. Inspectors observed coordinated SEND support, specialist staff, classroom adaptation, a dedicated EAL team, small-group English and effective safeguarding. They also found boarding well supervised with a suitable evening and weekend programme.
The report’s recommended next step was to strengthen careers education in the lower Senior years. That is more useful than treating an inspection as a badge: ask what has changed, who now owns the programme and what Years 7–9 actually receive.
For an individual child, disclose needs early. The school says assessment adjustments should be supported by a recent educational psychologist’s report. Inspection evidence cannot answer those child-specific questions.
Annualise the fee—and choose the boarding pattern first
These are the school’s VAT-inclusive fees from September 2026, shown across three terms. They are a planning baseline, not a quotation for September 2027.
| Stage / pattern | Term | Three terms |
|---|---|---|
| Reception–Year 2 day | £5,605 | £16,815 |
| Years 3–4 day | £7,340 | £22,020 |
| Years 5–6 day | £7,740 | £23,220 |
| Years 7–13 day | £8,815 | £26,445 |
| Years 7–13 weekly boarding | £15,800 | £47,400 |
| Years 7–13 full boarding | £18,755 | £56,265 |
Full boarding in Years 5–6 is £17,760 a term, or £53,280 across three. Flexi boarding costs £104 a night for one or two nights, or £99 a night for three in one week. Music, LAMDA, some trips and activities are extra. Boarding includes books, stationery, meals and boarding trips.
Day-pupil lunch is £4.50 a day in Preschool, £265 a term in Junior and £6 a day in Senior/Sixth. Junior lunch is compulsory; Senior/Sixth lunch is optional and the FAQ asks for half a term’s notice to stop it.
Application costs £120 for day and £180 for boarding. The day deposit is £500; the boarding deposit is one term’s fee.
Discretionary bursaries and a 2026 deadline
Bursaries are discretionary and means-tested, reviewed each year and may decrease as family circumstances change. The published deadline is the one for 2026 entry. Awards are not normally available to Preschool, Junior or international applicants, although the school retains exceptional discretion.
Do not copy the old 2026 calendar into a 2027 plan
The live how-to-apply page still displays September 2026 dates. It says the process typically begins at least twelve months before entry and that Senior assessment is normally at the end of January, but it does not safely establish an exact ordinary 2027 deadline or assessment date.
Email Admissions for the route-specific calendar, including the application, report, access-evidence, bursary, assessment, decision and acceptance dates. The school says Year 7 and Year 9 offers are normally accepted by the first Monday in March, but the offer letter must control.
Scholarships are the exception: the current page publishes UK September 2027 dates. Year 12 scholarship applications close 16 November 2026; Year 7 and Year 9 close 1 December. Scholarship assessments are 15 January 2027 at 11+ and 13 January at 13+. International scholarship applications have no formal deadline and are considered at the Head’s discretion.
Year 7 asks a child to switch modes without over-preparing
The current assessment page gives useful detail. Year 7 candidates take an online adaptive assessment covering verbal, numerical and non-verbal ability, write creatively for 30 minutes and meet a Senior leader. A pre-assessment tea lets girls see the setting and meet pupils before the formal day.
Preparation should cover accurate arithmetic and problem solving, vocabulary and comprehension, spatial patterns, and one controlled handwritten story. It should also include talking naturally about current school, interests and a recent challenge. The school publishes no pass mark, weighting or acceptance odds.
Years 2–6 use a shorter 20–25-minute writing task with adaptive testing. Year 8 instead uses one-hour English and maths papers; Year 10 uses English, maths and science. Those differences matter more than a generic “11+ tutor” label.