Coombe Girls' School
state_comprehensive · Est. 1955
Coombe Girls' sits on Clarence Avenue between New Malden and the Coombe ridge — a large, ordinary-looking comprehensive that quietly does the unfashionable thing in this corner of Kingston: it takes the girls who didn't pass the Tiffin test and gets very strong results out of them. The school has been all-girls since 1955 and runs a co-educational sixth form jointly with Coombe Boys' next door. Ofsted called the personal development provision 'extremely rich and broad' in May 2024. The catch is the catchment — places typically run out inside about 1.2 miles of the school gates.
240 places a year, no exam, no fees — but the offer-day catchment has hovered between 1.82 km and 1.95 km for three consecutive years. Address matters more here than anywhere else in your shortlist.
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New Malden, Kingston upon Thames
Year 7 Places
240
PAN 2026/27
Tuition Fee
£0
state-funded academy
Total Pupils
1,592
incl. 372 sixth form (mixed)
Offer-Day Catchment
~1.9 km
2021–2023 average
GCSE 9–7
41%
2024; Progress 8 +0.64
Ofsted (May 2024)
Good
Outstanding for Personal Development
Best For
Families living within ~1.2 miles of Clarence Avenue who want a strong non-selective comprehensive with a genuinely outstanding personal development offer and a joint sixth form that includes boys.
Watch Out For
Catchment is tight and enforced via straight-line distance to school gates. There is NO entrance exam, but living outside roughly 1.9 km of the school in any recent year has meant no offer on National Offer Day. Setting was rolled back across many subjects during COVID and parents report some has not been restored — the brightest girls may need extension at home.
Entry Points
- Year 7 (240 places via Kingston LA Common Application Form); Year 12 (joint Coombe Sixth Form with Coombe Boys')
The Complete Admissions Timeline
Every key date, deadline and decision point — with insider intelligence you won't find on the school website. Click any item to reveal verified insider knowledge.
The critical window: The decisive moment for Coombe Girls' isn't an exam date — it's where you live on 31 October Year 6. Sort the address question first, the application second.
Open Events
Open Evening for prospective Year 7 families, typically in late September. Open Morning tours run separately during the school day. Worth visiting Coombe Boys' and the joint Sixth Form too if relevant.
Common Application Form (CAF) Deadline
Submit your Kingston LA Common Application Form listing Coombe Girls' as one of up to six preferences. The order of your preferences does not affect whether you'll be offered a place at any individual school — Kingston uses the equal-preference (PAN) system.
Address Verification
Kingston LA verifies the address you applied from is your child's principal place of residence on the closing date. Recent moves into catchment are scrutinised. Tenancies, council tax records, and the Local Authority's address verification policy all apply.
National Offer Day
Kingston LA notifies families of allocation. Unsuccessful applicants are added to the waiting list in oversubscription-criteria order and informed of appeal rights.
Waiting List Movement
Waiting list is held in oversubscription-criteria order (not first-come-first-served). Movement is typically modest before the summer; more places open up between July and end of August as families confirm independent or alternative offers.
Independent Appeals Panel
Appeals are heard by an Independent Appeal Panel under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. You must lodge in writing with the school's Admissions Officer setting out your grounds; oral representations are permitted.
Key Dates At-a-Glance — September 2026 Entry
- 1
Open Evening
Late September
- 2
Kingston LA CAF deadline
31 October, Year 6
- 3
Address verification window
January, Year 6
- 4
National Offer Day
1 March
- 5
Waiting list disbands
End of June (academic year)
Results & League Table Position
Coombe Girls' consistently ranks among the top co-educational schools in England. These figures are benchmarked against national averages so you can see the full picture.
A-Level A* Rate
Not published
Public A-Level breakdown not published.
A-Level A*/A Rate
Not published
Use the narrative summary below.
GCSE Grade 9-7
41%
Public GCSE breakdown not published.
A-Level A*-B Rate
37%
Coombe Girls' does not feature in the highest-ranked Sunday Times state schools list — those slots in Kingston go to Tiffin Girls' and the Tiffin School. But on the Progress 8 measure (which captures how far the school stretches its intake), it sits comfortably in the upper national band.
A-Level Results vs National Average
Coombe Girls' vs England average (%)
37% A*–B, 66% A*–C and 97% A*–E across 563 entries in 2023 from a cohort of 189 sixth-formers. The 2024 cohort produced 'a quarter of grades at A/A*' across A-Levels and BTECs combined; 2025 commentary references 'Oxbridge first-choice destinations' but the school has not yet published a full A*-grade breakdown.
A*
Not published
A*/A
Not published
A*-B
37%
What this means: 37% A*–B, 66% A*–C and 97% A*–E across 563 entries in 2023 from a cohort of 189 sixth-formers. The 2024 cohort produced 'a quarter of grades at A/A*' across A-Levels and BTECs combined; 2025 commentary references 'Oxbridge first-choice destinations' but the school has not yet published a full A*-grade breakdown.
GCSE Grade Distribution
Coombe Girls' vs National distribution (%)
What this means: 41% of GCSE entries were graded 9–7 in 2024, with a Progress 8 score of +0.64 and Attainment 8 of 60.6 — both well above the national average. The 2025 results bulletin reported 34% 9–7 across all subjects with English at 42% 9–7 and 'almost 90%' achieving the government Eng+Maths threshold.
University Destinations
Where Coombe Girls' leavers go — % of cohort
Notable Academic Achievements
Progress 8 of +0.64 (2024)
A 23% improvement on the prior year and well above the national 'average' benchmark of 0.0. The Ofsted report singles out Key Stage 4 attainment as 'very well across all subjects'.
Outstanding for Personal Development (Ofsted May 2024)
Inspectors described the personal development offer as 'extremely rich and broad in scope' and highlighted 'exceptional support to develop bespoke career pathways' for pupils, including those with SEND.
Specialist Resourced Provision
The school runs a specialist unit for pupils with hearing impairments and speech, language and communication needs (around 11 pupils at the time of inspection) — a rare facility within a mainstream Kingston secondary.
Notable alumnae
Jacqueline Wilson (children's author), Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention) and Penny Spencer (actor, Please Sir!) all attended Coombe Girls'.
League Table Position: Coombe Girls' does not feature in the highest-ranked Sunday Times state schools list — those slots in Kingston go to Tiffin Girls' and the Tiffin School. But on the Progress 8 measure (which captures how far the school stretches its intake), it sits comfortably in the upper national band.
Interview & Assessment
There is no interview as part of Year 7 admissions. The school does not assess or rank applicants — Kingston LA allocates places mechanically against oversubscription criteria.
Format
Not applicable
Duration
Role in Admissions
Part of a holistic assessment, not a pass/fail gate
What Makes a Strong Impression
Compiled from parent reports (2023-2025)
The pattern:
Contact Admissions
Coombe Girls' School Admissions Team
Insider Intel: What Other Parents Don't Know
These are the verified insights you will not find on the school website, in Good Schools Guide, or from any single tutoring agency. Each insight is compiled and cross-referenced from 22+ sources including official documents, parent reports, and tutoring industry data.This is the intelligence that gives ClassAce families an edge.
Look at the END-of-August distance, not just Offer Day
Kingston publishes both the Offer Day distance (1 March) and the end-of-coordination distance (31 August). The end-of-August figure has been 0.2–0.5 km further out every year. If you're sitting on a 'no' on 1 March but within ~2.2 km, your waiting list odds are real.
The Coombe Trust sibling rule is broader than people realise
A brother at Coombe Boys' or a sibling already in Coombe Sixth Form counts for criterion 2 — not just an existing Coombe Girls' pupil. If you have an older child in any of the three you sit above every distance applicant.
Distance is measured to two gates, not one
Clarence Avenue Entrance AND Darley Drive Entrance — whichever is closer to your home. Some families on the eastern side of the catchment get a meaningfully better distance via Darley Drive than via the main entrance.
Open Evening is the only easy way to read the room on streaming
Several Mumsnet threads (Oct 2022, Feb 2024) reference parents being told directly by senior staff that setting was rolled back during COVID and not fully restored. If this matters to you, ask the question explicitly at Open Evening — it's a quick way to confirm the current position rather than relying on second-hand reporting.
The 2.35 pm finish on some days is misleading
Parents who initially worry about the early finish report on Mumsnet that clubs and activities mean their daughters are rarely home before 4 pm. The finish time is a timetable feature, not a school-day length.
Sixth Form has a separate identity — open the right site
Coombe Sixth Form publishes results, university destinations and admissions criteria at coombesixthform.org, not on the Coombe Girls' main site. If your daughter is choosing 11–18, look at the sixth-form site directly before applying for Year 7 — it tells you what the back end of the school will look like.
Common Mistakes Parents Make
The errors we see most often from families preparing for Coombe Girls' School. Avoid these and you're already ahead of the majority of applicants.
Confusing Coombe Girls' with Tiffin Girls'
They are both girls' state schools in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames — and that's where the similarities end. Coombe Girls' is non-selective and admits by distance; Tiffin Girls' is a selective grammar with a two-stage entrance exam. Coombe Girls' is on Clarence Avenue in New Malden; Tiffin Girls' is on Richmond Road in Kingston.
Listing Coombe Girls' below a 'safer' school on the CAF
Kingston uses the equal-preferences system: the school cannot see how you ranked it. Listing Coombe second or third doesn't reduce your chances of getting in. Order your CAF by what you actually want, with the safer-catchment options below — not above — your real preferences.
Treating the school as a fallback rather than an active choice
Coombe Girls' is the largest girls' secondary in the borough at 1,592 pupils with Progress 8 +0.64 and Outstanding pastoral provision. Treating it as a 'failed to get into Tiffin' destination sets up unhelpful expectations for the daughter. The school's own positioning — 'Curious, Creative, Confident' — is a stronger frame than 'fallback'.
Assuming the sixth form is single-sex
It isn't. From Year 12, girls study alongside boys from Coombe Boys' under the Coombe Sixth Form brand (372 students, of whom 137 are boys per the May 2024 inspection). Parents who specifically want an all-girls 6th form environment should know this in advance.
Trusting third-party 'catchment area' apps
Locrating, Schooluniguide, School Guide and similar sites publish heat maps based on past pupil postcodes from the school census. These are post-hoc representations, NOT the criteria Kingston actually applies. Use the official Kingston distance offers PDF as your baseline, and remember the school's policy explicitly says historical distances are 'only a guide'.
Coombe Girls' vs Competitor Schools
How does Coombe Girls' School compare to the schools your child is most likely also applying to? This analysis covers the key factors that actually matter to families.
Important context: If you're outside Coombe's ~1.9 km offer-day catchment, your realistic state alternatives are Coombe Boys' (boys), Tolworth Girls', The Hollyfield, or Holy Cross (Catholic, separate criteria). The Tiffin Girls' School is a different proposition entirely — selective, two-stage entrance exam, separate world.
| Factor | FeaturedCoombe Girls' School | The Tiffin Girls' School | Holy Cross School | Surbiton High | Kingston Grammar School | Wimbledon High (GDST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School Type | State comprehensive (non-selective) | State grammar (selective) | State Catholic (faith-based criteria) | Independent day (United Learning) | Independent day (co-ed) | Independent day (GDST) |
| Co-educational | No (girls 11–16; mixed sixth form) | No | No | Girls senior; co-ed prep & sixth form | Yes | No |
| VR in Exam | ||||||
| Annual Fee | £0 | £0 | £0 | ~£24k+ | ~£26k+ | ~£25k+ |
| 11+ Difficulty | Catchment ~1.9 km from gates | Two-stage exam; national-rank GCSE outcomes | Faith practice + distance | ISEB / school exam at 11+ | Own paper at 11+ | ISEB Pretest + interview |
| Interview Style | None | None | None | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Why Parents Choose Coombe Girls'
- Strong non-selective comprehensive at zero costProgress 8 +0.64 in 2024 is the metric that captures the school's value-add for the unselected intake. It outperforms many fee-paying schools on that measure alone.
- Genuinely outstanding pastoral and personal developmentOfsted's only 'Outstanding' grade in May 2024 was for Personal Development — and the language used in the report ('extremely rich and broad', 'exceptional support') is unusually warm.
- Mixed sixth form widens A-Level subject choice and social mixThe joint sixth form with Coombe Boys' means Year 12 brings boys into the cohort and broadens the A-Level option block considerably compared with a single-sex sixth form of the same size.
Points to Consider
- Setting is limitedOutside Maths, formal setting has been minimal since COVID. Top-of-cohort girls and parents who specifically want streamed academic environments should plan for at-home stretch or reconsider.
- Sixth form is still strengtheningOfsted's own language: Year 13 attainment in 2023 was 'below the national average'; the school has invested in fixing this and 2024/25 commentary is more confident, but the multi-year track record is shorter than at the local grammars.
Scholarships & Financial Support
Coombe Girls' is state-funded and does not offer scholarships or bursaries. The cost of attendance is uniform, lunches and trips.
| Scholarship Type | Value | Available Places | Selection Method | Stackable? |
|---|
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Intelligence Score
Updated May 2026 · 22 sources
Coverage
Measures how much of the admissions picture is directly evidenced rather than inferred from comparable schools or legacy material.
Freshness
This edition was last checked May 2026. Recency scores fall when public evidence ages or current-cycle detail is sparse.
Use it well
Treat lower-scoring areas as prompts to verify with admissions, not as automatic red flags. The score is about evidence quality, not school quality.
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