St Francis School
An all-girls boarding school in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire. STEM for girls, an equestrian tradition, a beautiful country campus, and the considered confidence of a single-sex education done well.
A girls’ school that quietly produces leaders.
St Francis sits on a Georgian estate in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire — a one-hour drive from both Bath and Oxford, an hour and a half from central London. Founded in 1923 as a small girls’ boarding school, it has stayed deliberately small (250 students) and deliberately all-girls.
Its strengths are an unusually serious STEM programme for girls, a longstanding equestrian tradition, and the quietly cultivated confidence that single-sex schools, done well, produce.
Heritage
Founded in 1923 by Sister Mary Francis as a small Catholic girls’ boarding school, St Francis broadened its admissions to all faiths in 1968 and has grown steadily on the same Wiltshire estate. The school’s original chapel remains the campus’s emotional centre, alongside newer purpose-built science and equestrian facilities.
Ethos & values
The school’s motto is Soli Deo Gloria (to God alone the glory); in 21st-century practice it is read as a permission to do excellent work without performing it. Self-belief is taught quietly: every senior girl chairs at least one society meeting in her time; every junior girl learns a public-speaking discipline. STEM identity is built early, deliberately.
A school of deliberate size.
Small by choice. Every girl is known; every voice has room.
Programmes hosted at St Francis.
we’s St Francis-based programmes are designed to give girls a single-sex environment for parts of the experience — particularly in STEM and leadership tracks where research suggests it materially helps.
A Georgian estate, working hard.
Historic buildings sympathetically extended — the modern science and equestrian facilities are quietly outstanding.
Boarding houses
Three houses graded by year group, all on a single estate. Individual study bedrooms from Year 11 upward.
STEM centre
A purpose-built STEM block opened in 2019 — biology, chemistry, physics and computing labs, plus a robotics studio.
Equestrian centre
A 12-stable on-site equestrian centre with indoor school, outdoor arena and links to local riding routes across the Wiltshire downs.
Music & arts
A converted chapel as the music school, plus art and ceramics studios in a sympathetic Georgian outbuilding.
Sport & outdoor
All-weather pitches, sports hall, swimming pool and direct access to the Wiltshire downs for cross-country and running.
Pastoral & medical
Medical centre with nurse and on-call GP; school counsellor; a long-standing peer-mentoring programme that pairs every junior with a senior buddy.
Why families choose St Francis.
A short list of the differentiators families repeatedly raise.
STEM for girls, taken seriously
A deliberately invested STEM programme — the kind that quietly produces engineering and computer-science applicants who go on to lead.
The single-sex effect
In the years where it matters most, every voice in the room is a girl’s — with the cultural confidence that builds.
A Wiltshire estate
Sixty acres of countryside; a campus where students can walk, think and study without the noise of a town.
Pastoral, with peers
A peer-mentoring scheme that genuinely works — juniors know they have a senior buddy from the first day.
A walk through St Francis.
Real photography from each school is supplied by our partners and refreshed each term. The placeholders below show our intended grid — click any to enlarge in production.
Questions, answered.
Visit St Francis — tea on the lawn included.
Tell us a little about your child and what you’re looking for. We’ll respond within one working day with dates, options and the kind of honest advice you cannot get from a brochure.