All Girls By Design
At Sheffield Girls’ we are proudly All Girls By Design and have been for nearly 150 years.
Founded in 1878 by a group of pioneering female educators, we’ve spent generations empowering brave, confident, kind young women. This has been our commitment since our founding, and we are proud that nearly 150 years on, we are the only all girls provider in Sheffield, as well as consistently one of the top performing schools across the region.
We have the unique opportunity to level the playing field for girls during their formative years so that they go out into the world as confident, brave young women empowered to be the change the world needs.
That seismic change begins in girls’ schools: in the classroom, on the sports pitch, on the stage, in the lab and beyond.
Our Blueprint for Success
Our blueprint for all-girls’ success is deeply embedded into everything we do, from our classroom spaces and curriculum content, to our Girls of Steel character education programme and our outstanding pastoral care.
We don’t just educate girls, we craft an environment designed for them to excel.
All Girls Thriving
In an all-girls’ setting, pupils thrive in more ways than one.
Sheffield Girls’ is characterised by a culture of curiosity and a genuine love of learning, where girls feel comfortable to take risks and make mistakes free from external pressures or gender biases.
Academic excellence is a natural by-product of this culture and our girls’ myriad achievements are testament to the success of all girls’ education. Our outstanding examination results see us consistently placed amongst the top schools nationally for academic attainment, with 66% of A Level results graded A*-A in 2025 and 80% of GCSE results awarded 9-7 in 2025.
Our wider co-curricular offer, character education programme and pastoral care craft an environment where girls are empowered to be successful on their own terms and to ‘have a go’, whether that be trying a new sporting venture, entering a competition or taking on a new leadership position. The result is generations of young women who are redefining what success looks like.
All Girls Character Education
Character education is central to our blueprint for all girls’ success at Sheffield Girls’.
Our unique Girls of Steel character education programme, recognised as a significant strength in our 2024 ISI inspection, instils key skills such as risk-taking, critical thinking and self-confidence in every pupil from the moment they join us.
In making complex links between their academic studies, co-curricular activities and their wellbeing, our Girls of Steel are empowered to resist perfectionism and to take risks without the pressures of a priori gender stereotypes. Our approach to character education creates a culture where girls feel confident to ‘have a go’, embrace their mistakes and celebrate their successes.
As well as responding to a fast-changing career landscape, our character education programme is our direct response to the drop in confidence, ambition and preparedness for the future faced by girls aged 14 onwards. This is a drop which is more pronounced in co-ed settings and which girls schools like ours are uniquely positioned to address by empowering girls to find their voice and fearlessly pursue their personal interests, pursuits and ambitions.
In an environment where character education underpins every area of school life, our Girls of Steel see huge growth in their self-esteem, self-reliance, self-knowledge and leadership potential throughout their time at Sheffield Girls’.
All Girls Subjects
At our school, girls learn without limits.
In co-ed settings, one in four girls feel restricted in their subject choices or career aspirations because of gender biases, affecting uptake in certain areas, namely STEM subjects. In our all-girls environment, we level the playing field. Girls feel unencumbered by gender biases around certain subject areas because there are no ‘boy’ subjects and every subject is a ‘girl’ subject.
The result is a school community where girls defy national trends: 31% of our 2025 cohort took A Level Maths, compared to just 9% nationally, and a further 5% took A Level Further Maths compared to only 1% nationally. 30 of our 2025 leavers went on to study STEM degrees, including engineering, medicine, and veterinary sciences.
The classrooms, culture and curriculum of all-girls schools create an environment where pupils feel encouraged to take intellectual risks and see themselves as future leaders across all fields.
All Girls Spaces
Our blueprint for all-girls’ success is defined not just by our curriculum content, character education and co-curricular initiatives, but also by how our physical spaces are crafted with our girls’ best learning in mind.
Classroom layouts are designed to encourage discussion, collaboration and personalised teacher attention whilst remaining flexible to suit individual learner needs. The result is lessons where girls are empowered to speak up and actively contribute to discussions, challenging the ‘moderator’ role commonly undertaken by girls in group settings.
Class sizes are small with low student-teacher ratios to enable teachers to get to know every girls’ unique learning styles whilst encouraging independence and initiative.
Dedicated social and pastoral spaces for all year groups, including year group common rooms, an onsite counsellor and ample breakout spaces, are designed to support girls through their formative years by providing safe spaces for reflection, conversations and connections. This ensures that every girl feels supported as a valued member of our school community.
All Girls, All Through
Our outstanding, award-winning Infant and Junior School provides the perfect springboard for girls to benefit from an all-girls setting from the moment they join us in Reception, to the moment they leave us in Year 13.
Girls who stay with us this whole time are known as ‘Melbournians’ and their success is testament to the remarkable impact of an all-girls education.
All Girls Leading
In an all-girls’ school, pupils can aspire for leadership positions throughout their whole school career, knowing that there are no barriers to their success. Leadership positions take many forms, from whole school student leadership roles to mentorship positions which nurture self-confidence and empowerment.
Not only are there no barriers to leadership, leadership in a girls school is redefined as collaborative and compassionate, aligning with qualities such as integrity, teamwork and resilience which are instilled at our school from an early age.
100% of leadership positions are open to girls; 100% of sports captains are girls; 100% of subject prefects are girls and 100% of actors in the school play are girls. Opportunities for girls are boundless, and girls leave us knowing that they can make a difference.
All Girls' Success: Facts and Figures
Designing the Future of Girls Education
As part of the Girls’ Day School Trust, we’re committed to ensuring girls have the tools, support and opportunities to thrive. The GDST’s recent landmark report ‘Designing the Future of Girls Education’ sets out a framework for the transformative power of education that is designed for girls through the classroom, curriculum and culture.
The GDST’s framework for success is deeply embedded in schools like ours, where every girl learns without limits.
