WHAT? WHERE?

Queen's College Preparatory School, Marylebone

At the southern tip of Regent’s Park, in the heart of central London, is Queen’s College Preparatory School (QCPS). The girls’ school for ages 4-11 yrs occupies two townhouses among the fluttering flags of the embassy district on Portland Place.

QCPS is part of the through-school, Queen’s College London, which recently celebrated its 175th anniversary and has quite the spot in education history. QCL was the first establishment to give academic qualifications to young women and girl power positively oozes out of the mortar. Who better as role models than trailblazer alumni such as the author Katherine Mansfield; Dorothea Beale, founder of Cheltenham Ladies’ College and St Hilda’s College Oxford; the cellist Jaqueline du Pré; and Dame Anna Wintour.

The QCPS building is a Grade II-listed affair with black iron railings and a vast black door with the school’s name in gold across the top. Inside it’s a little more down to earth, with a lived-in period feel, artwork on the walls and a friendly, family vibe. It’s small – right now there are 218 girls in classes of around 18 each, with two classes per year group.

The environment is nurturing but it gets its girls where they want to go – usually on to its own senior school, though some move to other leading London schools such as Highgate or Godolphin & Latymer, or head out of London to Downe House in Berkshire, Cheltenham Ladies College in Gloucestershire, or overseas. Around 50% of Y6 leavers take up places at QCL and they make up about a third of the Y7 cohort there (the Senior school has 420 pupils aged 11-18 yrs).

Queen's College Preparatory School, Marylebone

FACILITIES

Being a central London school, space is at a premium, so you wouldn’t expect vast swathes of playing fields, though it’s a boon to have Regent’s Park a short walk away. Girls in Y4 and above head there at least once a day for play, making the most of the Regent’s Park playground. For the younger pupils playtime is in Crescent Gardens, a sectioned-off area of the park with swings and a sand pit.

On site, there are two small courtyards for the littlies’ outdoor play and, so two of the girls told me, a place where pupils get to hang out together as a reward for good behaviour. Both of these spaces are getting a glow up this year themed around gardening, nature and science.

Queen's College Preparatory School, Marylebone

The building has six floors with two large staircases that run up the middle and one that is referred to as the secret staircase, the only one to go up to Music on the top floor. The year groups are broadly organised by floor, with those who spend more time in their classrooms – ie the younger years – occupying vast Victorian rooms on the first two floors with high ceilings, elaborate plasterwork and massive windows. They move around for music, ICT, PE and Art.

As you climb up the building the classrooms are less generous, though the girls move around more for lessons so they get to enjoy the whole school and have plenty of variety through the day. There is streaming only for maths and English from Y5, with three or four classes per year group for focused attention to the basics. Throughout, the space feels colourful and enriched but also impeccably organised. Everything has its place, from the calm corners to the kindness trees and exercise books stacked by subject.

There’s a STEM Lab, kitted out with enough gear for wow-wee science experiments, as well as two hobs and ovens for cookery club. Downstairs is the Innovation Learning Centre – where I saw little bee robots among its robotics and coding kit – as well as the school’s airy and spacious dining rooms. Meals are prepared on site and the food got a thumbs up from the girls I spoke to. The dining space is also used for indoor break when rain stops play.

Queen's College Preparatory School, Marylebone

The school also has a roomy Library, ICT room, Art studio, and The Hall, a National Trust affair with a grand piano, floor to ceiling windows and chintzy draped curtains. The girls gather here for assemblies, dance, and to hear their stellar head of music, Dr Zacharias (who played at King Charles’ coronation, no less), tinkling the ivories. The QCPS students can also toddle down the road to make use of the big girls’ seven science labs, gymnastics hall, and the performance space, Sommerville Hall, with its rigged AV.

SPORT

Queen's College Preparatory School, Marylebone

There are two PE/Games sessions per week. Football, netball and tag rugby are the big sports, and there are matches for all girls, often against local rivals Devonshire House. Boo hiss. The school uses Regent’s Park to practice football, netball, rounders, athletics, and cross country, and classes travel to Paddington Recreation Ground to use the water-based hockey pitches, and Marshall Street Leisure Centre for swimming. Everyone is encouraged to have a go at gymnastics and dance, a love that continues right into the Senior school. The emphasis feels very much on participation and trying new things rather than gunning for glory.

CREATIVE ARTS

Music is huge here – the girls told me ‘everyone’ plays something – and indeed the official stat is a whopping 85% taking instrumental lessons. There are also countless groups including Senior Strings, Marimba Ensemble, School Orchestra and multiple choirs. The top floor Music Room is airy and bedecked with shelves of drums and percussion, with Dr Zacharias’ piano in the middle. The big shows are the Harvest Celebration, Carol Concert and Nativity, though there are more informal opportunities for beginners and the stage-shy to step into the spotlight.

Queen's College Preparatory School, Marylebone

Drama is also much-loved, with three big shows a year – the Pre-Prep Nativity, a QCPS Dance and Drama Display (they’ve tackled School of Rock and Mary Poppins recently), and the Y6 Musical, which is presented as a leaving gift to the younger girls in the form of The Lion King, Beauty & the Beast and so on. All are performed at the QCL Sommerville Hall.

Queen's College Preparatory School, Marylebone

The art room is lovely, a bright space with a big central table and fully supplied for everything from painting and charcoal to clay and lino cut for the older girls. Ambitious art projects adorn the walls and feed into other subjects for cross-curricular immersion. DT isn’t timetabled but there are DT days once a term that are linked to topic. This term the school somehow managed to bridge Victorian history and circuits by challenging the girls to build models of early motor cars.

ACADEMICS

Queen's College Preparatory School, Marylebone

The outcomes are pretty compelling. In the last four years, QCPS pupils have been awarded 64 academic scholarships from South Hampstead High School, Channing, Queenswood, Francis Holland Regent’s Park and its own QCL. These shiny results are very much the consequence of a nurturing and supportive environment, head Nisha Duggal told me, and it’s true that the whole place really felt relaxed and not pressured.

The vibe in classrooms was focused, but not intensely competitive. I peeked in on a Y1 English lesson and the girls were completely engaged by the teaching methods – words pegged to metal frames on the tables – while in Art I watched the last few minutes of the lesson, which were given over to girls sharing their work with one another for comment and praise. It seems the school really is delivering on its USP of being supportive and nurturing.

PASTORAL CARE

Queen's College Preparatory School, Marylebone

You’d expect in a school of this size for pupils to feel ‘known’ and ‘heard’, and this came across with the greetings and hugs in the corridors as girls interacted with staff. That said, manners and respect are important and the archaic ‘Good Morning Mrs X’ can be heard across the classrooms at the start of every lesson, as well as a clapping refrain when things get too noisy.

Aside from the form teacher and pastoral head, there’s a school nurse for comfort and a tissue, as well as one-to-one counselling on offer for those having a tough time.

SEND

The Learning Enhancement team comprises the Assistant Head (Inclusion), Mrs Habanananda, and Head of Able, Gifted & Talented, Mrs Moore, who create individualised programmes to support or stretch where needed in class, in one-to-ones and through one-off events and workshops.

QUIRKS

In many ways it is the timelessness of QCPS that makes it stand out, and its trad values (the overwhelming majority of girls chose Lilibet’s, in honour of the late Queen, when they voted to rename the dining room in 2023 – rather than, say, Taylor or even Greta!). While the school has embraced STEM and a modern approach to education, there’s a quaintness to it and a family-feel that I’m sure many London families appreciate for girls who are growing up in a buzzing cosmopolitan capital.

Queen's College Preparatory School, Marylebone

Everyone gets to shine here, which more competitive girls might balk at, but for the wallflower types, it’s rich pickings. Every Y6 girl is given a responsible role, whether that’s Head Girl, Deputy Had Girl, a House captain or Subject Leader (who helps teachers set up lessons/noticeboards etc).

There are oodles of reward systems too. House points, with stickers reflecting the school’s values and lead to house points, and a system of badges that acknowledge accumulation of points up to gold, have something of a mythical status among the girls.

There are also the Queen’s Colours, introduced last year to recognise achievement in Art & Design, Computer Science, Dance, Drama, Languages, Music and Sports, all with their own natty badge (yes, you’ll be pinning and unpinning these from their jumpers at every wash).

The Head has plans for another badge scheme – a modern-day Brownie badge recognising digital citizenship, philanthropy and community that is in essence about rewarding attributes and experiences – and this should start from September.

THE HEAD

Nisha Duggal had been in the role for five weeks when we met in early 2025, but seemed very much at home in her chi-chi office decked in green velvet, with house plants and accents of gold. Leaving The Abbey in Reading after 19 years must have been a wrench but she says the feeling of nurture of staff, children and parents at QCPS sets it apart, its academic outcomes a direct consequence of its holistic approach.

She’s recently been invited by the Department for Education to a garden party at Buckingham Palace for leaders in innovative teaching and does a great deal of work nationally in EDI so will no doubt be raising the profile of QCPS along the way.

Meanwhile, on the ground, she is implementing her new badge system (above), Stay and Play sessions for girls coming into reception to get a taster of school life and ease the transition ahead of September, and a general spruce up of the place, with the two courtyard areas first to be tackled.

WRAP-AROUND CARE

The school day can start from 7.30am with Breakfast Club, ending at 3.30pm (3.10pm on Fridays). This can be extended to 6pm with clubs or homework club – and there are 45 clubs on offer across the year including ballet, dance, film-making, yoga, art and touch typing.

ISI REPORT

The 2022 report rated the pupil’s personal development, enjoyment of music and demeanour as excellent and said pupils felt valued and respected.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

Mobile phones are not permitted at QCPS. From the summer term, Y6 girls can carry a mobile phone if they are travelling to and from school independently – but must hand them in during the school day.

TRANSPORT

Most come by tube, walk, cycle or a few drive in. Queen’s College Preparatory School is located between Regents Park and Oxford Circus tube stations, so you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to connecting lines.

FEES

Reception-Y2 £8,003 per term; Y3-Y4 £8,690; Y5-Y6 £8,855, plus £400 per term for lunch and snacks, which is average for this part of town.

WORD ON THE GROUND

Queen's College Preparatory School, Marylebone

There’s a real sense of agency here and the girls feel completely at home, albeit an incredibly polite one. The friendliness doesn’t spill over into over-familiarity or arrogance, and while girls want to succeed, there isn’t a tacit competitiveness to the vibe. There are so many opportunities for reward and responsibility that a child couldn’t fail to feel ‘seen’ here, though that could make the transition to a less cosy and nurturing senior school feel like a bigger leap.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

There’s a great deal more to QCPS than first impressions suggest when you consider its location and pupil numbers. It’s like Mary Poppins’ bag, filled with unexpected surprises the further you delve – a robotics and STEM lab here, cookery and dance studio there, and more than enough space for the 218 girls.

GOOD FOR: Families who rate old-fashioned values and an unpretentious feel will love QCPS, as well as those middling girls who might go under the radar elsewhere.

NOT FOR: Sporty girls who want to shine in A teams may find the lack of elbowy competition here a bit flat, though lovers of dance and gymnastics will shine.

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QCPS, 61 Portland Place, Marylebone, London W1B 1QP.

Queen’s College Preparatory School, Marylebone

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