The Best Schools for Humanities
(Photo of South Hampstead High School)
The Best Schools for Humanities
The Best Private Schools for Humanities League Table 2022
This table lists the top 100 UK independent schools by their 2022 6th form (pre-university) exam performance in the traditional three facilitating humanities subjects of English Lit, Geography, and History.
Results present the percentage of A-level and IB Diploma Higher Level aforementioned subject exam entries which scored A*-A, or grades 6-7, respectively.
The table does not include schools with 5 or fewer subject exam entrants, and we have included each school’s average number of candidates per subject to provide additional context.
Data is not readily available for schools using the CIE or WJEC examination boards. Schools which use these boards have been approached directly for results, but may not yet be included.
For this reason (and more besides) we recommend you supplement this table with other sources of information, such as guides or professional advice.
| Rank | School | A*/A% in Humanities | Avg No of Humanities Candidates | County | Boarding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | School: South Hampstead High School | A*/A% in Humanities: 100.00% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 12 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 2 | School: Magdalen College School | A*/A% in Humanities: 98.36% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 20 | County: Oxfordshire | Boarding: Day |
| 3 | School: Wycombe Abbey School | A*/A% in Humanities: 98.15% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 18 | County: Buckinghamshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 4 | School: King’s College School Wimbledon | A*/A% in Humanities: 96.84% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 32 | County: London | Boarding: Day |
| 5 | School: Withington Girls’ School | A*/A% in Humanities: 96.67% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 10 | County: Manchester | Boarding: Day, |
| 6 | School: King Edward’s School, Birmingham | A*/A% in Humanities: 96.36% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 18 | County: West Midlands | Boarding: Day |
| 7 | School: King Edward VI High School for Girls | A*/A% in Humanities: 95.92% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 16 | County: West Midlands | Boarding: Day, |
| 8 | School: Guildford High School for Girls | A*/A% in Humanities: 94.67% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 19 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, |
| 9 | School: St Paul’s Girls’ School | A*/A% in Humanities: 94.64% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 19 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 10 | School: Brighton College | A*/A% in Humanities: 94.50% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 36 | County: East Sussex | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 11 | School: City of London School For Girls | A*/A% in Humanities: 94.00% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 17 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 12 | School: Lady Eleanor Holles School | A*/A% in Humanities: 94.00% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 17 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 13 | School: Alleyn’s School | A*/A% in Humanities: 93.51% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 26 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 14 | School: The Godolphin and Latymer School | A*/A% in Humanities: 92.54% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 22 | County: London | Boarding: Day |
| 15 | School: Haberdashers’ Girls’ School | A*/A% in Humanities: 90.48% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 14 | County: Hertfordshire | Boarding: Day |
| 16 | School: St Helen’s School | A*/A% in Humanities: 90.24% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 14 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 17 | School: Wimbledon High School | A*/A% in Humanities: 87.84% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 25 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 18 | School: Cheltenham Ladies’ College | A*/A% in Humanities: 87.65% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 27 | County: Gloucestershire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 19 | School: The Harrodian School | A*/A% in Humanities: 87.10% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 10 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 20 | School: St Helen and St Katharine | A*/A% in Humanities: 85.42% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 16 | County: Oxfordshire | Boarding: Day, |
| 21 | School: Eton College | A*/A% in Humanities: 85.19% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 45 | County: Berkshire | Boarding: , Boarding |
| 22 | School: Notting Hill and Ealing High School | A*/A% in Humanities: 85.00% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 13 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 23 | School: Highgate School | A*/A% in Humanities: 84.62% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 26 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 24 | School: St Albans High School for Girls | A*/A% in Humanities: 84.44% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 15 | County: Hertfordshire | Boarding: Day, |
| 25 | School: St Mary’s School Ascot | A*/A% in Humanities: 84.21% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 13 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 26 | School: Reigate Grammar School | A*/A% in Humanities: 84.21% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 19 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, |
| 27 | School: Sevenoaks School | A*/A% in Humanities: 82.81% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 43 | County: Kent | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 28 | School: North London Collegiate School | A*/A% in Humanities: 82.76% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 19 | County: London | Boarding: Day |
| 29 | School: University College School, Hampstead | A*/A% in Humanities: 82.48% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 46 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 30 | School: James Allen’s Girls’ School | A*/A% in Humanities: 81.54% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 22 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 31 | School: Wellington College | A*/A% in Humanities: 81.54% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 43 | County: Berkshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 32 | School: Abingdon School | A*/A% in Humanities: 81.52% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 31 | County: Oxfordshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 33 | School: Manchester High School for Girls | A*/A% in Humanities: 81.25% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 11 | County: Lancashire | Boarding: Day, |
| 34 | School: Putney High School | A*/A% in Humanities: 81.03% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 19 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 35 | School: Chigwell School | A*/A% in Humanities: 80.85% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 16 | County: London | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 36 | School: Royal Grammar School Guildford | A*/A% in Humanities: 80.70% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 19 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, |
| 37 | School: Latymer Upper School | A*/A% in Humanities: 80.00% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 37 | County: London | Boarding: Day |
| 38 | School: Warwick School | A*/A% in Humanities: 80.00% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 15 | County: Warwickshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 39 | School: Harrow School | A*/A% in Humanities: 79.78% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 30 | County: London | Boarding: Boarding |
| 40 | School: Surbiton High School | A*/A% in Humanities: 79.49% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 13 | County: London | Boarding: Day |
| 41 | School: Merchant Taylors’ School | A*/A% in Humanities: 78.79% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 22 | County: Hertfordshire | Boarding: Day, |
| 42 | School: The Grange School | A*/A% in Humanities: 78.72% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 16 | County: Cheshire | Boarding: Day, |
| 43 | School: Woldingham School | A*/A% in Humanities: 78.38% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 12 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 44 | School: Whitgift School | A*/A% in Humanities: 78.22% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 34 | County: London | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 45 | School: St Swithun’s School | A*/A% in Humanities: 77.78% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 15 | County: Hampshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 46 | School: Channing School | A*/A% in Humanities: 77.55% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 16 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 47 | School: Kingston Grammar School | A*/A% in Humanities: 77.33% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 25 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, |
| 48 | School: Francis Holland School, Regent’s Park | A*/A% in Humanities: 76.56% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 21 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 49 | School: Oxford High School | A*/A% in Humanities: 75.68% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 12 | County: Oxfordshire | Boarding: Day |
| 50 | School: Rugby School | A*/A% in Humanities: 74.31% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 48 | County: Warwickshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 51 | School: Queenswood | A*/A% in Humanities: 74.07% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 9 | County: Hertfordshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 52 | School: The Portsmouth Grammar School | A*/A% in Humanities: 73.81% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 14 | County: Hampshire | Boarding: Day |
| 53 | School: Kingswood School, Bath | A*/A% in Humanities: 73.68% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 19 | County: Somerset | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 54 | School: St Benedict’s School | A*/A% in Humanities: 73.21% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 19 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 55 | School: King’s High School | A*/A% in Humanities: 73.13% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 22 | County: Warwickshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 56 | School: Reed’s School | A*/A% in Humanities: 72.73% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 33 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 57 | School: Churcher’s College | A*/A% in Humanities: 71.88% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 21 | County: Hampshire | Boarding: Day, |
| 58 | School: Marlborough College | A*/A% in Humanities: 71.67% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 40 | County: Wiltshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 59 | School: King Edward’s School, Bath | A*/A% in Humanities: 70.15% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 22 | County: Somerset | Boarding: Day, |
| 60 | School: Northwood College for Girls | A*/A% in Humanities: 70.00% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 7 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 61 | School: Winchester College | A*/A% in Humanities: 69.70% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 22 | County: Hampshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 62 | School: Sheffield High School for Girls | A*/A% in Humanities: 69.23% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 9 | County: Yorkshire | Boarding: Day, |
| 63 | School: Sir William Perkins’s School | A*/A% in Humanities: 68.97% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 10 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, |
| 64 | School: Nottingham Girls’ High School | A*/A% in Humanities: 68.75% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 11 | County: Nottinghamshire | Boarding: Day |
| 65 | School: Bristol Grammar School | A*/A% in Humanities: 68.67% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 28 | County: Bristol | Boarding: Day, |
| 66 | School: St John’s School, Leatherhead | A*/A% in Humanities: 68.60% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 29 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 67 | School: Headington Rye Oxford | A*/A% in Humanities: 68.33% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 20 | County: Oxfordshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 68 | School: Benenden School | A*/A% in Humanities: 68.09% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 16 | County: Kent | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 69 | School: Bromley High School | A*/A% in Humanities: 67.86% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 9 | County: Kent | Boarding: Day, |
| 70 | School: Bishop’s Stortford College | A*/A% in Humanities: 67.74% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 21 | County: Hertfordshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 71 | School: St George’s College Weybridge | A*/A% in Humanities: 67.50% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 27 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, |
| 72 | School: New Hall School | A*/A% in Humanities: 67.21% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 20 | County: Essex | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 73 | School: Hurstpierpoint College | A*/A% in Humanities: 67.16% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 22 | County: West Sussex | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 74 | School: Stephen Perse Foundation | A*/A% in Humanities: 66.67% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 9 | County: Cambridgeshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 75 | School: Bradford Grammar School | A*/A% in Humanities: 65.85% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 14 | County: West Yorkshire | Boarding: Day, |
| 76 | School: Emanuel School | A*/A% in Humanities: 65.57% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 20 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 77 | School: Woodbridge School | A*/A% in Humanities: 65.45% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 18 | County: Suffolk | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 78 | School: Bradfield College | A*/A% in Humanities: 65.26% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 32 | County: Berkshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 79 | School: Solihull School | A*/A% in Humanities: 65.22% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 23 | County: West Midlands | Boarding: Day, |
| 80 | School: Cheadle Hulme School | A*/A% in Humanities: 64.91% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 19 | County: Cheshire | Boarding: Day, |
| 81 | School: Hereford Cathedral School | A*/A% in Humanities: 64.71% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 11 | County: Herefordshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 82 | School: Radley College | A*/A% in Humanities: 64.58% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 32 | County: Oxfordshire | Boarding: Boarding |
| 83 | School: City of London Freemen’s School | A*/A% in Humanities: 64.00% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 17 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 84 | School: Stockport Grammar School | A*/A% in Humanities: 63.83% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 16 | County: Manchester | Boarding: Day, |
| 85 | School: St Teresa’s Effingham | A*/A% in Humanities: 63.64% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 7 | County: Surrey | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 86 | School: Truro School | A*/A% in Humanities: 63.41% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 14 | County: Cornwall | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 87 | School: St Peter’s School, York | A*/A% in Humanities: 63.29% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 26 | County: North Yorkshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 88 | School: Downe House | A*/A% in Humanities: 63.27% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 16 | County: Berkshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 89 | School: Bootham School | A*/A% in Humanities: 61.76% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 11 | County: North Yorkshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 90 | School: Streatham and Clapham High School | A*/A% in Humanities: 61.76% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 11 | County: London | Boarding: Day, |
| 91 | School: Ipswich School | A*/A% in Humanities: 61.54% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 22 | County: Suffolk | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 92 | School: Uppingham School | A*/A% in Humanities: 61.40% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 38 | County: Rutland | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 93 | School: Yarm School | A*/A% in Humanities: 61.11% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 12 | County: North Yorkshire | Boarding: Day, |
| 94 | School: Redmaids’ High School | A*/A% in Humanities: 60.71% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 9 | County: Bristol | Boarding: Day, |
| 95 | School: Walthamstow Hall | A*/A% in Humanities: 60.00% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 13 | County: Kent | Boarding: Day, |
| 96 | School: d’Overbroeck’s | A*/A% in Humanities: 59.72% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 24 | County: Oxfordshire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 97 | School: Bromsgrove School | A*/A% in Humanities: 59.60% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 33 | County: Worcestershire | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 98 | School: Prior Park College | A*/A% in Humanities: 59.52% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 14 | County: Somerset | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
| 99 | School: King Edward VI School | A*/A% in Humanities: 59.18% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 16 | County: Hampshire | Boarding: Day, |
| 100 | School: Royal Russell School | A*/A% in Humanities: 58.82% | Avg No of Humanities Candidates: 11 | County: London | Boarding: Day, Boarding |
Important
- All exam result data is for results issued in the summer of 2025, unless otherwise stated. Data is compiled from reliable, official sources and updated when sufficient results have been acquired. Results are updated and amended whenever new information becomes available.
- U/A = results are unavailable. N/A = the school does not offer this curriculum.
- Rating exam results by % of entries at A*-A (A-level), % of entries at 7,8,9 (GCSE) or average IB score per candidate is common practice. However, the format in which the data is presented (specifically, the column headings and calculations conceived for subject-specific league tables and the BTEC league table) is the copyright material of Top School Guide and protected by database right. The content is for personal, non-commerical use only, and you may not reproduce, republish, copy, or otherwise use the format or content in any way.
- League tables should not be used in isolation to identify suitable schools. Every effort is made to verify the data within these tables, but Top School Guide does not accept any liability for your reliance on the information on this site, or any errors or ommissions. Please see our terms for further information.
- Amendments, corrections, and requests to republish can be submitted to hello@topschoolguide.com.
- Likewise, should you have any personal requests for data you cannot find in our league tables, we would be pleased for you to get in touch.
