Nottingham High School

Originally founded in 1513 in the city’s Lace Market, it moved in 1868 to its present site, a mix of old, 1980s and modern buildings, and now takes girls, with 230 now in the school and the number growing. Last term, A-level students attended a seminar on Seamus Heaney at the university, the school’s musicians-in-residence the Villiers Quartet played in the city’s chamber-music festival, there was a Classical trip to Greece and national success in chess and netball.

Selective and high-achieving all round, it sells itself as ‘an academic community’ and a ‘diverse, down-to-earth’ school (strapline: So much more). It’s turned out cabinet-level politicians such as Ken Clarke (Conservative) and Ed Balls (Labour), plus the writer D. H. Lawrence.

• 1,000 pupils aged 4–18, co-ed, day (including junior school)
• £3,393–£4,955