Lady Eleanor Holles School

The Lady Eleanor Holles School (LEH) was founded in 1710 under the will of Lady Eleanor Holles, the unmarried daughter of John Holles, 2nd Earl of Clare, who left funds for the founding of a charity school for poor girls in Hackney, east London. The school operated in east London for over 230 years before relocating in 1936 to its present site in Hampton, west London, immediately adjacent to its now-sister-school Hampton School (boys). The two schools share a major drama and music programme and many sixth-form classes. LEH is girls-only, ages 7-18, with around 900 pupils. The Headmistress is Rowena Cole.

LEH is a member of the GSA. The school's four houses — DeVere, Fitzwilliam, Holles and Tyrconnel — are named after the founder's family connections (the Earls of Clare). LEH's A-Level performance places it consistently in the top tier of London girls' schools by Oxbridge offer numbers. The school is particularly known nationally for its rowing programme, which is consistently among the strongest girls' school rowing programmes in the UK.

The Old Girls' alumni list runs unusually strong in drama, broadcasting and medicine. Vanessa Kirby, the BAFTA-winning actress who played Princess Margaret in The Crown, has starred in the Fast & Furious franchise and was Oscar-nominated for Pieces of a Woman, was an LEH pupil. Annie Nightingale CBE, the first female presenter on BBC Radio 1 (joined 1970 and presented for over 50 years), was educated at LEH. The actresses Saskia Reeves (Luther; Belgravia), Beatie Edney (Highlander; Mr Selfridge) and Charlotte Attenborough — daughter of the actor and director Sir Richard Attenborough — are all Old LEH girls. The novelist Julia Armfield (Our Wives Under the Sea), the journalist Lynn Barber and the Channel 4 commissioning editor Jay Hunt are alumnae.

In medicine: Dame Lesley Regan, the former President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and currently the UK Government's Women's Health Ambassador. In RAF aviation: Squadron Leader Sasha Nash, who became the leader of the Red Arrows Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team from 2026. The school operates a substantial bursary programme via the LEH Foundation.