Wycombe Abbey

Wycombe Abbey is an independent girls' boarding school situated in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is academically one of the top schools in the United Kingdom, and the top girls' boarding school (in terms of academic results). The school was founded in 1896 by Frances Dove (later knighted and known as Dame Frances Dove), who was previously headmistress of St Leonards School in Scotland. Its present capacity is approximately 540 girls, aged 11 to 18. The school is situated in 160 acres (650,000 m²) of ground in central High Wycombe. The land includes woods, gardens and a lake, and rises up to 500 feet (150 m) above sea level in the Chiltern Hills. The land is owned freehold by the school.

In 2005 the school was one of fifty of the country's leading private schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel, exposed by The Times, which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents. Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.

The Good Schools Guide described the school as "Well-known, well respected, traditional girls' boarding school which suits self-starters and undoubtedly does well by them."

As at most public schools, the pupils are divided into houses. The houses at Wycombe Abbey are: Airlie, Barry, Butler, Campbell, Cloister, Pitt, Rubens, Shelburne and Wendover. Girls in Upper Sixth live in Clarence House, while the junior-most girls, the Upper Thirds, live in the Junior House. Every house at Wycombe Abbey is linked to a colour and, as part of the school uniform, girls wear ties which correspond to their house colour i.e. pale blue - Barry, green - Cloister, brown - Airlie, pink - Rubens, yellow - Pitt, orange - Butler, purple - Campbell, dark blue - Shelburne, red - Wendover. Each girl also has her own "house mother", a girl in the year above in the same house who looks after her, particularly when new to the school. Each house has a housemistress and a matron. The current headmistress is the Rt Hon. The Lady Hall of Birkenhead who was previously headmistress of St Helen's and St Katherine's School, Abingdon, Berkshire.