Benenden School has been named as the school in the UK that best prepares its students for life.
In The Week’s Independent Schools Guide 2026, published on Saturday, the magazine announced that Benenden had won the Best Preparation for Life Award.
The magazine declared: “Benenden stands apart as a school where young women are empowered to discover their strengths and ambitions without limitation.”
An independent boarding school for girls just outside Cranbrook in Kent, Benenden School was founded in 1923 with the express mission to provide girls with an education to help them find their own path.
Today, the renowned school holds true to this mission under what it calls A Complete Education.
This forward-thinking curriculum includes the lower school CREATE Diploma which is based around the World Economic Forum’s Skills for the Workplace 2030, and the Sixth Form Professional Skills Programme which teaches financial literacy, enterprise and inclusive leadership.
The Week also praised Benenden for its Electives Programme, which offers 70 different short courses to students in all year groups ranging from meteorology to sign language and investments to international relations.
Benenden Headmistress Rachel Bailey said: “We are thrilled to have been recognised in this way by a publication as respected as The Week.
“Preparing the girls for their futures is the very DNA of what Benenden does, and we are immensely proud to keep in touch with our alumnae as they progress through their careers and their lives.
“Indeed, Benenden Seniors frequently return to contribute to the curriculum to share their experiences with current girls and with more recent leavers.”
This award from The Week Independent Schools Guide, one of the sector’s most respected publications, represents the second major honour for Benenden’s progressive curriculum in the past year. In November 2025 the School was awarded a ‘Significant Strength’ for these non-examined courses by the Independent Schools Inspectorate.
In March, Benenden was named among the top 100 schools in the world by Spear’s for the fourth year running.
- Benenden is holding a series of open days during the Autumn Term, including a Sixth Form Open Evening on Thursday 10 September. Full details at www.benenden.school/opendays
