The Good Schools Guide

Rachel Cooke

Writer
Headshot of Rachel Cooke, Writer at The Good Schools Guide.

Rachel started writing for The Good Schools Guide in 2020, just before Covid hit and school visits were conducted, if at all, under a gazebo in the playground.

About Rachel

Rachel has since reviewed schools in the London area. Educated at a state primary school, a GDST (then direct grant) senior school and at an independent boarding school in the US on an ESU scholarship, she graduated in French and German from Durham University and started working life as a graduate trainee in a merchant bank. After speed-reading The Good Schools Guide while kneeling on the floor of Waterstones to research schools for her own children, she embarked on a PGCE in Modern Languages and taught French and German in state and independent schools. She has been a volunteer counsellor at Childline for 15 years (enhanced DBS checked) and is particularly interested in how schools support young people with mental health concerns. She finds it a privilege to spend a whole day in a school asking the questions a prospective parent might want an answer to, but would be afraid to ask.