Watson was born in Paris, France, the daughter of English lawyers Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson.[14][15][16] Watson lived in Paris until the age of five. Her parents separated when she was young; following their divorce, Watson moved back to England to live with her mother in Oxfordshire while spending weekends at her father's house in London.[14][17] Watson has stated that she speaks some French, though "not as well" as she used to.[18] After moving to Oxford with her mother and brother, she attended the Dragon School in Oxford, remaining there until 2003.[14] From the age of six, she wanted to become an actress,[19] and trained at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts, a part-time theatre school where she studied singing, dancing, and acting.[20]
By the age of ten, Watson had performed in various Stagecoach productions and school plays, including Arthur: The Young Years and The Happy Prince,[21] but she had never acted professionally before the Harry Potter series. Following the Dragon School, Watson moved on to Headington School.[14] While on film sets, she and her peers were tutored for up to five hours a day.[22] In June 2006, she took GCSE school examinations in ten subjects, achieving eight A* and two A grades