Kate Duchêne (/duːˈʃɛn/, born Catherine Anne Purves Duchêne; 5 January 1959) is an English actress best known for her role as the teacher Miss Hardbroom in the adaptation of the children's books The Worst Witch.

Duchêne started to act at the age of 14. She studied French and Spanish at Trinity College, Cambridge in the 1980s, where she became a member of the Footlights theatre group, writing and performing her own material.^[1] She also acted with the Cambridge Mummers, appearing in such plays as Measure For Measure (as Isabella) in Cambridge and the Edinburgh Fringe. In the 1980s she joined the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, appearing in the premiere productions of Losing Venice and The White Rose. Since 2000 she has appeared frequently at the National Theatre in London, frequently working with director Katie Mitchell.

She briefly went to Spain, teaching English to children, and returned in 1986.

Duchêne spent her infancy in France, and was brought back to England permanently in 1962, residing in the seaside town of Brighton.^{[citation needed]} Her partner is Robert Hickson. As of 2010^[update], they have 2 children.^[1]