SCHOOL PROFILE
Type of school: Co-educational boarding and day school
Age range: 5 to 18 (Junior 5-11, Senior 12-18, Boarding 10-18)
Number of pupils: 570 (442 Senior and 128 Junior)
Number of boarders: 130
St Leonards is a leading independent, co-educational boarding and day school in the heart of the beautiful coastal town of St Andrews. The School has been at the forefront of education in Scotland since its foundation in 1877, and combines a progressive and pioneering spirit with decades of history and tradition.
A vibrant IB World School, St Leonards has a reputation for high academic achievement, nurtured within a culture of creativity, which enables pupils to develop into well-rounded, courteous and confident individuals, ready for the challenges that lie ahead, both in higher education and the world of work.
With an average IB Diploma points score of 35, a diverse programme of over 50 co-curricular activities, a leading Golf Programme delivered in the ‘Home of Golf’, and partnerships with the University of St Andrews and neighbouring Byre Theatre, St Leonards was named Scotland’s Independent School of the Year in 2019 by the Sunday Times Schools Guide. Indeed, it was ranked as the Top Independent School Sixth Form in Scotland for IB/A-Level results for three consecutive years. Students go on to secure places at top UK and international universities.
One of just two IB continuum schools in the UK, actively offering all four IB programmes, pupils at
St Leonards follow a coherent and inspiring learner journey from Year 1 up to Year 13, following the Primary Years Programme, the Middle Years Programme, and finally the Diploma or Career-related Programme in the Sixth Form.
Pupils are encouraged and supported to excel in all areas, with the overarching goal of equipping themselves with the skills to match the school’s motto, ‘Ad Vitam’, meaning ‘for life’.
Full, flexi and weekly boarding is available from age 10, while a school bus service for day students operates routes throughout Fife, Tayside and Perthshire. The three boarding houses are stylish and comfortable, with a ‘home-from-home’ feel, having recently undergone a £5 million redevelopment, encompassing the transformation of both bedrooms and social spaces, to include state-ofthe-art kitchens and common rooms.
St Leonards’ location in St Andrews makes the school a top choice for young golfers, who can enrol on the leading five-tier Golf Programme. Ranging from St Leonards Minis and Introduction to Golf right up to the High Performance Squad, all levels include coaching sessions at the St Andrews Links Golf Academy and access to state-of-the-art golfing technology, as well as some of the world’s most famous courses.
Throughout the school, a lively academic, creative and sporting ethos encourages students to explore ideas, develop their thinking, and form ways of learning that will stay with them, wherever they choose to go next. The school motto, ‘Ad Vitam’, permeates every aspect of the curriculum and co-curriculum at St Leonards - this truly is an education ‘for life’.
IB Middle Years Programme Subjects: English, French, German, Spanish, Latin, History, Geography, Individuals & Societies, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Sciences, Mathematics, Extended Mathematics, Games, PE, Swimming, Visual Art, Music and Drama, Design, Product Design.
GCSE Subjects*: English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Science (including Biology, Chemistry and Physics) or Biology/Geography, EAL, French, German, Spanish, Art and Design, Geography, History, Latin, Music, Drama, Computer Science, PE.
Pre-IB Subjects*: iGCSE/GCSE in English, Mathematics, Science, Native Language*, History, EAL, Art and Design, Music, Theatre Studies, French, German, Spanish, Geography, Latin, PE.
IB Career-related Programme Subjects: For students choosing the IBCP Sixth Form pathway, a BTEC course in Business is studied, alongside two or three IB subjects and the IBCP Core, which consists of four elements: Service Learning; a Reflective Project; Language Development; the Personal and Professional Skills (PPS) course.
IB Diploma Programme Subjects*: Group 1, Language
A - English, German (other languages available subject to additional tuition fees); Language Ab Initio - Italian, French, Japanese, Chinese and Spanish; Group 2, Language
B - English, French, German, Spanish, Latin; Group 3, Individuals and Societies - Economics, Geography, History, Business Management, Psychology, Environmental Systems and Societies; Group 4, Experimental Sciences
- Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Systems and Societies, Computer Science; Group 5, Mathematics
- Analysis & Approaches, Applications & Interpretations; Group 6, The Arts - Music, Visual Arts, Theatre Arts OR French B, Economics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science, Geography, Psychology, Ab Initio Languages.
Nationalities: American, Australian, Austrian, Belarusian, Brazilian, British, Canadian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hong Kongese, Iranian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Malaysian, Nigerian, Pakistani, Polish, Russian, South African, South American, Slovakian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian.
Universities
The tables below show some of the universities that our students have gone on to attend in the past three years and their subjects:
UK UNIVERSITIES
Aberdeen
Abertay
Bath
Brighton
Bristol
Cambridge
Dundee
Durham
Edinburgh
Edinburgh Napier
Exeter
Glasgow
Heriot-Watt
Imperial College London
Kent
King’s College London
Kingston
Lancaster
Leeds
Leicester
Liverpool
London School of Fashion
London School of Economics
Manchester
Newcastle
Nottingham
Oxford
Queen Mary’s, London
Reading
Robert Gordon
Royal Holloway, London
Sheffield
St Andrews
Strathclyde
University College, London
Warwick
York
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITIES
AMDA New York, USA
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Boston, USA
Brown, USA
Buffalo, USA
Florida State, USA
Harvard, USA
Houston Baptist, USA
Hult International Business School, USA
Leiden, Netherlands
Maastricht, Netherlands
National University of Singapore
Nova Scotia, Canada
Toronto, Canada
Trinity, Dublin Sciences Po, France
Sorbonne, France
St. Gallen University, Switzerland
UBC, Canada
Wingate University, USA
SUBJECTS
Aeronautical Engineering
Accountancy
Agriculture
Anthropology
Architecture
Biological Sciences
Biochemistry
Biotechnology and Microbiology
Business & Management with French Language
Business and Economics
Business and Management
Business Management
Business Studies
Chemistry
Chemical Engineering
Classical Studies
Classics: Greek and Latin
Computer Arts
Computer Games Technology
Economics
Economics and Accountancy
Economics and Global Sustainable Development
Engineering
English
English and Theatre Studies
European Law
Fashion
Fashion Management
French
French and Psychology
Geography
Geography and Economics
Geology
Geography and International Relations
Geography with Business
German and Business Management
German and Literature in a World Context
History
History of Art
Human Sciences
Interdisciplinary Science
International Business
International Business Management
International Business with Spanish
International Hospitality Management
International Relations and Law
International Relations and Management Studies
Japanese
Law
Law (Scots)
Law with French Law
Management
Management with International Business
Management with Marketing
Marine Biology
Materials Science and Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Media, Communication and Cultural Studies
Medicine
Modern European Languages
Music
Musical Theatre
Pharmacy
Philosophy, Politics and Economics
Physics
Politics and International Relations
Politics and Modern History
Politics and Television & New Broadcasting Media
Psychology
Sociology