St Paul’s School Prospectus UNIQUELY ST PAUL’S
Entry at Year 9 and Year 12
ST PAUL’S SCHOOL
PROSPECTUS
Leading the way academically since 1509, with a unique setting on the banks of the Thames since 1968
stpaulsschool.org.uk
From the High Master I am so glad you are considering St Paul’s for your son and I hope that, if you have not already done so, you will soon be able to visit our modern, riverside campus to experience first-hand the unique energy of our school day. St Paul’s excels as the country’s leading academic boys’ school. With a distinguished history spanning more than 500 years, we remain a forward-thinking institution and experts in educating exceptionally talented, academically able boys. Our Research Centre for the Education of Boys reflects that longstanding expertise, and the teaching, pastoral care and co-curricular programme here are designed around how boys learn and grow, helping them discover and refine their strengths. We do all of this with an enormous amount of humour, kindness and care, which I look forward to you seeing. Scholarship also lies at the heart of Pauline life. Pupils are taught by subject experts, many of whom publish their own academic work, and lessons extend well beyond the national curriculum. Outstanding examination results are a by-product of the intellectual curiosity and rigour our pupils display. On any visit to St Paul’s you might witness a pupil-run society debating the latest political thinking, a visiting speaker from an overseas charity delivering a seminar, the 1st XI footballers preparing for their next ISFA match, actors rehearsing for a forthcoming play, or students supporting younger pupils locally, nationally and internationally through our unique peer-to-peer mentoring app. Three core pillars underpin life at St Paul’s: scholarship, opportunity and character. From these stem the qualities we seek to nurture in our pupils: respect, kindness, humility, integrity and resilience. Our Character Curriculum prepares pupils for life beyond school, guiding them through ethics, relationships and well-being with care and compassion. Our evolving programme with our sister school, St Paul’s Girls’ School, provides opportunities for collaboration in academic, co-curricular and social settings
across every year group. We remain experts in boys’ education while enabling the essential social development and mutual respect that come from these shared experiences. Last academic year marked an exciting new chapter with the formation of the St Paul’s School Group, bringing together St Paul’s, St Paul’s Prep School, Shrewsbury House School and Durston House School as a family of schools united by a shared commitment to educational excellence. We continue to draw upon our founder’s vision of a school with a charitable outlook while preparing young men for modern society. This ethos inspires our commitment to ensuring that every boy with the academic potential to thrive at St Paul’s can take up his place, regardless of financial background; further information on our bursary programme can be found later in this booklet. Our Partnerships team widens access to St Paul’s for pupils from local and more distant schools, enabling them to benefit from our facilities and teaching expertise. Volunteering through our Partnerships and Charities programmes forms an essential part of Pauline life, and every pupil has opportunities to contribute to a wide range of projects during his time at the School. I truly believe that a Pauline education provides everything needed to develop well-rounded young adults who will excel in higher education, the workplace and their communities, making valuable contributions to the wider world. It is a huge privilege and daily joy to be part of this exceptional community. I look forward to meeting you in person. Sally-Anne Huang High Master
ST PAUL’S SCHOOL
PROSPECTUS
Scholarship and Beyond A LEVEL
Pupils at St Paul’s receive an outstanding all-round education that prepares them for life and lasts a life-time. Whilst we, and they, are extremely proud of the exam results they achieve and the courses they go on to study, there is so much more to a St Paul’s education. Whilst with us, we want them to develop a love of learning, to discover how to build positive relationships and to grow the confidence to work for change.
Can I compose a symbolist musical piece in the style of my favourite composer Alexander Scriabin?
of grades awarded at A Level and Pre-U in 2025 were A* (or equivalent) and
of GCSE grades awarded in 2025 were at Grade 9
93% 90% were awarded A* or A (or equivalent)
were Grades 8 or 9
Scan the QR code below for the full list of the latest A Level results.
Scan the QR code below for the full list of the latest GCSE results.
Should the US Electoral College be reformed?
Should Ayurvedic herbs be used in the treatment To what extent can persuasion Will LLMs of cancer? occur within 3 to 5 minute Can I design conversations among Year 9 and a low cost, 10 students in a school setting, subsonic, and which of Cialdini’s levers of closed return influence is most effective at wind tunnel? facilitating it?
cause more harm or good for Gen Z in the next 10 years?
Can I design an automated plant watering circuit?
To what extent is the Degrowth movement justified in calling for a reduction in world GDP to solve our climate crisis?
59% 69%
Can I design a portable speedometer?
The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) gives pupils the freedom to pursue their individual intellectual and creative passions beyond the syllabus.
GCSE
To what extent does the efficient market hypothesis hold with the potential influence of social media on investor behaviour?
Are we living inside a simulation?
Combating fast fashion: can the manipulation of additives and fabrics be implemented as a reasonable method to reduce the effects of toxic textile waste?
Should we practise heritable human genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9?
Designing a code to predict stock prices using machine learning What was the most significant factor that led to the Sri Lankan debt default in 2022?
To what extent was Athens a democracy?
2025 University Destinations
International
UK
Pupils accepted in UK Universities:
Durham University (14) University of Edinburgh (14) University of Warwick (12) University of Bristol (5) University of St Andrews (3) University of Exeter (2) University of Southampton (2) Falmouth University (1) Loughborough University (1) University of Bath (1) University of Manchester (1) University of Sheffield (1)
Imperial College London (19) UCL (University College London) (12) London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London (8) King’s College London, University of London (7) City (City St George’s, University of London) (1) University of Cambridge (17) Queen Mary University of London (1) University of Oxford (21)
UK-wide Universities
London Universities
57 33
48 9
University of Chicago (6) Dartmouth College (3) Georgetown University (3) Harvard University (3) Yale University (3) Brown University (2) Carnegie Mellon University (1) Columbia University (1) Cornell University (1) Duke University (1) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (1) Princeton University (1) Stanford University (1) University of California Los Angeles (1) University of California San Diego (1) University of Michigan (1) University of North Carolina (1) University of Pennsylvania (1) University of Washington (1)
Canada Canada: McGill University (1)
USA Universities
Oxbridge
38
Other International
Europe Dublin: Trinity College (1) Italy: Bocconi, Milan (6) Asia South Korea: Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (1)
Scan the QR code below for the full list of the latest university destinations.
They leave with a spring in their step to the best universities, and an average of 32 percent of leavers have gone on to Oxbridge in the last five years.” Tatler Schools Guide 2025
ST PAUL’S SCHOOL
PROSPECTUS
Wider School Life at a Glance
8
45-acre riverside campus
Houses for pupils to share experiences and events across year groups
11
rugby and football pitches, including a full-size 3G pitch
6
fives courts
10
tennis courts
20+
cricket pitches all-weather cricket nets
6
indoor sports facilities including a swimming pool
Health and Performance Centre
sports played
5 7
State-of-the-art
3,000 hrs
of pupil volunteering supporting our eight partner charities
12+
drama productions per year, plus drama clubs, societies and competitions
1
riverside Boathouse
1
world-class Engineering and Technology suite
100 minutes
available each lunchtime with over 80 clubs and societies to choose from throughout the year
225
4
world-class arts facilities including a concert hall, theatre complex and an art department spanning three floors with an in-house gallery
pupils performed in music concerts in the 2025-26 academic year
£66.1m
1
of the 21 founding clubs forming the Rugby Football Union in 1871
spent on new buildings and refurbishments to existing buildings over the last seven years
ST PAUL’S SCHOOL
PROSPECTUS
Pastoral Care and Wellbeing
Boarding
We strongly believe that children who feel safe, happy and respected are best placed to learn and to develop into strong and confident adults. Nurturing pastoral care is at the heart of St Paul’s life; the safeguarding of our pupils is paramount and underpins everything we do. Every pupil at St Paul’s is assigned a tutor who will guide them through their time at school and each tutor group is made up of boys from all five year groups, providing opportunities to learn from and socialise with boys from different years. The tutor groups are further supported by our vertical House system: each tutor group is
Full, weekly and flexi-boarding is available for all pupils in the Senior School. School House is a small and welcoming community of full and weekly boarders on the banks of the Thames, with outstanding pastoral support, structured daily prep time and use of the School’s facilities available to pupils, as well as a programme of weekend excursions and activities. The recently refurbished West House provides a riverside home for flexi-boarders one to four nights per week.
Scan the QR code (left) for more information about daily school life.
part of a House, within which pupils will stay throughout their five years at St Paul’s. Each year, there is a vibrant inter-house competition, which offers wide-ranging opportunities for all to be involved and feel included. An Undermaster oversees the pupils within their House and provides pastoral guidance and leadership. In addition, the Head of Middle School and Head of Eighth Form are experts in supporting pupils through the junior and senior years at St Paul’s.
This is allocated on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis and is appropriate for those who have a long commute, an after-school or early morning activity, or for those whose parents are away for a period of time.
Scan the QR code (left) for more information about boarding.
8.40-8.55am 9.00am-9.35am 9.35am-10.15am 10.15-10.35am 10.40-11.15am 11.15-11.55am 11.55am-12.35pm 12.35-2.20pm 2.20-2.55pm 2.55-3.35pm 3.35-4.15pm
ST PAUL’S SCHOOL
PROSPECTUS
Charity, Partnerships and Character Development It is our belief that by building integrity and providing opportunities for service, we will encourage our pupils to lead purposeful, socially responsible lives. Our pupils volunteer to mentor their peers locally, nationally and internationally through our own Colet Mentoring app, with more than 1,500 academic support sessions taking place each year.
Our pupils are very driven and have clear passions about particular subjects and aspirations about future careers. I do believe that their voluntary service gives them perspective that steers their trajectory within their passions.” Dr Carlos Gane, Head of Voluntary Service
Collaboration with St Paul’s Girls’ School St Paul’s School provides the environment where boys thrive academically while learning to meet the challenges beyond school life. Our long-standing collaboration with our sister institution, St Paul’s Girls’ School includes joint off-timetable days, performing arts productions, co-curricular activities, shared committees and volunteering. In 2024, this partnership was formalised when St Paul’s School and St Paul’s Girls’ School jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding for future collaboration.
We are uniquely placed at St Paul’s as we work so closely with St Paul’s Girls’ School and provide ‘the best of both worlds’ – the specialist nature of a single-sex environment with a thorough programme of both academic and co-curricular activities where the two schools work together and pupils make friends and meet as equals.” Sally-Anne Huang, High Master
Scan the QR code to find out more about our collaboration with SPGS.
ST PAUL’S SCHOOL
PROSPECTUS
Founder’s Awards (Bursaries) ASSISTANCE WITH FEES St Paul’s School takes great pride in offering an outstanding education to talented pupils, irrespective of their family’s financial circumstances. Each year there are funds available for free and subsidised places at all entry points for families with a household income less than £150k per annum, on a ‘sliding scale’ relative to household income and assets.
152
pupils currently receive bursaries.
My son was given the most wonderful opportunity to be part of this amazing establishment and has flourished socially, academically and as a human being. St Paul’s has brought out the best in my child and I am forever grateful.” Parent of a current bursary recipient
Scan the QR code to find out more about the financial support available at St Paul’s.
Admission Process 13+ Online registration
Mid April of Year 5 – mid October of Year 6
Stage One: ISEB online common pre-test
Early October – late November of Year 6
Stage Two: Written assessments in Mathematics and English for selected candidates
Early January of Year 6
Stage Three: Interviews for selected candidates
End of January/early February
Parents and schools advised of outcome of interview
By end of February
Acceptance of offer with deposit
By end of March of Year 7
Year 8 exam
September – October of Year 8
Scholarship examinations
Early May of Year 8
16+ Online registration
Early June in Year 10 – mid September in Year 11
Stage Two: Entrance examinations
Early November in Year 11
Stage Three: Interviews for selected candidates
Mid November in Year 11
Stage Four: Offers
Early December in Year 11
Acceptance of offers and deposit payment
Mid December in Year 11
Confirmation that conditions of offers are met (following submission of final Year 11 results)
August prior to entry
ST PAUL’S SCHOOL
PROSPECTUS
How to find us Our day pupils join us from destinations within the M25 and further afield, while our boarders join us from the length of the UK and across the globe.
East Finchley Station
Henlys Corner Falloden Way Golders Green
HAMPSTEAD HEATH
Hendon Way
We are fortunate to enjoy a central London location:
Hampstead High Street
Finchley Road
Hammersmith Underground Station: 20-minute walk
Belsize Park
Swiss Cottage
Barnes Bridge National Rail Station: 20-minute walk or 5-minute bus journey
BELSIZE PARK
London Zoo
St John’s Wood Station St John’s Wood
SOUTH HAMPSTEAD
Maida Vale
Barnes National Rail Station: 5-minute bus journey
School bus service serving North London, Surrey and South West London routes ST PAUL’S SCHOOL
Senior School Bus Routes North London 1
SP03
North London 3
SP05
Esher / Surrey
SP06
South London
BARNES
Putney Heath
Tibbet’s Corner Parkside Hospital RICHMOND PARK
Wimbledon Common
Copse Hill South
Coombe Hill
BUSHY PARK
Hinchley Wood
Copse Hill North
WIMBLEDON
Surbiton
Esher Long Ditton
REGENT’S PARK
Baker Street
Served by a number of public bus service routes
SP01
Regent’s Park
Tolworth
This map is intended as an illustrative guide only and may not show every stop, please consult the timetables for full information.
We look forward to hearing from you. Admissions 13PlusEntry@stpaulsschool.org.uk 16PlusEntry@stpaulsschool.org.uk admissions@stpaulsschool.org.uk General enquiries reception@stpaulsschool.org.uk Postal address St Paul’s School, Lonsdale Road, London SW13 9JT Telephone 020 8748 9162 Website stpaulsschool.org.uk This Prospectus describes the ethos of St Paul’s School along with some additional information on entry procedures. The Prospectus is not part of any agreement between the parents and the School and it should be read in conjunction with the admissions information on the website. Although believed to be accurate on 31 July 2026 some content may be subject to change. All our School policies, along with terms and conditions, can be viewed or downloaded at stpaulsschool.org.uk/about/policies St Paul’s School is a charitable company, limited by guarantee, registered in England. Registered office at Lonsdale Road, London SW13 9JT. Registered Company Number 6141973. Registered Charity Number 1119619. © St Paul’s School, 2026.
stpaulsschool.org.uk