We formed the Group as part of a commitment both to improving the educational landscape through sharing expertise, best practice and to bringing together schools who share a philosophical approach.

St Paul’s is known internationally for its academic standards and excellence of extracurricular provision. The school has a proven track record of effective strategic planning and budgeting alongside strong pastoral expertise. This is underpinned by a commitment to social mobility, equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as significant strengths and centres of innovation across the school. Since the school was founded in 1509, it has stood for educational strength, and today this is embedded in joyful scholarship with care for the individual child at the heart of the offer.

Recognising a change within the independent sector we wanted to protect choice for parents and safeguard the opportunities independent schools provide to wider society, by bringing together a strong group of like-minded not-for-profit schools. St Paul’s School has enjoyed longstanding relationships with Durston House, Shrewsbury House School Trust and Arnold House, from which several current and former pupils have come to the School over the years, and is delighted that they are now members of the Group. Each school benefits from strong leadership and offers an outstanding education in their own right. Importantly, each school brings their own unique identity and it is from this shared position of strength that this coalition is born.  

The St Paul’s School Group aims to:

• Offer thought leadership in best educational practices, serving as a resource for all educators
• Secure a future in which parents may continue to access a truly independent and highly academic school education
• Improve the educational offer through shared expertise and best practice
• Develop strategic leadership and governance
• Expand partnerships with educators from around the world, thereby broadening out the understanding of issues facing our pupils.

No. The formation of the Group involves the coming together of separate charities and therefore there is no financial impact. The assets of the Prep school charities transfer to the ownership of St Paul’s School. The advantage of this from the Prep school perspective is security, strength in the market as well as the shared resources and expertise, and for St Paul’s it demonstrates its commitment to academic, not-for-profit education. Any charges incurred by St Paul’s to support the schools in the Group are recharged to them and schools continue to operate as individual cost centres interms of setting fees and salaries.

Each school in the Group plans their own budgets and forecasts. Fees, staff salaries and future ambitions are all based on these parameters. For the avoidance of doubt, no parental fee income from St Paul’s parents is used to subsidise any investment in the other schools, or vice versa.

The last five years have been particularly difficult for fee-paying parents. The introduction of VAT, the removal of business rate relief and the raise in the rate of Employer’s National Insurance, as well as the wider economic challenges, have all had an impact on the market. All schools in the Group are proud to have been able to mitigate some of the effects of VAT and will continue to do all that they can to keep costs down, while protecting the gold standard school offer that parents have chosen. Fair remuneration for staff is built into this model to ensure we can attract and retain the most qualified teachers.

The Prep schools in the Group operate with different price points, geography and wider market contexts, and fees, staff salaries and annual cost of living increases continue to be set individually. These are reviewed by a committee of governors and leaders across the Group to ensure that best practice and financial due diligence is at the heart of all operations.

Staff continue to operate in their roles with no expectation of increased workload as a result of joining the Group. Some support staff roles have become Group roles working across the wider piece, and there may be further opportunities for greater integration of operational activity over time, although this will continue to be done collaboratively and gradually. Staff in the Prep schools remain employed by their individual schools and so continue to operate in a very similar way.

A huge strength of the Group is the opportunity for increased joint working, idea sharing and professional development. This has already proved to be a particular and exciting advantage of the partnership.

Each Prep school has its own governing body, chaired by a governor from St Paul’s School with representatives from both St Paul’s and the existing governing bodies of the Prep schools. The High Master line manages the Prep school Heads and chairs a committee where Group Heads meet regularly to share best practice. A committee of the St Paul’s School governing body oversees decisions which have implications across the Group as a whole.

Yes. Each of the schools maintains its own distinct identity, as they are centres of excellence in their own communities and the desire is for this to continue. Since the Group’s formation, there has been increased sharing of best practice across the schools, bringing value to all pupils, whatever their final secondary school destination. Each school will retain its own leadership, identity, name, ethos, culture and uniform.

St Paul’s Prep School continues to function as the sole direct entry point into St Paul’s School under the existing through-school model. These boys progress automatically into Year 9 (Fourth Form) at the senior school without the need to reapply or sit further entrance exams.

St Paul’s School is not the right fit for every pupil. The strong belief however is that the opportunities afforded by being part of this Group serve to improve each pupil’s educational experience: both boys and girls benefit from the partnership. Pupils wanting to join St Paul’s at Year 9 from Arnold House, Durston House or Shrewsbury House will still apply as regular 13+ candidates. This decision ensures that the 13+ route remains viable and aspirational for families joining St Paul’s at that entry point. Whilst it is expected that the numbers of pupils joining St Paul’s from these Prep schools may grow over time, the senior school will always continue to welcome pupils from a diverse range of feeder schools across London. Similarly, each of the Prep schools will continue to prepare their pupils for a wide range of senior schools.

The St Paul’s School Stewarded Pathway provides a stewarded route to St Paul’s School for boys within the Group. This will include the potential for pre-Year 6 offers and priority Year 7 Assessment for entry at Year 9, and direct access to St Paul’s academic staff for targeted development in areas like maths and English.

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While St Paul’s School has formed this Group with these Prep schools and a Pathway has been introduced for Group school pupils (please see above), it remains firmly committed to the valued relationships it holds with all of its feeder schools. Membership of the Group does not confer any automatic right of entry to St Paul’s School, and the admissions process remains open to all applicants from a diverse range of feeder schools across London. The 11+ entry point remains focussed on children from state schools and those prep schools finishing at 11. The aim is to maintain the current status of 10% of pupils at St Paul’s School being on a means-tested bursary and, in time, to consider whether this is something that can be extended out to the rest of the Group.

Each of the Prep schools within the Group will continue to prepare their pupils for a wide range of destination schools, ensuring that each child finds the best senior school for them.

Based on St Paul’s School’s long experience of educating boys, the Research Centre was launched alongside the Group in 2025. Working with other schools both in the UK and internationally, the Centre supports research covering all aspects of the education of boys: knowledge and skills acquisition, co-curricular provision, and personal, social and emotional development. The Centre collaborates with schools, charities, universities, thinktanks and other research centres. This work forms the basis of informing good practice across the Group and, in time, across the wider educational landscape.

The opportunities afforded by being part of this Group improve the educational experience of every single child within it, including the girls studying at Durston House and The Rowans School.

All pupils are taught in an environment shaped by the highest academic expectations, helping them develop habits of scholarship that will serve them for life. They also have access to facilities, expertise and experiences that broaden horizons and spark passions. Most importantly, they will move forward not just as high achievers, but as confident, kind and grounded young people, ready to thrive in the wider world. St Paul’s School currently works very closely with St Paul’s Girls’ School under their joint memorandum of understanding and will look at further ways to continue to offer this ‘best of both worlds’ model.

The St Paul’s Programme provides enrichment that will benefit all pupils in the Group, regardless of next school destination. Launching this academic year, it will evolve to offer age-appropriate development across academic and life skills, from numeracy, literacy and critical thinking to public speaking, volunteering, entrepreneurship and problem-solving for the AI world, alongside emotional wellbeing and health programmes.

St Paul’s School is recognised in the sector for the way it has worked with its community to raise money to ensure open access to pupils who would benefit from the type of education offered, but who lack the funds. This currently sees around 10% of pupils on Founder’s Awards (150 individuals), the majority on 75-100% awards. St Paul’s has also established a sophisticated and collaborative partnership offer which sees it having worked with 4,800 partner school pupils across the UK in 2024-25 through a total of almost 33,000 hours of activity.

Effective fundraising forms an important part of the Group’s strategy to ensure we can offer excellence without exclusivity. Shrewsbury House School, Durston House and Arnold House are also dedicated to ensuring that an outstanding education is accessible to any child who meets the entrance criteria, irrespective of financial or social background. They offer bursaries with awards of up to 100% remission of tuition fees available following means-testing.

Durston House and Shrewsbury House School Trust were founding members when the Group was established at the end of 2025. Arnold House will formally join the Group on 9 November 2026, when a new governing body will be established. As staff remain employed by their individual school, it is a simpler process than a full merger with a transfer of employment. As with the existing Group schools, the priority will be to ensure that the Arnold House community feels supported and engaged, with a gradual increase in crossover points for staff and pupils.

The schools in the Group exemplify its criteria: offering outstanding education to the pupils in their care, underpinned by strong values and a commitment to the whole child. Arnold House’s joining the Group this year demonstrates that there is an appetite among leading London prep schools for the partnership model. There is no aspiration for this to be a large Group; however there is a desire to discuss the Group with any other London prep schools who feel they share its values and would be a good fit.

The Group is carefully put together to place a protective arm around independent, not-for-profit schools that deliver the very best in boys’ education. It is underpinned by the St Paul’s School Research Centre for the Education of Boys and delivered in collaboration with state schools, girls’ schools and co-ed schools.

For further information about the St Paul's School Group, please use the form at the bottom of this page, or email stpaulsschoolgroup@stpaulsschool.org.uk.

For further information about the St Paul's School Research Centre, please email researchcentre@stpaulsschool.org.uk.