As part of a commitment both to improving the educational landscape through sharing expertise and best practice and to bringing together schools who share a philosophical approach, we are forming the St Paul’s School Group.

St Paul’s is known internationally for its academic standards¹ and excellence of extracurricular provision². 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 inclusion³, as well as significant strengths and centres of innovation4 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.

At this moment of change within the independent sector and from this position of strength, the desire is 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. Discussions have been opened with a small number of leading London preparatory schools who have a natural fit with the Paul’s School model – with the appetite for an ongoing dialogue with others. St Paul’s School has enjoyed longstanding relationships with Durston House and the Shrewsbury House School Trust, from which several current and former pupils have come to the School over the years, and is delighted that they are joining as founding 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.

1. Highest achieving boys’ school in the country (Sunday Times Parent Power) December 2024. Shortlisted for Independent Senior School of the Year (TES Schools Awards) April 2025
2. Awarded a significant strength for the school’s extracurricular provision (Independent Schools Inspectorate) March 2025
3. Finalist in the following categories: Bursary Support; Enveloping EDI in the Curriculum; Developing School Partnerships (Education Choices Awards) June 2025. Finalist in Independent School of the Year for Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Justice (Independent Schools of the Year Awards) July 2025
4. Winner of Best for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (The Week Independent Schools Guide) August 2025. The School’s Firefly racing team were crowned winners of the Ford International Engineering Award for the fourth consecutive year (Greenpower) October 2025

Shrewsbury House School Trust Awards

1. Best Head of a Prep School (Tatler Schools Guide) September 2024-5
2. “Leaders’ clear focus on pupils’ wellbeing through the highly integrated system of tracking and monitoring is a significant strength of the school” is a significant strength (Independent Schools Inspectorate) November 2025
3. Finalists for Pastoral Care and Wellbeing and Innovation in Education (Talk Education) September 2024
4. Finalists for Developing Student Voice, Opportunities in Art and Music and Diversity and Inclusion in Sport (Education Choices Awards) 2025
5. Finalist for Independent Prep School of the Year (Independent Schools of the Year Awards) July 2025
6. Finalists for Head of the Year and Independent School of the Year (Education Today – Schools Today) October 2025.

Durston House Awards

1. Founding school member of AI in education, working in collaboration with Oxford University (AIEOU). Deputy Head Lauren Vallely, presented at inaugural AI in Education Conference, September 2025
2. Prestigious Mentoring Award, reflecting the School’s focus on building a strong mentoring culture (Oppidan Education) 2025
3. Since 2020, 18 St Paul’s academic scholarships have been awarded to Durston House pupils.

Going forward, Durston House and the Shrewsbury House School Trust will be referred to as being part of the St Paul’s School Group. Each school will continue to retain their full identity as separate schools with individual names, brands and leadership.

Since its founding in 1509, St Paul’s has embodied educational excellence, now expressed through a spirit of joyful scholarship and a deep commitment to the individual care of every child at its heart. Each of the schools in the Group will continue to operate as individual entities – there is no expectation of a change of model or approach and families will see no immediate changes to their children’s education. The governing bodies of the Prep schools will now incorporate members from the St Paul’s governing body and additional support, and expertise will be shared across the Group.

Each of the schools in the Group will bring specialisms and expertise which can be shared and enhanced. St Paul’s School has earned a national and international reputation as one of the most academic boys’ schools in the world. Going forward, they are in a position to play a more visible role in education leadership based on a unique model of more liberal, discussion-based teaching. The Group will provide them with a platform to share innovation and expertise in their areas of strength, such as entrepreneurship, coaching and advocating for boys, and US admissions.

Over time it is the intention that there will also be positive change effected through the sharing of expertise and best practice. They also anticipate potential cost savings through the exploration of shared resources, bringing benefits to all pupils and families. Each school will still have their own Head and Senior Leadership Team who will continue running each school, ensuring there is a consistent, positive impact on the quality of education being offered.

As part of this decision, to reflect the structure of the St Paul’s Group and ahead of moving into their new home in January 2026, St Paul’s Juniors will be renamed St Paul’s Prep School.

No. This action involves the coming together of three 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. Going forward any charges incurred by St Paul’s to support the schools in the Group will be recharged to them and schools will continue to operate as individual cost centres in terms of setting fees and salaries.

Each school in the Group will plan their own budgets and forecasts. Fees, staff salaries and future ambitions will all be based on these parameters. For the avoidance of doubt, no parental fee income from St Paul’s parents will be 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 three schools are proud to have been able to mitigate some of the effects of VAT and going forward 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 they can attract and retain the most qualified teachers.

The Prep schools joining the Group operate with different price points, geography and wider market contexts and fees, and thus staff salaries and annual cost of living increases will continue to be set individually. These will be 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 will continue to operate in their roles with no expectation of increased workload as a result of the merger, although some roles over the next 18 months (largely on the Support Staff side) will become Group roles working across the wider piece. Staff in the Prep schools remain employed by their individual schools and so will continue to operate in a very similar way. Over time there may be opportunities for greater integration of operational activity, although this will be done collaboratively and gradually.

A huge strength of the group is the opportunity for increased joint working, idea sharing and professional development. This is a particular and exciting advantage of the process.

Each Prep school will continue to have 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 will line manage the Prep school Heads and chair a committee where Group Heads meet regularly to share best practice. A new committee of the St Paul’s School governing body will also be formed to oversee decisions which have implications across the Group as a whole.

Yes. Each of the schools will maintain their own distinct identity, as they are centres of excellence in their own communities and the desire is for this to continue. In time it will be ensured that there is more shared best practice across the Group, which will bring value to all pupils, whatever their final secondary school destination.

St Paul’s Juniors (to be renamed St Paul’s Prep School from January 2026) will continue to function as the sole direct entry point into St Paul’s School under the existing through-school model. These boys will 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 will only serve to improve each pupil’s educational experience: both boys and girls will benefit from this union. Pupils wanting to join St Paul’s at Year 9 from 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.

While St Paul’s School is launching this Group with these first Prep schools, they remain firmly committed to the valued relationships they hold with all of their feeder schools. Membership of the Group does not confer any automatic right of entry to St Paul’s School, and their admissions process remains unchanged and equally 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, considering whether this is something that we can extend 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.

Shrewsbury House Preparatory School will remain a boys’ school for pupils aged 4-13. The Rowans, part of the Shrewsbury House School Trust, will remain a co-educational pre-prep school for pupils aged 3-7.

Durston House is currently co-educational, following their merger with Harvington School, a girls’ school, in 2022. Before then, Durston House was a single-sex boys’ school. At the moment, despite efforts in the last three years to promote Durston House as co-educational, the number of girls above Year 2 at Durston House are very low.

Going forward, the following decisions have been made:

All girls currently at the school will be able to continue their education through Durston House school just as before the change of control. The school’s commitment to them is unchanged and their journey will not be affected. They will receive exam preparation for 7+, 11+ and 13+, should they want to move schools at any age group. Our expectation is that this new arrangement will bring benefits to every child at the school and we very much hope that our girls will continue at Durston House.

• The girls that have accepted places at Durston House to start in either September 2026 or September 2027 will also be able to take up their places and continue through Durston House as they would have done before the change of control should they still wish to do so. They will receive the same exam preparation as girls who are currently at the school. Likewise, we very much hope that they will choose to take advantage of all that the St Pauls Group will be able to offer them in terms of a fantastic education.
• For 2028 entry to Durston House and onwards, the school will only be seeking to enrol girls up to Year 2, age 7. Durston House merged with Harvington, which was a failing girls’ school, and is providing the former Harvington pupils with a school to continue their prep school education. Despite our very best efforts to promote the school as co-ed throughout, it has proved to be a tough market, with low numbers of girls staying on at Durston beyond Year 2. We will therefore be focussing on continuing as a co-ed school only up to Year 2 for pupils starting in September 2028 onwards. These girls will be prepared for 7+ examinations, and we also hope they that will choose to take advantage of all that the St Pauls Group will be able to offer them.

St Paul’s School has a memorandum of understanding with St Paul’s Girls’ School and we will continue to work closely with them. St Paul’s is also partnered with Putney High School and Latymer School through the West London Partnership.

Based on St Paul’s School’s long experience of educating boys, this is an exciting new initiative. Working with other schools both in the UK and internationally, the centre will support research covering all aspects of the education of boys: knowledge and skills acquisition, co-curricular provision, and personal, social and emotional development. Work streams will include school-based action research, the development of resources, collaborative projects with other relevant organisations and support for parents and carers. This work will form the basis of informing good practice across the Group.

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

All pupils will be taught in an environment shaped by the highest academic expectations, helping them develop habits of scholarship that will serve them for life. They will 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 they will look at further ways going forward to continue to offer this ‘best of both worlds’ model.

The Heads of all of the Prep schools will be meeting with their pupils to tell them in person about the formation of the Group. The boys at St Paul’s Senior School will be written to personally by the High Master and given the opportunity to meet with her in order to ask any questions.

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 just under 10% of pupils on Founder’s Awards (143 individuals) – the majority on 75-100% awards. They have also established a sophisticated and collaborative partnership offer which sees them 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 will ultimately form an important part of the Group’s strategy to ensure we can offer excellence without exclusivity.

Shrewsbury House School and Durston 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 for pupils in Year 3 and above with awards of up to 100% remission of tuition fees available following means-testing.

The Change of Control agreement between the schools was completed in October with the actual change coming into place on the last day of the calendar year. As staff are still employed by each individual school, it is a simpler process than a full merger with a transfer of employment. In the first instance, the priority will be to ensure that the community feels supported and engaged with a gradual increase in crossover points for staff to ensure opportunities for shared good practice – this will include safeguarding, pastoral care, security and health and safety as well as education provision.

Going forward the Group will evolve and possibly grow. Members will collaborate to create a clear shared vision for the future of the Group but also to help provide a model for the not-for-profit educational landscape. There will be exciting projects and benefits for all involved, along with close collaboration in making strategic decisions about the offer and resources. The ultimate aim is a Group that is able to share best practice in order to benefit the children in its care, and through the Research Centre further afield.

Durston House and Shrewsbury House as founding schools exemplify the Group criteria – offering outstanding education to the pupils in their care underpinned by strong values and a commitment to the whole child. There is no aspiration for this to be a large Group; however there is certainly a desire to discuss the Group with any other London prep schools who feel they share its values and would be a good fit.

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

For further information about the St Paul’s School Group, please email stpaulsschoolgroup@stpaulsschool.org.uk.

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