St Paul's School, London

St Paul's School
Aerial view of St Paul's School and playing fields, 2013
Location
Lonsdale Road

, ,
SW13 9JT

United Kingdom
Coordinates51°29′15″N 0°14′18″W / 51.4874°N 0.2383°W / 51.4874; -0.2383
Information
TypeIndependent school
Public school
MottoLatin: Fide Et Literis
(By Faith and By Learning)
Religious affiliationChurch of England
Established1509 (1509)
FounderJohn Colet
Department for Education URN102942 Tables
Chairman of the GovernorsJohnny Robertson
High MasterSally Anne Huang
SurmasterFran Clough
Teaching staffc. 110
GenderBoys
Age13 to 19
Enrolment1,012
Student to teacher ratio9:1
Campus size43-acre (0.17 km2)
Campus typeSuburban
HousesBlurton, Cloete, Gilks, Harrison, Langley, Nilsson, Stewart, Warner (named after Undermasters)
Budget£50,411,000 (2025)
Revenue£49,100,000 (2025)
AlumniOld Paulines ("OPs")
Boarding pupilsc. 30
Boat ClubSt Paul's School Boat Club
PublicationsThe Pauline (official school magazine)
Polyglot (student-edited multilingual arts magazine)
Atrium (Alumni e-magazine)
WebsiteOfficial website

St Paul's School is a selective independent day school (with limited boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43 acres (17 ha) site, beside the River Thames in Barnes, in south-west London.

St Paul's was one of nine English schools investigated by the Clarendon Commission, which subsequently became known as the Clarendon schools. However, the school successfully argued that it was a private school and consequently was omitted from the Public Schools Act 1868, as was Merchant Taylors', the other day school within the scope of Lord Clarendon's terms of reference. Since 1881, St Paul's has had its own preparatory school, St Paul's Prep School (formerly called Colet Court and then St Paul's Juniors), which since 1968 has been located on the same site.

The school has been included in The Schools Index every year since the index began in 2020 as one of the world's top 150 private schools, of which 25 are in the UK.

In 2025, St Paul's School was ranked as the number one school in the UK, according to the Sunday Times, after having been ranked number two in both 2023 and 2024, (yet being the highest ranked boys' school in both years).