This 11th of August, 2025 marked the beginning of another academic year at St. Paul’s School. With a tiered return, Senior School pupils gradually returned to their school routines, getting to know new classrooms, teachers, and classmates.
For the St. Paul’s Foundation, this moment represents more than just the start of classes: this year, we celebrate an important milestone: reaching 50 scholars, which now accounts for around 10% of the total number of pupils in the Senior School, one of the goals set for the school’s centenary. Among this group, 15 are new joiners who went through our rigorous 18-month selection process and are now beginning a new chapter in their academic journeys. A few days before the term starts, they visited St. Paul’s for the “Meet the Tutors” session, a welcome event in which new pupils and their parents met their tutors, Heads of Years and members of the academic leadership.
The 21 pupils selected for the Prep Course of the 2025–2026 Selection Process — our preparatory course aimed at candidates for future Foundation scholarships — are also walking round the St. Paul’s campus. They begin their activities on 20th August and will attend lessons once a week. During this first term, the main focus will be on developing English language skills, with additional classes provided in partnership with Cultura Inglesa.
Participants in the Prep Course come to St. Paul’s weekly and are able to use the library, experiencing a glimpse of daily life at the school — an important opportunity to help them feel increasingly prepared for the challenges ahead. As candidates, this initial stage is essential for their development and integration into the school environment.
The beginning of a new academic year is always filled with expectations and possibilities. For the St. Paul’s Foundation, it is also a time to reinforce our purpose: to build bridges, open doors, and offer talented students the opportunity to access a transformative international education. We continue to follow each step of our pupils and candidates closely, confident that this will be another year of achievement, growth, and positive impact.