Ages: Grades 9-12

No. of Pupils: 530

Admissions: Online application, standardised tests, school report, recommendation and interview. Applications must be postmarked by January 15.

Curriculum: At the heart of the school’s wide-ranging academic programme is a commitment to learner-centred instruction, in which students make discoveries for themselves with guidance from and in partnership with their teachers.

Campus and facilities: The historic 809-hectare campus boasts facilities that include 18 dormitories, the Ohrstrom Library, the Fine Arts Building, the Oates Performing Arts Centre, the Hawley Astronomy Centre, the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul, and the Lindsay Centre for Mathematics and Science. Athletic facilities include the 95,000sqft athletic centre, an eight-lane indoor pool, two climbing walls, two hockey rinks, squash and tennis courts, nine athletic fields (including a lighted artificial-turf field), and a 2km rowing course and boathouse.

Noteworthy: One of the most selective college-prep private boarding schools in the US, St Paul’s School was founded in 1856. Students study six days a week, with half- days on Wednesdays and Saturdays to allow for athletics. Interestingly, St. Paul’s lays claim to the first hockey game in the US, played on its ponds in 1883.

New: The school’s newly renovated, state-of-the-art Crumpacker Gallery exhibits work by students, and by painters, sculptors, photographers, and collectors of local, national, and international reputation.

Fees: US$61,960

St Paul's School, 325 Pleasant Street, Concord, New Hampshire, sps.edu