St Paul's School, London - Present Day

Present Day

The boys' school numbered 856 boys in 2009, the 500th year of its foundation. An ambitious total rebuilding of the school at its present site is planned, to be completed over a 25 year period. While former High Master, George Martin Stephen, announced an aspiration for the school to be needs-blind within 25 years – £250 million will need to be raised to accomplish this.

The school day lasts from 8.35a.m. to 4.15p.m. and consists of 8 periods, including a one and three-quarter hour lunch break during which pupils are encouraged to participate in sporting or extracurricular activities such as music, debating or computing. Pupils of all ages are not allowed to leave the school premises without permission at any time during the day.

The school still maintains a boarding house. There are strong boarding house traditions including the annual bonfire and two hours of compulsory study known as "prep" every evening. Newer traditions include the sponsored all night five-a-side football tournament, a "charity sponging" event. However, the charity sponging did not take place in 2010 due to, as some boarders claim, complaints from a boarding student who had been "sponged" particularly often and the future of the traditional event is unclear.

In 2004, two Upper-8th students established the 421 Football League, which has continued to this day. The inaugural season featured eight teams with four-team playoff Championship. There were also two knock-out tournaments: The Commissioners' Cup and The BJO'Kup. A total of 96 games were played over the course of the 2004-2005 season.

A large number of music concerts, art exhibitions and plays take place each year, and pupils regularly receive national recognition for their achievements. The school also has a strong sports department; St Paul's was a founding member of the Rugby Football Union in 1871 and was pre-eminent in public school boxing, its first team failing to win only two boxing matches against first team boxers from other schools over a period of 25 years; however, boxing was discontinued as a school sport in the 1960s. More recently, the school teams were runners-up in the rugby U15 Daily Mail Cup in 2005 and in 2007. The Boat Club has won the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta four times and holds the current J15 2nd VIII record in the School's Head of the River (SHORR.)

The school has a strong record in rugby. In 1979, the 1st XV of St. Paul's, nicknamed the 'Invincibles' went twelve matches undefeated. Big rivals for the school are RGS Guildford, King's College, Wimbledon, Dulwich, St. John's Leatherhead, Merchant Taylors', Wellington and Eton.