St. Paul's Head Commits to 'Needs Blind' Admission

School aims to be open to all within 25 years

Martin Stephen, the High Master of St. Paul's Boys School, has revealed that it his aim to base admission to the school solely on the basis of ability. Boys will be granted places after an interview and an entrance exam and then fees will be assessed on the basis of parents' income with those from low income families being admitted for free. His ambition is to convert the school to this 'needs blind' system within 25 years.

Mr. Stephen, speaking to the Times, said he wanted to turn the clock back 500 years to return to the original aims of Dean Colet who opened a school at St. Paul's Cathedral which gave a free education to boys who were admitted on the basis of ability.

St. Paul's is currently one of the topped ranked academic schools in the country with 97.2% of its A Level results this year given grades A or B. The fees of £15,000 a year are beyond the reach of most families and Martin Stephen believes that unlike in the north, where he formerly served as Headmaster of Manchester Grammar School, the South East does not have a culture of less well off parents aspiring to send their children to top private schools as they are seen as socially exclusive.

Mr. Stephen's aim is to change attitudes to his school by encouraging a broader range of applications. He claims that the admission process of the school is able to weed out 'hot-housed' less bright pupils and spot brighter children from less well-off backgrounds. He said one of the key things that the school interview process looks for is irony and passion which is impossible to coach.

At the moment the school only admits a small proportion of boys on bursaries and an ambitious building plan is putting pressure on existing financial resources. Accusations that the plan to go 'needs blind' is simply a ruse to stave off pressure for legislation to end the charitable status of public schools are vehemently denied. Mr. Stephens estimates that the school would need extra endowments of 'at least a couple of hundred million pounds' as he is adamant that richer parents will not be asked to subsidise pupils from less well off backgrounds. The only school in the country which currently has a 'needs blind' admission policy is Christ's Hospital in West Horsham which has an endowment fund of £350 million. The average income of families at the school is similar to the annual fees at St. Paul's.

In the nearer term the plan at St. Paul's is to bring the number of places given to children on bursaries up to 20% of the total. It may take some time to achieve this target as the school does not employ a full time fund raiser.

October 25, 2006