An abridged version of this article first appeared in The Times – click to read it on The Times’ website (£).
Just suppose you’re the scion of a European royal family, looking for somewhere to spend a couple of years before taking up your monarchical duties, money no object. In days gone by, you’d have gone to finishing school (girls) or Eton or Harrow (boys) to learn flower-arranging, table-laying or arcane field sports. You could, obviously, plump for a first-class, tried-and-tested British boarding school: Benenden (Princess Anne), St George’s Ascot (Princess Beatrice), St Mary’s Ascot (Lady Louise Windsor), Marlborough College (the Duchess of Cambridge). But you probably want to study international relations, sit the International Baccalaureate – so portable – do some mildly extreme outdoorsy stuff, notch up some bonus points for community service, and be surrounded by discreet, like-minded
jeunesse dorée from all corners of the world.
So if you’re 15-year-old Princess Leonor of Spain, heir to the Spanish throne, you sign up for
UWC Atlantic College, in the Vale of Glamorgan – following in the footsteps of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium. This windswept Welsh castle in South Wales is reassuringly far from the London paparazzi’s lenses. Her 350 or so fellow students will have been carefully vetted: prospective pupils are either selected by national committees in more than 150 countries around the world or go through the college’s global selection programme. Yes, the fees are eye-watering, but it’s less expensive than others. And as with most independent schools, there is generous financial aid, funded by benefactors and UWC alumni around the world: 80 per cent of national-committee-selected students on the IB diploma programme receive some form of financial assistance.
Much is being made of the ‘hippy Hogwarts’ – we hate to disappoint, but alongside Tai Chi and Tibetan literature, Atlantic offers a solid academic programme, with many students choosing to study the rigorous two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma in six subjects, with an extended essay and theory of knowledge module. Global issues and critical thinking are core to the syllabus; with formal lessons ending at lunchtime, the afternoons are devoted to community service, creative arts and physical activity.
‘My daughter was over the moon when she was selected for Atlantic College,’ a mother tells us. ‘She wanted to find kindred spirits with a global outlook – she feels completely at home there as it is a melting pot of all cultures, backgrounds, languages and colours. It’s not for the faint-hearted – there is a rigorous process to get in and you have to be academic to cope with the curriculum. My daughter loves the fact that you can be completely yourself there as there is no one type of person. You will get anyone from a refugee to royalty and everyone is treated the same.’
If Atlantic College doesn’t float your educational boat, there are many other schools across the world which attract the youthful elite. In our eleven years of researching and writing about schools, we have visited the top educational institutions in the country, learning the secrets of what makes a great school. The UK does this type of school very, very well – these days, their core constituency isn’t offspring of royal bloodlines, but regular families scraping together every last penny to fund what they regard as an investment in their children’s future.
We launched our private schools guide, Talk 看片狂人, to demystify the world of independent education and give schools advice to all families (silver spoon not required). In April, we’re launching our global guide to the very best schools in the world. In the meantime, however, here are the schools we’d recommend if you have a future head of state to educate...
UK
Stonyhurst
Surrounded by scenery that inspired JRR Tolkein’s Middle-earth, Stonyhurst College is the oldest Jesuit school in the world – and its Grade-I listed, part-Elizabethan, part-Victorian pile is thought to be Europe’s largest building after the Palace of Versailles. That’s just for starters: inside, panelled corridors are lined with Rubens and Rembrandts, libraries house first editions of Shakespeare and the oldest museum in the English-speaking world – right here on campus – is packed with delights including Henry VII’s cope and chasuble and the very prayer book Mary, Queen of Scots clutched on her way to the gallows – both of which regularly make an appearance in history lessons. Being educated in such august surroundings can’t fail to have an impact on even the most inward-looking teen: here, they tend to be well-to-do European families and old-school, old-money Catholics (many of whom are third or fourth generation Old Stonyhursts themselves), rubbing shoulders with Lancashire locals.
No longer the ‘Colditz in kilts’ of Prince Charles’s day, Gordonstoun is the school of choice for British and European junior royals. Founded by Kurt Hahn – who also set up Atlantic College – this Scottish institution pioneered the idea of using the landscape and the sea as a classroom. Yes, the Moray air is bracing, but our overriding impression was one of warmth: both literally (smart, comfortable boarding houses) and metaphorically, with pupils genuinely thrilled to be there and seizing every opportunity on offer. They love every minute of their (frankly hellish-sounding) ‘expeds’ – which might include scaling a snowy Highlands mountain, crewing an 80-foot cutter off the wild west coast or helping the local fire brigade extinguish a gorse fire on the Moray Firth. It’s no hothouse – you’re buying into the spirit of the school, rather than a clean sheet of A*s, but a thriving international exchange programme allows pupils to jet off to schools everywhere from New Zealand to Denmark for a term. Eight miles from the nearest town; a two-hour round trip to the closest international airport in Inverness, privacy (and no paparazzi) are a given – where better to see out a global pandemic?
Switzerland
The go-to choice for the smart, old-money set (former pupils include Princess Tatiana of Greece and Denmark, and Sheherazade Goldsmith), this high-altitude Swiss school makes full use of its gorgeous Alpine location an hour outside Geneva. To get in, there’s a whole-family interview. The British head, Nicola Sparrow, is keen to make sure you’re the right sort of people – ‘she’s very pro-diversity and inclusivity’, we’re told, and there’s a generous scholarship programme. Once you’re through the doors, academic rigour is important, but so too is Aiglon’s outdoor-education programme. Pupils head out on regular hiking, canoeing, cross-country skiing and mountain biking expeditions, punctuated with trips to, say, Corfu, where they might follow the ancient route of Odysseus while learning to sail. Days begin with a whole-school meditation; performances of Shakespeare take place in the snow; there’s skiing twice a week in winter; helicopter club for those who want to learn to fly and stargazing sessions – in full view of Mont Blanc – from the school’s very own observatory.
Why have just one campus when you can have two? A magnet for the fabulously rich, Le Rosey was founded on the shores of Lake Geneva in 1880, but in 1916 it added a second site in Gstaad, where, each winter, the entire school decamps for mornings of a fully bilingual curriculum (pupils study towards the IB or the French Baccalaureate) and afternoons schussing down the Wasserngrat. Back in Geneva, pupils make full use of the equestrian centre, shooting range, two swimming pools, farm (which grows more than 40 different types of fruit and veg), a £40m concert hall that’s hosted world-renowned Philharmonic orchestras and a yacht moored on the lake. Clubs include everything from heli-skiing to silk painting. Every pupil is a full-boarder and there’s a genuine mix of languages and cultures here: the student body hails from more than 60 different countries, while an extraordinarily tight alumni network means no one ever struggles for an internship (Le Rosey’s motto is ‘A School For Life’). Notable alumni include King Juan Carlos of Spain, the Shah of Iran, the Aga Khan and Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece.
Built in the late nineteenth century as a sanatorium for the world’s wealthiest TB patients, the stonking belle époque Grand Hotel in the pretty Swiss Alpine village of Leysin is home to one of the world’s best boarding schools. Still run by the same family who founded it 60 years ago, Leysin has a distinct Californian flair (12 per cent of pupils are from the States), but a very global outlook, with more than 60 different nationalities on the school roll. Innovation is top of the agenda: this was the first boarding school in Switzerland to introduce the IB, and work is under way on a top-of-the-range Centre for Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship to equip pupils with all the skills they need for the modern workplace. Big on holistic education too, students’ eyes are opened up to the world around them via compulsory cultural jaunts to the likes of Venice, Monaco and Cinque Terre. Closer to home, two afternoons a week are spent out on the mountain – this is some of the freshest air you’ll find anywhere in the world. It’s also worth noting that this is one of the few Swiss schools to offer scholarships – 30 per cent of students receive some sort of financial aid. The school remains tight-lipped about its alumni, but members of the Saudi royal family and the Rockefeller and Vanderbilt dynasties are said to have been pupils here.
Australia
If you have a future world leader or head of state to educate, you’ll want to consider Geelong Grammar, Australia’s biggest – and most expensive – boarding school. It’s the institution of choice for flocks of old, well-established Australian families eager for their children to become well-rounded, socially aware individuals, and the Prince of Wales, the Sultan of Terengganu and the King of Malaysia all spent time here. The school has four campuses and is best-known for its most remote outpost, Timbertop, in the foothills of the Victorian Alps. Pupils come here for a prolonged stint of skiing, hiking, canoeing, camping and running (everyone is expected to be able to run 33km by the end of their stay), in between lessons in English, maths, science and history. There’s no contact with the outside world, unless your child is prepared to put pen to paper – and if your little darling wants a hot shower, they’ll need to go and chop the wood for the boiler first. ‘A challenging rite of passage to a rewarding adult life’, says the school. The faint-hearted need not apply.
India
Closely modelled on a British public school, all-boys Doon was founded by an Indian lawyer in 1935, who handed the first headship to a former Eton beak (master) who swiftly recruited a Harrovian master as his deputy. The idea was to attract Indian boys, rather than expats – and today, the school draws pupils from all 29 states. It’s highly selective: boys study for IGCSEs and the IB, with most hitting the academic heights and going on to hold lofty positions in Indian politics and business. The alumni list reads like an Indian edition of Who’s Who: the late Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi; artist Anish Kapoor; novelist Vikram Seth; hotelier Sharan Pasricha. Thanks to the school’s lung-busting location in the Himalayan foothills, there’s a strong mountaineering tradition (two hardy Doon boys climbed the Matterhorn in 1951 wearing cricket shoes) – and more than 117 different species of bird flutter around the lush 72-acre campus, where the main Renaissance-style building was modelled on Italy’s Basilica Palladiana. Clubs range from aeromodelling to fintech, and many boys throw themselves into micro-finance projects to help neighbouring villages start their own small-scale businesses. Such is the school’s prestige that several other private schools in India have adopted ‘Doon’ in their name – but this one is the real deal.
USA
Originally founded as a boys’ school, today Cate is one of the most prestigious co-eds in the US. It’s also one of the most selective: every year, the school receives in excess of 2,000 applications from pupils across the globe from El Salvador to Sierra Leone – lured by the promise of more than 100 academic courses; electives in everything from oceanography to comparative government; a library stashed with more than 28,000 books, a student to teacher ratio of 5:1 and an incomparable coastal location, within touching distance of some of the world’s most famous beaches and iconic national parks. Opportunities abound: there’s surfing in Santa Barbara, hiking in Yosemite, skiing in Sierra Nevada, and much, much more (no need to bring your own equipment, there’s plenty to borrow, natch). They’re on the lookout for ‘exceptional and motivated students who want to fully immerse themselves in a challenging educational experience’, so slackers need not apply – you need to be highly motivated to flourish here. An impressive number head off to Ivy Leagues: alumni include Sir John Bond, the former chairman and CEO of HSBC, and singer David Crosby.
Indonesia
, Bali
Half an hour from the hippy haven of Ubud, this pioneering school, set up in 2008, is fringed by jungle and built entirely from bamboo. There’s no traditional curriculum; maths and reading take precedence, but the focus is on raising environmental awareness, entrepreneurship and creativity – and saving the planet. Loos are compostable; the school kitchens are powered by sawdust fuel from a nearby bamboo farm; energy comes from a hydropowered generator; and children learn to grow produce before selling it – how’s that for an economics lesson with a difference? Everyone from former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and to primatologist Jane Goodall has dropped by to check it out. There are outposts in New Zealand, South Africa and Mexico, too.
Japan
A new entry to the world’s most exclusive list, this comes firmly under the ‘one to watch’ heading. The school’s founder, Minako Suematsu, sent her own son to an overseas boarding school at the age of eight; convinced of the benefits, she has created Japan’s first European-style boarding school, which opened its doors in April last year. Situated in the Chugoku mountain range in western Japan, the school promises ‘wellness for all seasons’ with skiing, golf and riding on offer. We’ll be watching this space...