HSBC AND HURUN EDUCATION LAUNCH

HSBC HURUN EDUCATION GLOBAL HIGHSCHOOLS 2025

180 SCHOOLS MADE CUT, 4 NEW ENTRANTS

CHINA RANKED 3^RD WITH 16, ACOUNTING FOR 9%. US LED WITH 45% OF GLOBAL HIGHSCHOOLS, FOLLOWED BY UK 40%, DOWN 4%. SCHOOLS FROM 11 COUNTRIES MADE LIST

LONDON AND NEW YORK LED WITH 35 AND 27 SCHOOLS, FOLLOWED BY BOSTON, WASHINGTON D.C., LOS ANGELES AND SAN FRANCISCO. SHANGHAI OVERTOOK OXFORD FOR 7^TH PLACE.  BY REGION, US EAST COAST HAD HIGHEST NUMBER OF SCHOOLS

WESTMINSTER SCHOOL TOPPED LIST FOR THIRD YEAR RUNNING. OVER 40% OF ITS 200 GRADUATES OVER LAST THREE YEARS WENT TO OXBRIDGE OR IVY LEAGUE

LONDON-BASED ST PAUL'S SCHOOL OVERTOOK NEW-YORK BASED DALTON SCHOOL FOR 2^ND PLACE.

WINCHESTER COLLEGE  RETURNED TO THE HURUN TOP 10. OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS, MORE THAN 20% OF GRADUATES WENT TO OXBRIDGE OR THE IVY LEAGUE

70% CO-ED, WITH 18% GIRLS ONLY, AND 12% BOYS ONLY

1,050 STUDENTS ON AVERAGE OF WHICH 140 IN GRADUATING COHORT

204 YEARS HISTORY ON AVERAGE, WITH 2 SCHOOLS OVER 1000YRS, 22 SCHOOLS LESS THAN 50YRS

51% OF THE SCHOOLS OFFER BOARDING, WITH 49% DAY SCHOOL ONLY

(23 June 2025, Shanghai) HSBC China in association with Hurun Education today released the HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools 2025, a list of the world’s top highschools, ranked according to leavers’ university destinations, co-curricular and reputation. The ranking only includes independent schools, i.e. non-state schools, with physical campuses. This is the third year of the list.

HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools 2025 includes 180 schools from 11 countries. Between them, they have 190,000 students, of which 25,000 graduate every year. On average, they have 1,050 students, of which 140 are in the final year. 51% offer boarding. They have a history of 204 years on average.

Kai Zhang, Head of International Wealth and Premier Banking, HSBC Asia, said: " We are delighted to join hands with Hurun Education to release the 'HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools Ranking' at the HSBC International Education Forum for the third consecutive year, providing forward-looking insights for families to plan their children's international education and growth paths.

"How to choose destinations, schools and subjects is key to the planning of international education. HSBC's global survey shows that younger parents are more likely to send their children to study in the destinations near home. In addition to the traditional overseas study destinations, Hong Kong SAR and Singapore have become increasingly favored by Asian families. With the advantages of geographical proximity, quality of education and more adaptable culture, the enthusiasm for studying in these markets continues to increase, driving more active flows of international students within and into Asia.

"As an international financial institution marking its 160th anniversary this year, HSBC serves around 41 million customers. With HSBC global network covering major international study destinations, we provide diversified global banking services throughout the three key stages from study planning, pre-departure preparation, to traveling abroad to support the entire journey of children’s international study. In addition, we continue to work with education experts at home and overseas on multiple platforms, such as the HSBC International Education Forum, to unlock information about latest trends and market intelligence in the fast-changing international education area, helping Chinese and Asian families well plan international education and connect to high-quality resources."

Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Education Chairman and Chief Researcher, said,

“I am delighted to partner with leading international bank HSBC, to put out the HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools for the third year running. This list is designed to help parents find the most suitable school for their children, help teachers looking to work in the best schools, and university admission officers looking to understand more about where their applications are coming from.”

“Hurun Education has scoured the world for the best highschools of each region, taking into consideration only independent schools with physical campuses, and then ranking them based on leavers’ university destinations, co-curriculum activities and reputation. Hurun Education did not consider exam results. Whilst the HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools is a ranking of the world’s most successful independent highschools, it is the right school for your child that is most important.”

“‘Leavers’ University Destinations’ reflects the school’s teaching, educational resources and level of attention to student’s future development. We provided a bonus to schools with lower admission requirements to recognize their added value. ‘Co-Curriculum Activities’ help students improve social skills, leadership skills, teamwork and social responsibility, allowing them to encounter new interests and friends. ‘Reputation’ is mainly about the impact of living alumni in society.”

“The number of Chinese students studying abroad fell last year, but there are still close to one million, with 280,000 in the US, 160,000 in each of the UK and Australia, 100,000 in Canada and 50,000 in Singapore. Nearly two-thirds of them are pursuing graduate or doctoral studies, 30% are pursuing undergraduate studies, and 5% are at highschool or earlier.”

“Perhaps one of the most surprising findings of this Hurun list is that China is third in the world with 9% or 16 of the 180 schools. This means there is a really viable alternative to sending their children to study far away and across the time zones, and instead keep them close to home.  This is having mental health benefits as well as keeping them anchored in Chinese culture for longer.”

“For parents in China, sending their children abroad has become more complicated in recent years. It has now become harder to get a US student visa. The likely winner should have been the UK, but since January, independent schools fees in the UK have gone up an average of 14%, after the UK government added VAT to independent schools, at the same time as making these schools pay business rates. Winchester College, for example, now costs over US$80,000 for a year’s education and boarding fees. Another factor in play is the flat China economy, meaning more families are looking to keep their children in the state system for longer.”

“The impact of AI is the subject on everybody’s lips. How to use AI properly, rather than let AI weaken the ablity of students to think for themselves? One impact has been an acceleration towards STEAM, adding ‘Arts’ into STEM, with an emphasis on creative thinking and the ability to think from first principles. At the end of the day, schools are having to future-proof education, prepare children to flourish and be fulfilled in the 2050s. It is a big ask.”

“Some of the world’s top highschools have large foundations, which goes a long way to helping them provide stability and independence. Phillips Andover Academy has a foundation worth over US$1bn. Other schools with large foundations include Eton College with US$700mn, St Paul’s School with US$550mn and Deerfield Academy with US$530mn.”

“Among the schools on the list, the average tenure of heads is 10 years. Heads play a vital role in shaping school culture and learning philosophy.”

“Building a world-class school often takes hundreds of years. The schools on the Hurun list were founded in 1821 on average, giving them an average history of 204 years. 13 schools have a history of more than 500 years and 10 schools were established in the 2000s, most of which are located in China. Over the years, although these schools have had many opportunities to expand their student numbers, they have still kept the student number at 1050. This year, the average number of graduates from these schools is 140.”

“Students applying to day schools in the heart of world-class cities such as New York, London, Shanghai and Hong Kong face the most intense competition for places, led by the likes of The Dalton School in New York, Westminster School in London, Pinghe School in Shanghai, and Chinese International School in Hong Kong.”

“The trend of co-ed is on the rise, partly because it brings convenience to families with both boys and girls. Surprisingly, perhaps, only one third of the schools on our list are single sex schools with girls’ schools 50% more popular than boys' schools. There is a trend of well-known UK-based boys' schools going co-ed with Abingdon School recently announcing it admitted girls for the first time last year in its almost 800 year history, whilst Winchester College has just started admitting girls for the first time in its almost 650 year history.”

“Day schools are on the up. Half of the schools on the list are day schools only, with the other half providing some form of boarding. Only one-third of the schools on our list are full boarding schools.”

“In the UK, the main starting points are aged 11 for the last seven years before university, aged 13 for the last five years or aged 16 for the last two years. In the US, the main starting point is aged 14 for the last four years.”

“On average, 13% of the students on the list are provided with financial aid, with an average annual subsidy of 27% of the tuition fees. It is worth noting that many schools still confuse financial aid and scholarships. Scholarships are designed to attract the best students, while financial aid is designed to support families who cannot afford the school fees.”

“Schools in China made up three of the four new entrants to the Hurun Global Highschools List this year with Hong Kong International School, Suzhou Foreign Language School and Shanghai American School.”

“There is a significant discrepency in transparency regarding the university destinations of school graduates. Nearly 90% of highschools disclose the number of students going on to each university. However, schools predominantly in Singapore, Hong Kong and Switzerland, prefer only to list out the university their graduates went to, or the offers they received.”

“Surprisingly, perhaps, there were very few schools from Canada, Australia and Europe that made the Hurun list.  Why? One of the reasons is that the majority of these students go on to local universities, and the universities in these countries are not ranked particularily high on the best-known rankings, such as QS, US News or Times Higher Education.  In addition, Europe's education system is dominated by public schools and has very few independent schools, which is significantly different from the education systems of the USA and the UK.”

World’s Top 10 Overall

London-based Westminster School was top, followed by St Paul's School and The Dalton School. The Top 10 schools are from either the UK or US. They have 278 years of history on average. 5 are single sex schools: 2 boys’ schools and 3 girls’ schools, and 5 are co-ed schools.

London-based Westminster School topped the HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools for the third year running. With almost 500 years of history, Westminster had over 40% of its 200 graduates going to Oxbridge over each of the past three years. The main enrollment ages are aged 13 for boys and aged 16 for girls. 75% are day students, while boarders make up 25%. The head is Gary Savage.

London-based St Paul's School rose 1 place to second. With a history of over 500 years, St Paul’s School is mostly a day school, with only 4% boarding. The head is Sally-Anne Huang. Over the past three years, on average, more than around 40 of its 220 graduates went to Oxbridge or the Ivy League.

New York-based The Dalton School dropped one place to 3^rd. A day school with a history of over 100 years, the main enrollments are at the age of 11 and 14. The head is José Manuel De Jesús.  Over the past three years, on average, nearly 20% of the graduates each year went to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford or MIT.

St Paul's Girls School keep the 4^th. With a history of over 100 years, St Paul’s Girls is a day school for girls from 11 to 18. Sarah Fletcher is the head. Over the past three years, on average, over 40 of the 120 graduates went to Oxbridge or the Ivy League.

King's College School, Wimbledon rose 3 to break into the Hurun Top 5. King’s College School is a day school located in London with a history of nearly 200 years. Its main admission stage is at age 11. The head is Anne Cotton. The performance of the school's graduates in the past three years has shown an upward trend. Over the past three years, on average, nearly 50 of its 200 graduates have gone to Oxbridge or the Ivy League.

Winchester College rose 7 places to 6^th place, breaking back into the Hurun Top 10. Winchester is a fully boarding school and has a history of more than 600 years. The main entrance is at aged 13 years. The principal is Elizabeth Stone. In the past three years, on average, more than 20% of graduates have gone on to Oxbridge or the Ivy League.

The Brearley School dropped one place to  7^th. This girls’ day school is located in New York and has a history of nearly 150 years. The head is Jane Foley Fried. Over the past five years, on average, nearly half of its 60 graduates each year ended up at Harvard, Yale or the Ivy League.

The Spence School dropped one place to 8^th. This girls’ day school is located in New York and has a history of over 130 years. The head is Felicia Wilks. Over the past five years, on average, more than 20 of its 60 graduates ended up at Harvard, Yale or the Ivy League.

The Collegiate School dropped 4 places to 9^th. This boys’ day school is located in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York and has a history of nearly 400 years. Best-known perhaps for being the school of US President John F. Kennedy, the head now is David S. Lourie. Over the past five years, on average, more than 30% (nearly 50) graduates each year went to Harvard, Yale or other US Top 10 universities.

Saint Ann's School dropped one place to  10^th. Located in Brooklyn, southeast of Manhattan Island in New York, and with a history of nearly 60 years, Saint Anne’s is a day school for ages 3 to 18. The head is Kenyatte Reid. Over the past three years, on average, more than 30% of the 80 graduates each year have gone on to study at the likes of Harvard, Yale or other US Top 10 universities.

Geographic Distribution

45% of the world’s top high schools are in the US, followed by 40% in the UK. China was third with 9%.

The Hurun Education Schools came from 52 cities, led by London and New York, and followed by Boston and Washington DC. Shanghai overtook Oxford for 7^th place.

Boarding Schools

Winchester College overtook Eton College and Phillips Andover to become the Number One boarding school. Of the 58 boarding schools, 25 are from the UK, 24 from the US, 7 from China and 1 from each of Switzerland and Malaysia. 46 schools are co-ed schools, 8 are all-girls and only 4 are all-boys. With an average history of 203 years, they have 850 students on average, of which 160 are in their final year.

Day Schools

122 day schools made the HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools, of which 58 are from the US, 47 from the UK, 9 from China, 2 from Singapore and Japan, one each from Canada, South Korea, India and the UAE. 89 have no boarding, whilst 33 offer some boarding, with an average of 21% boarders. Each school on average has 1,130 students, of which 130 are in their final year. They have an average of 204 years of history.

Co-Ed Schools

126 co-ed schools made the list.  69 are from the US, 32 from the UK, 16 from China, 2 from Singapore and Japan, 1 from each of South Korea, Malaysia, India, the UAE and Switzerland. Each school on average has 1,120 students, with 150 graduates. They have 177 years of history on average.

Boys’ Schools

21 boys’ schools made the list, led by St Paul’s Schools, with 16 from the UK, 4 from the US and 1 from Canada. Boston’s Roxbury Latin School overtook the Royal Grammar School Guildford, the highschool of the current UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. On average they have 1,060 students, including 140 graduates. On average, they have a history of 454 years.

Girls' Schools

33 girls’ schools made the list, led by St Paul’s Girls’ School, with 24 in the UK and 9 in the US. The average number of students was 750, of which 80 are in their final year. They have an average of 147 years of history. Lady Eleanor Holles is the oldest girls’ school on the list, dating back to 1710.

Outside of the US and UK

26 schools from outside of the US and UK made the list, led by Seoul International School in South Korea. 16 are from China, 2 from Singapore and Japan, one each from Canada, South Korea, Malaysia, India, the UAE and Switzerland. The average size of school is 1,890 students with 200 graduates this year, with Singapore’s UWC of South East Asia the largest with 5,600 students. These schools on average have 51 years of history. Upper Canada College is the oldest school outside of the US and the UK on the list, founded in1829, followed by Institut Le Rosey in 1880. Shanghai-based YK Pao School broke into the Top 10 Outside of the US and UK.

Shenzhen College of International Education topped the 16 schools from China, followed by CIS in HK and Pinghe in Shanghai. YK Pao School overtook St Paul’s Co-educational College for 4^th place. HKIS, Suzhou Foreign Languages School and Shanghai American School broke into the Hurun list.

New Faces

4 schools made the list for the first time, led by Hong Kong International School, followed by Suzhou Foreign Language School, The British School of Tokyo and Shanghai American School. All 4 are co-ed schools.

Day or Boarding School?

51% of the schools offer boarding, with 49% day schools only.  Of the day schools that offer some boarding, the average was 21% of the students.

Co-ed, Girls’ or Boys’ Schools?

70% of the schools are co-ed, with 18% girls-only, and 12% boys-only.

Size of School

The average school had 1,050 students, with 140 in the final year before university. 9 schools had over 2000 students, whilst 25 schools had less than 500 students.

City or Countryside?

Most of the schools on the Hurun Global Highschools list are in suburbia. 47% of the schools on the list are in suburban districts, 38% are in urban districts and 15% in rural districts. Of the 27 schools in rural districts, 23 are boarding schools.

History of Schools

The schools were set up in 1821 on average, 204 years ago. Two schools have a history of over 1000 years, led by King’s School, Canterbury and Warwick School, both from the UK.

22 schools have a history of less than 50 years, led by 10 from the 2000s. 7 of the 10 youngest schools are from China.

The Top 10 oldest schools on the Hurun Education Schools List are all from the UK. The oldest US school on the list, New York-based The Collegiate School, dates back to 1628.

The oldest school from outside the UK and US on the Hurun Education Schools List is Toronto-based Upper Canada College, dating back to 1829.

Of the 10 youngest schools, 7 are from China, led by Suzhou-based UWC Changshu China from 2015, and one from each of the US, UK and India.

Age Group

The most common primary intakes for the schools is at Kindergarten (32%), at 11 years (22%), at 13 years (17%) and 14 years (16%).

In the UK, the main starting points after primary school are aged 11 for the last seven years before university, aged 13 for the last five years or aged 16 for the lst two years. In the US, the main starting point is aged 14 for the last four years.

Tuition Fees

The average annual fees for a day school in the academic year 2023/2024 was US$48,000, and for a boarding school was US$63,000. The most expensive was Institute Le Rosey in Switzerland, at US$162,000 for a year’s boarding.

US schools were 27% more expensive than UK schools on average. The average annual fees for day school in the US at US$60,000 compared to US$49,000 in the UK. For boarding schools, fees were US$70,000 in the US and US$62,000 in the UK, although this has since changed with the addition of UK government taxes on UK independent schools.

Methodology

The HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools 2025 is a ranking of the top independent highschools in the world. This is the third year of the list.

Coming up with the methodology for the ranking took several years.

Hurun Education only considered fulltime schools with physical campuses. Hurun Education defined ‘independent’ schools as non-government schools or non state-owned schools.

Hurun Education first put together a ‘long list’ of 500 non-state schools in the world, and then ranked the schools according to College Matriculation aka Leavers’ University Destinations (60%), Co-Curricular Activities (20%) and Reputation.

For Leaver Destinations, Hurun Education applied an average score per leaver for the three years of 2022, 2023 and 2024, with a bonus score for less selective schools. Hurun Education only considered leaver destinations, also known as college matriculations. Offers were not considered. Some schools, that ought perhaps to have made the list, but that provide no publically available details of their leaver destinations, were not included.

Hurun Education divided universities into four groups, based on a combination of the global university rankings by QS, US News and the Times, together with input from university counsellors from several leading highschools. Leavers going to the first group of universities were assigned 4 points, the second group 3 points and the third group 2 points.

For Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs), defined as core components of the non-academic curriculum, including Sports, Creative and Performing Arts and Music, Hurun Education took into account the quality of the coaching staff (70%) and the facilities provided (30%) within a 20-minute drive from the school.

For Reputation, Hurun Education took into account the desirability of the school, the alumni network alive today and its inclusivity as represented by Financial Aid.

Hurun Education would like to thank the many university counsellors and study abroad advisers for their input into this list.

If you would like to contact the compiler of the list, please write to schools@hurun.net.

HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools 2025

US Schools

UK Schools

Rest of World Schools (Outside of US, UK and China)

About HSBC

HSBC is one of the world’s largest financial organisations, serving around 41 million customers across 58 markets.

2025 marks HSBC’s 160th anniversary. HSBC has been rooted in China with uninterrupted services in this important market. With its financial expertise, HSBC has been bridging trade between China and the rest of the world, providing financing support for customers and promoting the development of the Chinese economy.

HSBC is one of the largest investors among international financial institutions in the Chinese mainland, investing in sectors including banking, insurance, fund management, securities and financial technology. HSBC Bank (China) Company Limited, HSBC Group’s flagship entity in the Chinese mainland, has branches and sub-branches across approximately 50 cities. This is the largest service network covering the widest geographical reach by any foreign bank in the market. With knowledge of the Chinese mainland and international operations, HSBC China is able to provide customers with a wide range of financial and banking services, including International Wealth and Premier Banking, and Corporate and Institutional Banking.

As one of the core business pillars of HSBC’s new organizational structure, the International Wealth and Premier Banking business focuses on major markets with growth potentials including the Chinese mainland. HSBC’s wealth management business in the Chinese mainland includes Premier Banking, Global Private Banking, Life Insurance and Asset Management, providing a broad range of wealth solutions to meet the diverse wealth and international banking needs of its customers.

HSBC website：https://www.hsbc.com.cn/

About Hurun Education

Hurun Education is the education platform of Hurun Inc. Hurun Education started out in 2008, with the launch of the Best of British Education, the first of the Hurun Schools Guide Series, targeting Chinese parents who were thinking of sending their children to study abroad.  The series expanded to cover the US, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as the Best of Cultural and Creative Arts.

Hurun Education is best known for putting out definitive rankings. Its flagship is the Hurun Global Highschools List, a ranking of the world’s best independent highschools, put out for the first time in June 2023 in association with HSBC.

Other lists include a universities ranking, based on the alumni that produce the most individuals from the Hurun Rich List, as well as the most successful education entrepreneurs and donors to the education sector.

About Hurun Inc.

Promoting Entrepreneurship Through Lists and Research

Oxford, Shanghai, Mumbai

Established in the United Kingdom in 1999, Hurun is a research and media group, promoting entrepreneurship through its lists and research. Widely regarded as an opinion-leader in the world of business, Hurun generated 8 billion views on the Hurun brand in 2024, mainly in China and India, and recently expanding to the UK, US, Canada and Australia.

Best-known for the Hurun Rich List series, telling the stories of the world’s successful entrepreneurs in China, India and the world, Hurun’s other key series focus on young businesses and entrepreneurs, through the Hurun Unicorns Index, two Hurun Future Unicorns indices, the Hurun U^th series and the Hurun Pioneers series.

Hurun has grown to become the world’s largest list compiler for start-ups, ranking over 3000 start-ups across the world through its annual Hurun Global Unicorns Index (startups with a valuation of US$1bn+), and two Hurun Future Unicorn Indexes: Gazelles, most likely to ‘go unicorn’ within three years, and Cheetahs, most likely to ‘go unicorn’ within five years.

The Hurun Pioneering Young Startups and Entrepreneurs series focuses on startups set up within the last ten years and founders aged 45 or under.

The Hurun U^th series includes the Under25s, Under30s, Under35s and Under40s awards, representing the cream of each generation of young entrepreneurs who have founded businesses with a social impact and worth US$1m, US$10m, US$50m and US$100m respectively.

Other lists include the Hurun 500 series, ranking the most valuable companies in the world, China and India, the Hurun Global High Schools List, ranking the world’s best independent high schools, the Hurun Philanthropy List, ranking the biggest philanthropists and the Hurun Art List, ranking the world’s most successful artists alive today.

Hurun provides research reports co-branded with some of the world’s leading financial institutions and regional governments.

Hurun hosts high-profile events across China and India, as well as London, Paris, New York, LA, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney, Luxembourg, Istanbul, Dubai and Singapore.

For further information, see www.hurun.net.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Hurun Report

Porsha Pan

Mobile: +86-139 1838 7446

Email: porsha.pan@hurun.net

Grace Liu

Mobile: +86 136 7195 4611

Email: grace.liu@hurun.net