HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools 2023

(12 June 2023, Shanghai, Mumbai, London) HSBC China in association with Hurun Education today released its first “HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools 2023”, a list of the world’s top highschools, ranked according to leavers’ university destinations, co-curricular and reputation. The list aims to provide the latest inisghts on overseas education to help parents with early planning and preparation.

The ranking only includes independent schools, i.e. non-state schools, with physical campuses.

"HSBC Hurun Education Global Highschools 2023" includes 168 schools from 12 countries and territories. The surveyed schools have a total of 170,000 students, with 24,000 graduating every year. On average, each high school has 990 students, with 33% of them boarders, and 140 in their final year. The surveyed high schools have a history of 195 years on average. Two thirds of the heads are male, and one third are female.

The key findings of the study are as follows:

• 48% and 38% of the world’s top high schools are from the US and UK, respectively; 8% from China;

   

• By city, 26 and 24 schools are from London and New York respectively, followed by Boston, Washington DC, Los Angles, San Francisco, Shanghai and Oxford. By region, the US East cost led with the most high schools on the list;

   

• Nearly 3 in 4 (71%) are co-ed schools, while nearly two-thirds of the single-sex schools are all-girls;

   

• Schools on the list on average have 990 students with 140 of them are in final year;

   

• High schools on average have 195 years of history; 11 of them have over 500 years of history, while 20 with less than 50 years;

   

• 52% offer boarding, 48% day school only;

   

• Average annual fees for boarding schools globally stand at USD60,000 and for day schools at USD40,000 a year;

   

• Average 10% students receive financial aid; average grant 30% of the total school fees;

   

• 49% are based in the suburbs, a third in cities and 17% in rural areas;

   

• London-based Westminster School topped the list, followed by St. Paul’s School and St. Paul’s Girls’ School;

   

• 5 US schools in top 10, all on East Coast led by Philips Andover Academy, followed by the Spence School, The Dalton School, the Collegiate School and the Brearley School

Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Education Chairman and Chief Researcher, said, “This is the first ranking of the best independent highschools in the world, targeted at parents looking to find the most suitable school for their children, teachers looking to work in the best schools, and university admission officers, looking to understand more about where their applications are coming from. I am delighted to partner with HSBC, a leading international bank, to put out this ground-breaking list.”

“Hurun Education has scoured the world for the best high schools 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. The whole research process took over a year, and I would like to thank the many university counsellors, overseas education advisers as well as the schools for their support.”

“Most families look to a high school for an all-rounded education and to provide the best chance for a place in a well-reputable university.”

“The schools on the Hurun list are highly selective, which is perhaps one of the reasons they are able to generate such good leaver results.”

“China and India are far and away the largest sources of students studying abroad at highschool level, followed by South Korea and Germany, with Saudi Arabia rounding out the Top 5, according to a UNESCO report. 1.5 million of these highschool graduates go on to study an undergraduate course in a country different to their home nation, 70% of whom studied in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, according to a 2020 Project Atlas report.”

“With half of the world’s top 100 universities in the US and UK, it should perhaps not come as a surprise that the top feeder schools for these universities are predominantly from these two countries.”

“China led the way in the world with the most world-class independent highschools outside of the US and UK, with more schools than the rest of the world combined. China’s top universities are predominantly only open to students from state schools, so the Chinese highschools that made the Hurun Education list are sending their students to study abroad.”

“Around half of students studying internationally follow in their parents’ footsteps and also go to study outside of their home country.”

“It takes years to build a world quality school. The Hurun Education highschools were founded in the 1820s on average, ie two hundred years ago. 11 schools have a history of over 500 years, whilst only 11 schools from the 2000s made the list, most of which are in China. These schools have had many opportunities over the years to grow their student numbers but have capped their student numbers at 1,000 students, with 140 leavers this year.”

“Schools with large campuses close to important city centers are mostly schools with histories that predate that city’s urbanization program. The Hurun Education schools in or beside London are 300 years old on average, and in or beside New York are 150 years old. The current price and lack of land available near big cities, make it all but impossible for large new campuses to come about.”

“Many of the Hurun schools have some of the best co-curricular activities (CCA) on offer, with world-class facilities and coaching staff. CCAs help students enhance their social skills, teamwork and leadership, exposing them to new interests and friends.”

“The trend towards co-ed schools is intensifying. Winchester College, for example, has just gone co-ed for the first time in its 641-year history. A third of the Hurun Education schools are single sex schools, of which 60% are girls’ schools and 40% boys’ schools. One reason for the rise in co-ed schools is the convenience it brings to families with both boys and girls.”

“The trend of day schools is growing, with only one third traditional boarding schools. Half the schools on the list are day schools only, with the other half offering certain degree of boarding.”

“80% of schools are in cities, whilst only 20%, mainly boarding schools, are in the countryside.”

“American schools provide the most financial aid, with most generous schools providing a quarter of students with a grant of 70% of annual school fees. The most generous package from UK schools, by comparison, offer 15% of students with 40% of annual school fees. Highly slecetive schools use financial aid and scholarships to attract the best students.”

“The cost of independent schools have almost doubled in real terms in the past 20 years compared with the income of the top 10 percent earners adjusted for inflation. This pricing left many families with no choice of private education.”

“The degree of transparency around school leaver destinations or matriculations varied significantly. Schools in the US were generally the most transparent with their ‘school profiles’, publishing the number of leavers and their university destinations, whilst some schools preferred only to publish offers and some, especially in Singapore, only published a list of universities that their graduates went on to, without giving any specific numbers of graduates.”

“University counsellors are becoming a more important part of highschools, especially as competition for the world’s top undergraduate courses heats up.”

“Schools in the UK like Concord College, Abbey College Cambridge and Cardiff Sixth Form started out as tutorial colleges to help students get into universities, but have evolved and are now challenging the traditional schools.”

“For the past century, the classroom of the schools on the Hurun Education list have not changed significantly. However, with the advent of ChatGPT and AI in education, we expect that future classrooms will be significantly different.”

“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.”

World’s Top 10 Overall

London-based Westminster School was top, followed by St Paul’s School and St Paul’s Girls’ School. The Top 10 schools are all from either the UK or US. Top 10 global high schools on average have 333 years of history. Six are single sex schools: three boys’ schools and three girls’ schools, and four are co-ed schools.