College-preparatory school

In the United States a preparatory school, or prep school, is usually a private secondary school (or high school) designed to prepare a student for higher education. In the United Kingdom and some parts of the Commonwealth of Nations, a Preparatory School, or Prep. School is a private primary (elementary) school, designed to prepare a student for Public School.

Both forms have some things in common. Many are boarding schools; often, such schools are highly selective and academically challenging. Such schools are usually expensive, with high tuition used to pay teachers better and provide enriched learning environments and services, such as libraries, science laboratories, and computers. Some British prep schools place a strong emphasis on sports.

In the United States, college preparatory schools often place an emphasis on offering a wide variety of Advanced Placement courses. The preparation for college that such courses provides, the higher-than-average SAT scores, and other attributes of their students lead many colleges and universities to actively recruit prep school students. As well, in the United States, preparatory education is often associated with the Preppy subculture.

International preparatory schools

Internationally well-regarded preparatory secondary schools include Upper Canada College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Schule Schloss Salem in Salem, Germany, Institut Alpin Videmanette in Rougemont, Switzerland, and Institute Le Rosey in Rolle, Switzerland.

Partial list of U.S. preparatory schools

The following is a partial list of preparatory schools in the United States:

British Preparatory Schools

Dragon School, Oxford

Partial list of Canadian preparatory schools

In France, some high schools offer special postgraduate classes, equivalent in level to the first years of university, for students who wish to enter Grandes Écoles.