Selective school in the context of "The Doon School"

Tracking is separating students by what is assessed as academic ability into groups for all subjects or certain classes and curriculum within a school. Track assignment is typically based on academic ability, other factors often influence placement. It may be referred to as streaming or phasing in some schools. In a tracking system, the entire school population is assigned to classes according to whether the students' overall achievement is above average, normal, or below average. Students attend academic classes only with students whose overall academic achievement is the same as their own. Tracking generally applies to comprehensive schools, while selective school systems assign the students to different schools.

Students with special educational needs may be tracked into a self-contained classroom or a separate special school, rather than being included in a mixed-ability class.

A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented selective secondary school.

The original purpose of medieval grammar schools was the teaching of Latin. Over time the curriculum was broadened, first to include Ancient Greek, and later English and other European languages, natural sciences, mathematics, history, geography, art and other subjects. In the late Victorian era, grammar schools were reorganised to provide secondary education throughout England and Wales; Scotland had developed a different system. Grammar schools of these types were also established in British territories overseas, where they have evolved in different ways.

A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965.

About 90% of English secondary school pupils attend such schools (academy schools, community schools, faith schools, foundation schools, free schools, studio schools, university technical colleges, state boarding schools, City Technology Colleges, etc). Specialist schools may however select up to 10% of their intake for aptitude in their specialism. A school may have a few specialisms, like arts (media, performing arts, visual arts), business and enterprise, engineering, humanities, languages, mathematics, computing, music, science, sports, and technology. They are not permitted to select on academic ability generally.

The Doon School is a boys-only academically selective boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, founded in 1935 by Satish Ranjan Das The school's first headmaster was Arthur E. Foot, who had spent some nine years as a science master at Eton College, England. The old boys of Doon are known as Doscos, and the alumni body is represented by The Doon School Old Boys' Society. Admission to the school is based on a competitive entrance examination and an interview.

Doon remains a boys-only school despite continued pressure from political leaders to become coeducational. However, girls are admitted in case they are daughters of the school staff (see entries for sculptor Latika Katt and actor Himani Shivpuri). Although the total number of Doscos is relatively small (estimated at 5,000 since the school was founded in 1935), they include some of India's prominent politicians, artists, writers, social activists and businesspeople.

St Paul's School is a selective independent day school (with limited boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by the Thames in London.

St Paul's was one of nine English schools investigated by the Clarendon Commission, which subsequently became known as the Clarendon schools. However, the school successfully argued that it was a private school and consequently was omitted from the Public Schools Act 1868, as was Merchant Taylors', the other day school within the scope of Lord Clarendon's terms of reference. Since 1881, St Paul's has had its own preparatory school, St Paul's Juniors (formerly Colet Court), which since 1968 has been located on the same site.