Upper Canada College

Focus

Transformational learning experiences

Day fees 2024/25

$30,000–$32,500

Boarding fees 2024/25

$54,200–$55,600

Pupils

1,260

Ages

5–18

Spear’s Review

There must be something in the water at Upper Canada College (UCC), given that so many Olympic athletes have been educated there since it was established in 1829. 

The school’s focus on ‘transformational learning experiences’ encourages boys in sporting excellence, rigorous academic debate and critical thinking. And at its 450-acre ‘second campus’, called the Norval Outdoor School, they attend overnight and day trips, working in groups to develop their outdoor skills and interpersonal relationships. By year 9, each student will have spent 11 weeks total ‘wilderness learning’.

Academically, UCC is one of the few schools in Canada offering the International Baccalaureate primary years, middle years and diploma programmes.

Academics

The average IB score is 33 points. 

University and college destinations

In the last five years, UCC students have matriculated at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and Ivy League universities in the US.

Head teacher

Sam McKinney is the 19th principal of UCC. Prior to his arrival in 2016, McKinney was deputy headmaster and head of senior school at St Peter’s College in Adelaide, Australia. He received a BA from Carleton University in Ottawa, a graduate diploma in education from the University of Adelaide and a master’s from Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. More recently, he studied at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education Principals’ Centre.

Admissions

The admissions process differs slightly according to the prospective students year group but typically consists of an application, submission of school reports and references, an interview and a visit to the school.

Accessibility

Toronto Pearson International Airport: 30 minutes

Location

Click for more information about the research process and expert insight behind the Spear’s Schools Index.