The Doon School

Welcome to The Doon School. We are a school which specializes in all boys boarding education for pupils aged 12-18. The school is probably the only ‘All India’ school with applications from almost every state each year, as well as from Indian families overseas. Established in 1935, The Doon School is one of India’s finest schools, with a strong intellectual heartbeat. The Doon School is a full boarding school for boys only and not simply a school which welcomes boarders. The school’s beautiful seventy acre campus with a vast range of flora, fauna and bird life provide all boys with ample green space and fresh air where they are able to live and learn. It is an environment rarely offered by schools in large and small cities in India, or indeed some other countries. All boys are able to seek advice from the teaching staff, the Wellness Centre and the school counsellor living on the school campus throughout the seven day week. Boys discover that they have much more time to study and pursue their wider interests. There is no wasted time travelling to learn Sport, Art, Music, Drama and benefit from Careers Guidance as well as other necessary university and college entrance preparation.

Mission and Vision

Our mission is “To attract and develop exceptional boys and teachers from all backgrounds to serve a meritocratic India; inspire them to be just and ethical citizens; train them to be wise and principled leaders; and prepare them to enter one of the strongest alumni fraternities – for life.”

Our vision is to take The Doon School to its rightful position among the world’s pre-eminent educational institutions for boys aged 12-18 years.

Origin and History

The school’s founder, S. R. Das, was educated at Manchester Grammar School, a highly academic and prestigious all boys’ school founded in 1515 in England. On his return to India, where he served as the Advocate General of Bengal and a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council of Lord Irwin, he set out to create and establish a school based on the British private boarding school model, but one for Indian boys in India. He wanted them to receive the same educational opportunities he had experienced at Manchester Grammar but without having to leave their home country. S. R. Das aspired to set up a school which was open to all, unlike the majority of the then existing boarding schools that admitted only British pupils and were Christian in ethos, or which served India’s wealthy elites. The Doon School was envisioned as a school that would attract boys from all sections of Indian society, and from every state in India, and would be entirely secular. The Doon School was to specialize in the education of boys who would go on to serve a free and democratic India. The first Headmaster was Arthur Foot, a science master from Eton College. His deputy, John Martyn, who was a Housemaster from Harrow, later became the second Headmaster of the school. Headmaster Arthur Foot believed passionately in the importance of social service and on the first Founder’s Day declared the following in his speech:

“The boys should leave Doon School as members of an aristocracy, but it must be an aristocracy of service inspired by ideas of unselfishness, not one of privilege, wealth or position.”

The school opened in 1935 as an all-boarding institution, and is now home to approximately 500 boys aged 12–18 years. The school is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, north of Delhi. It is set in seventy acres on the site of the original Forestry Research Institute of India, with several species of flora and fauna on the estate; there is a diverse variety of trees on the campus.