A St Paul's education offers lifelong opportunities and we're determined to make it available to talented girls from all backgrounds. Quite simply, bursaries transform lives – so that's the focus of our current fund-raising. At the moment, we offer direct financial support to eight per cent of girls. Our goal is to maintain this level of support and eventually fund tuition for 20 per cent of the student body.

The chance to be a Paulina was more than a fantastic opportunity. It is the most incredible and life-changing gift I have ever received.

The quality of our teaching and facilities and the extent of our community gives bursary recipients everything they need to thrive during their school years and later on. Their diverse talents and their contribution to extra-curricular activities enrich life at St Paul’s immeasurably. We seek out good candidates by strategically promoting our bursary programme. We have links with many primary schools in London (especially through the St Clement's and St James's homework club for primary schools across North Kensington) and with Wembley High Technical College.

Fund-raising for our bursary campaign has made a St Paul's education possible for nine new students who joined year 7 in September on full revenue bursaries, according to the campaign's latest report, launched on 20 November. Four new members of year 12 and eight of the year group's current students are also receiving bursaries.

The campaign's most significant achievements included the establishment of a new bursary syndicate, thanks to the generosity of the parents of 2010's leavers, and the pledge of £158,000 to the bursary endowment fund – an investment that provides for permanently renewed bursaries.

Members of the St Paul's family – governors, alumnae, parents and donors alike – have also contributed to the report, speaking about what St Paul's has meant to them. "I cannot express my gratitude enough to the school and the bursary scheme for giving me the opportunity to live out my student years as a Paulina." says Emma Colliver, a bursary student who moved on to read physics at Cambridge. "An education at St Paul’s is not confined to the classroom; it is an education for life and one which I shall always appreciate."

We are now using both sources of funding for bursaries, the revenue donations and the endowment, to their maximum capacity," says the foundation director Rosemary Torrington. "We would like to increase our endowment fund in this coming year to help us offer bursaries in perpetuity.