S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school in Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by James Chapman, the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in 1851, it was founded as a college and cathedral for the new Diocese of Colombo of the Church of Ceylon, modelled on British Public school tradition. An old boy of Eton College, Bishop Chapman founded the college on the Etonian model, the school's motto of Esto perpetua being derived from that of Eton College.

Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in January 1836, as part of the implementation of the recommendations of the Colebrooke Cameron Commission (1833), and was the first government-run secondary school for boys in the island.