Sekolah Menengah Sains Raja Tun Azlan Shah or SERATAS is a boarding school

Boarding school

A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...

 located 3 km from the town of Taiping, Perak

Taiping, Perak

Taiping is a town located in northern Perak, Malaysia. With a population of 191,104 , it is the second largest town in Perak after Ipoh, the state capital. Taiping took over Kuala Kangsar's role as the state capital from 1876 to 1937, but was then replaced by Ipoh...

, Malaysia. It is situated at the foot of Bukit Larut

Bukit Larut

Bukit Larut, formerly known as Maxwell Hill , is a hill resort located 10 km from Taiping, Perak, Malaysia. Founded in 1884, it is the oldest hill resort in Malaysia. It is approximately 1250 m above sea level...

(Maxwell Hill). The school covers an area of 51.9 acres (21 ha) and was founded on 1 January 1982 under the Rancangan Malaysia Ketiga (RMK-3). The school was formerly known as Sekolah Menengah Sains Perak and as Sekolah Menengah Sains Taiping or SEMESTA.