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boarding school in Winchester, Hampshire, England, UK
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Winchester College is an English public school (a fee-charging boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in Winchester, Hampshire. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 as a feeder school for New College, Oxford, and has operated continuously on its present site ever since. It is the oldest of the nine public schools investigated by the Clarendon Commission. Historically, the school was a boys' boarding school, but from September 2022, it has accepted both male and female day pupils into its sixth form.
The school was founded to provide an education for 70 scholars, with a choir of 16 "quiristers" aged up to 12. Gradually numbers rose with paying pupils known as "commoners" alongside the scholars. Numbers expanded greatly in the 1860s with the addition of ten boarding houses. The scholars continue to live in the school's medieval buildings, which consist of two courtyards, a chapel, and a cloisters. A Wren-style classroom building named "School" was added in the 17th century. An art school ("museum"), science school, and music school were added at the turn of the 20th century. A war cloister was built as a memorial in 1924.
The school has maintained traditions including its mascot, the Trusty Servant; a set of "notions" forming a sort of private language; and a school song, Domum. Its headmasters have included the bishops William Waynflete in the 15th century and George Ridding in the 19th century. Former pupils are known as Old Wykehamists.
Winchester College was founded in 1382 by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor to both Edward III and Richard II, in part because of the lack of priests following the Black Death. Winchester was to act as a feeder school to New College, also founded by Wykeham. According to its 1382 charter and final statutes (1400), the school is called in Latin Collegium Sanctae Mariae prope Wintoniam ("St Mary's College, near Winchester"), or Collegium Beatae Mariae Wintoniensis prope Winton ("The College of the Blessed Mary of Winchester, near Winchester"). The first 70 "poor scholars" entered the school in 1394. In the early 15th century the specific requirement was that scholars come from families where the annual income was less than five marks sterling (£3 6s 8d); in comparison, the contemporary reasonable living for a yeoman was £5, annually.
Other innovations at Winchester included enforcing discipline through the pupils themselves, using prefects. Discipline was in any case meant to be less harsh than was common in medieval schools, at least as the statutes read. Winchester was also unusual in giving education to boys aged 12–18, as universities would accept students within this age range. These features, including the double foundation, formed the model for Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, some 50 years later. Eton and Winchester formed a close partnership at that time. At first only a small number of pupils other than scholars were admitted; by the 15th century the school had around 100 pupils in total, nominally the 70 scholars, 16 choirboys aged up to 12 known as "quiristers", and the rest fee-paying "commoners". Demand for places for commoners was high, and though at first restricted, numbers gradually rose.
As the college was a religious as well as educational establishment, it was threatened with closure during Henry VIII's reign. A statute to this effect was drawn up in 1545, which was only halted by his death. Edward VI swiftly reversed direction. Edward made provision for worship and Bible readings to be made in English rather than Latin. In the early modern period, under Henry, Edward, Elizabeth I and James I, royal visits were accompanied by presentations of Latin (and sometimes Greek) occasional poetry, composed by the pupils. Queen Elizabeth also granted an exemption to allow Winchester, Eton and elsewhere to conduct their religious services in Latin, to help pupils to improve their language skills.
From the 1860s, ten boarding houses, each for up to sixty pupils, were added, greatly increasing the school's capacity. By 2020, the number of pupils had risen to 690. From 2022, the school has accepted day pupils in the Sixth Form, including girls. In 2025 the college merged with The Pilgrims' School.
The college consists of an assemblage of buildings from medieval times to the present day. There are 94 listed buildings, set in grounds of some 250 acres, of which 100 acres are water meadows, 52 acres are playing fields, and 11 acres are formal gardens; the area includes St Catherine's Hill. The medieval buildings, representing most of the original foundation from the school's opening in 1394, include Outer Gate and Outer Court, Chamber Court, the chapel, and the Cloisters. These are built in flint with limestone facings and slate roofs. The chapel retains its original wooden fan-vaulted ceiling, designed by Hugh Herland, carpenter to Richard II. Little of the original medieval glass, designed by Thomas Glazier, survives, as it was scattered in the 1820s, but some is now housed in Thurburn's Chantry, at the back of the chapel, and in Fromond's Chantry, inside the Cloisters. The "School" building was constructed in 1683–1687 in Wren style, with a statue of the founder above the door by C. G. Cibber. The school was greatly extended in the 19th century with the addition of boarding houses for "commoners", paying pupils, as opposed to the scholars who continued to live in the medieval College. At the turn of the 20th century, a Music School, "Museum" (art school), and Science School, all architect-designed, were added. A hall big enough for the enlarged school, New Hall, was opened in 1961, accommodating the oak panelling removed from the Chapel in the 1874 refurbishment. In 1924, a War Cloister was constructed; it now serves as a memorial of the Wykehamists killed in the two World Wars. Visitors may tour areas such as Chamber Court, the chapel, College Hall, the Cloisters, School and Museum, for a fee.
The seventy scholars live in the original buildings, known as "College". The scholars are known as "Collegemen", and the schoolmaster in charge of them is called the Master in College. Collegemen wear black gowns, following the founding traditions of the school. Collegemen enjoy certain privileges compared to the Commoners, such as quick access to the campus, having open fires, and being allowed to walk across Meads, the walled sports field outside School.
Every boarding pupil at Winchester, apart from the Scholars, lives in a boarding house, chosen or allocated when applying to Winchester. It is here that he studies, eats and sleeps. Each house is presided over by a housemaster (who takes on the role in addition to teaching duties), assisted by house tutors. Houses compete against each other in school sports. Each house has an official name, usually based on the family name of the first housemaster, which is used mainly as a postal address. Each house other than College also has an informal name, usually based on the name or nickname of an early housemaster. Each house also has a letter, in the order of their founding, to act as an abbreviation. A member of a house is described by the informal name of the house with "-ite" suffixed, as "a Furleyite", "a Toyeite", "a Cookite" and so on.
In September 2026, the school's first girls' boarding house, St Cross, opened. Construction of a second boarding house for girls, St Catherine, was completed in 2026.
Winchester is held to be one of the most prestigious schools in the world. It has its own entrance examination, and does not use Common Entrance like other major public schools. Those wishing to enter a Commoner House make their arrangements with the relevant housemaster some two years before sitting the exam, usually sitting a test set by the housemaster and an interview. Those applying to College do not take the normal entrance examination but instead sit a separate, harder, exam called "Election": successful candidates may obtain, according to their performance, a scholarship, an exhibition or a Headmaster's nomination to join a Commoner House. Admission to College was historically coupled to remission of fees, but this has ceased; instead, means-tested bursaries ranging from 5% to 100% of the school fee are provided, according to need. From 2022, Winchester admitted girls into the 6th form (year 12) as day pupils, with girls boarding from 2026. For 2023/24, the fee is £49,152 per annum (£16,384 per term) for boarding pupils and £36,369 per annum (£12,123 per term) for day pupils.
In addition to normal lessons, all boys throughout the school are required to attend a class called Division (known as "Div") which explores parts of history, literature, and politics that do not lead to external examinations; its purpose is to ensure a broad education.
From year 9, pupils study for at least nine GCSE and IGCSEs. Every pupil studies English, mathematics, Latin, French or German, and at least two sciences at this level, as well as "Div". Pupils then study three A-levels, "Div", and an Extended Project Qualification.
Winchester College is particularly known for its academic rigour. In 2023 at A-Level, 79.6% of student results were graded A*-A, with 42.4% at A*. At GCSE, 88.4% of results were graded 7 or higher, with 73.1% of grades being 8 or 9, and 50.5% of all grades achieving the top grade of 9. In the same year, 17% of pupils secured places at Oxbridge, while notable US destinations included Harvard University, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University Of Chicago. Between 2010 and 2018, an average of 33% of leavers obtained places at Oxford or Cambridge.
Winchester College has its own game, Winchester College football (also known as "Win: Co: Fo:" or "Winkies"), played only at Winchester. It is played in the spring term with a competition between the school's houses; it is largely managed by the boys.
A distinctive Winchester version of fives resembles Rugby fives but with a buttress on the court. The buttress enables a skilful player to cause the ball to ricochet in an unexpected direction.
The school has an active rowing club called the Winchester College Boat Club which is based on the River Itchen. The club is affiliated to British Rowing (boat code WIN) and was twice winner of the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup (in 1949 and 1954) at the Henley Royal Regatta.
Rivalry — particularly sporting — between Winchester College and Eton College has existed for centuries.
Pupils of the school in their third year are currently required to serve in the college's Combined Cadet Force.
The organisation was founded in 1860 as "The Winchester College Rifle Volunteer Corps" by various boys in their top year as a result of the perceived threat of Napoleon III after the Orsini plot, and remained entirely autonomous until it was taken over by the Second Master in 1868. It was enrolled as a Cadet Corps in the 1st Hampshire Volunteer Battalion. In 1908, the Officer Training Corps was established, and by 1914, through the request of the War Office that Senior Cadets be given appropriate training for the war effort, almost every student became involved in the Corps, though it was never explicitly compulsory. In the Second World War, it was renamed as "The Junior Training Corps", though its function was still to prepare boys for Officer responsibilities. Montgomery remarked on inspecting the Corps in 1946 that there was "latent leadership in all ranks". In 1948, the "Junior Training Corps" became known as the "Combined Cadet Force" (CCF) which incorporated RAF and RN sections. In 1963, "Alternative Service Activities" were introduced for boys who did not want to join the CCF. Pupils were made eligible to opt out of the CCF at the end of their second year after starting at the beginning of the year: this is still the school's policy.
Winchester offers extensive opportunities for musical development, with two-thirds of pupils playing at least one instrument. The school has a music school and numerous practice rooms, and a variety of choirs, ensembles, and orchestras. The chapel choir has existed since the school's foundation. Music and choral scholarships fund free tuition for candidates proficient in multiple instruments at grade 6 level or above.
The Trusty Servant is an emblematic figure in a painting at Winchester College, that serves as the school's unofficial mascot and the name of its alumni magazine. A painting of The Trusty Servant and accompanying verses both devised by the poet John Hoskins in 1579 hangs outside the college kitchen. The current version was painted by William Cave the Younger in 1809. The painting depicts a mythical creature with the body of a man, the head of a pig, with its snout closed with a padlock, the ears of an ass, the feet of a stag, and tools in his left hand. The verses are on the virtues that pupils of the college were supposed to have. The college arms are shown in the background of the painting.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Winchester College”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.