Winchester College
Manners Makyth Man
Founded in 1382 by William of Wykeham, Winchester College is one of England's oldest schools, in continuous operation on its original site for over six centuries, and one whose particular character is built on intellectual seriousness, expressed through its own distinctive vocabulary and its long tradition of demanding, discussion based learning. The school admits boys from Year 9 and has opened its Sixth Form to girls, as day pupils and boarders alike.
Key Facts
Location : Winchester, Hampshire
Type : Boys' boarding and day, Co-educational Sixth Form
Age Range : 13 to 18
Pupil Numbers : Approx. 740 pupils
Founded : 1382
Motto : Manners Makyth Man
Academic Profile
Pupils at Winchester follow a wide-ranging curriculum that includes Div, its distinctive non-examined programme exploring history, literature, and ideas beyond any syllabus, before taking their GCSEs. In the Sixth Form they study A Levels, and Old Wykehamists proceed to Oxford and Cambridge, alongside Imperial College London and US universities.
Co-Curricular Life
Music is central to Winchester life, with two-thirds of pupils learning an instrument, many learning two or three, and choirs whose tradition runs back to the Quiristers of the school's medieval foundation, still singing the treble line in Chapel today. Drama is vibrant, with productions of real quality staged throughout the year under a professional theatre manager, and the visual arts are pursued through dedicated studios and the school's own inter-house art competition. Sport spans more than thirty disciplines, including two games unique to the school, Winchester Football and Winchester Fives, alongside cricket and rowing on the River Itchen, where the boat club races at Henley Royal Regatta. All of this unfolds among medieval buildings, chapel, and library that few schools can match as a backdrop to daily life.
Admissions Essentials
Boys join Winchester College in Year 9, at age thirteen, with day and boarding places available to both boys and girls in the Sixth Form. Registration for Year 9 entry takes place in the autumn term of Year 6. The process includes a school reference, General Ability Testing, a writing assessment, and an interview, with decisions released in the spring term of Year 6. Successful candidates then sit the Winchester Entrance examination, or Election, the school's academic scholarship route, in the spring of Year 8. Younger pupils may also join through The Pilgrims' School, Winchester's own preparatory school, which offers a route into the College from Year 7 alongside the main Year 9 entry. At Year 9 entry, scholarships span three categories, awarded for academic distinction through Election, music, and sport.
In Essence
For a child who lights up at getting to the heart of an idea rather than simply learning it, Winchester's daily rhythm of structured discussion, carried on in its own particular language, becomes less a school subject than a habit of mind, and rewards a genuine love of ideas with an education of rare intellectual depth.