| Westminster School | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Location | |
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Little Dean's Yard England | |
| Coordinates | 51°29′54″N0°07′42″W / 51.4984°N 0.1284°W /51.4984; -0.1284 |
| Information | |
| Type | Public school Privateday andboarding school |
| Motto | Latin:Dat Deus Incrementum (God Gives the Increase) |
| Religious affiliation | Church of England[1] |
| Established | Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 |
| Founder | Henry VIII (1541) Elizabeth I (1560 – refoundation) |
| Local authority | City of Westminster |
| Department for Education URN | 101162Tables |
| Chairman of Governors | Mark Batten[3] |
| Head Master | Gary Savage[2] |
| Staff | 105 |
| Gender | Boys Coeducational (Sixth Form)[6][7] |
| Age | 13 (boys), 16 (girls) to 18 |
| Enrolment | 747 |
| Houses | Ashburnham Busby's College Dryden's Grant's Hakluyt's Liddell's Milne's Purcell's Rigaud's Wren's |
| Colour | Pink |
| Publication | The Elizabethan |
| Alumni | Old Westminsters ("OWs") |
| Website | www |
Westminster School is apublic school inWestminster, London, England, in the precincts ofWestminster Abbey. It descends from acharity school founded by WestminsterBenedictines before theNorman Conquest, as documented by theCroyland Chronicle and a charter ofKing Offa. Continuous existence is clear from the early 14th century.[8] Westminster was one of nine schools examined by the 1861Clarendon Commission[9] and reformed by thePublic Schools Act 1868. The school motto,Dat Deus Incrementum, quotes1 Corinthians 3:6: "I planted the seed... but God made it grow."[10] The school owns playing fields and tennis courts in the centre of the 13-acre (5-hectare)Vincent Square,[11] along whichWestminster Under School is also situated.[12]
Its academic results place it among the top schools nationally;[13][14] about half its students go toOxbridge,[15] giving it the highest national Oxbridge acceptance rate.[16]In the 2023A-levels, the school saw 82.3% of its candidates score A* or A.[17] The school is included inThe Schools Index of the world's 150 best private schools and among top 30 senior schools in the UK.[18] Among its graduates are three Nobel laureates:Edgar Adrian (Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1932), SirAndrew Huxley (likewise in 1963) and SirRichard Stone (Nobel Prize in Economics in 1984). During the mid-17th century, the liberal philosopher of theEnlightenment,John Locke, attended the school, and seven UK prime ministers also then attended, all belonging to theWhig orLiberal factions of British politics:Henry Pelham and his brotherThomas Pelham-Holmes,Charles Watson-Wentworth,James Waldegrave,Augustus Fitzroy,William Cavendish-Bentinck, andJohn Russell.
Boys join theUnder School at seven and the Senior School at 13 if they pass their examinations. Girls join the Sixth Form at 16.[19] About a quarter of the 750 pupilsboard. Weekly boarders may go home after Saturday morning school.[20]
The earliest records of a school at Westminster date back to the 1340s and are held in Westminster Abbey's Muniment Room.[21] Parts of the buildings now used by the school date back to the tenth-century Anglo-Saxon abbey at Westminster.[22]
In 1540,Henry VIII ordered thedissolution of the monasteries in England, including that of the powerful Abbots of Westminster, but personally ensured the School's survival by his royal charter.[23] The Royal College of St. Peter carried on with forty "King's Scholars" financed from the royal purse. By this point Westminster School had certainly become apublic school (i.e. a school available to members of the paying public, rather than the private tuition arranged by the nobility). DuringMary I's reign the Abbey was reinstated as aRoman Catholic monastery, but the school continued.
Elizabeth I refounded the school in 1560,[24] with new statutes to select 40King's Scholars from boys who had attended the school for a year.[25] Queen Elizabeth frequently visited her scholars, although she never signed the statutes or endowed her scholarships; 1560 is now generally taken as the date that the school was "founded".
Elizabeth I appointedWilliam Camden[26] as Head Master, and he is the only layman known to have held the position until 1937.[27] It wasRichard Busby,[28][29] himself an Old Westminster, who established the reputation of the school for several hundred years, as much by his classical learning as for his ruthless discipline by thebirch, immortalised inPope'sDunciad. Busby prayed publicly up School[30] for the safety of the Crown, on the very day ofCharles I's execution, and then locked the boys inside to prevent their going to watch the spectacle a few hundred yards away. Regardless of politics, hethrashed Royalist and Puritan boys alike without fear or favour. Busby also took part inOliver Cromwell's funeral procession in 1658, when a Westminster schoolboy,Robert Uvedale, succeeded in snatching the "MajestyScutcheon" (white satin banner) draped on the coffin, which is now held in the library[31] (it was given to the school by his family three hundred years later).[32] Busby remained in office throughout the Civil War and the Commonwealth, when the school was governed by Parliamentary Commissioners, and well into the Restoration.
In 1679, a group of scholars killed a bailiff, ostensibly in defence of Abbey's traditional right ofsanctuary after the man had arrested a person connected to the college.[33] Busby obtained a royalpardon for his scholars fromCharles II and added the cost to the school bills.
Until the 19th century, the curriculum was predominantly made up of Latin and Greek, and all taught up School.[34] Westminster boys were uncontrolled outside school hours and notoriously unruly about town, but the proximity of the school to the Palace of Westminster meant that politicians were well aware of boys' exploits. After thePublic Schools Act 1868, in response to the Clarendon Commission[35] on the financial and other malpractices at nine pre-eminent public schools, the school began to approach its modern form. It was legally separated from the Abbey, although the organisations remain close. The Dean of Westminster wasex officio the Chair of the Governing Body until 2020 and remains a Governor. There followed a scandalous public and parliamentary dispute lasting a further 25 years, to settle the transfer of the properties from the Canons of the Abbey to the school. School statutes have been made byOrder in Council of QueenElizabeth II. The Dean ofChrist Church, Oxford, and the Master ofTrinity College, Cambridge, were alsoex officio members of the school's Governing Body until 2020.[36]
Unusually among public schools, Westminster did not adopt most of the broader changes associated with theVictorian ethos ofThomas Arnold, such as the emphasis on team over individual spirit, and the school retained much of its distinctive character.
Despite many pressures, including evacuation and the destruction of the school roof during theBlitz, the school refused to move out of the city, unlike other schools such asCharterhouse andSt. Paul's, and remains in its central London location.Westminster Under School was formed in 1943[37] in the evacuated school buildings in Westminster, as a distinct preparatory school for day pupils between the ages of eight to 13 (now seven to 13). Only the separation is new: for example, in the 18th century,Edward Gibbon attended Westminster from the age of 11 andJeremy Bentham from the age of eight.[38] The Under School has since moved toVincent Square,[39] overlooking the school's playing fields. Its current Master is Kate Jefferson.[40]
In 1967, the first female pupil was admitted to the school. Girls became full members in 1973.[41] In 1981, a single-sex boarding house, Purcell's, was created for girls. In 1997 the school expanded further with the creation of a new day house, Milne's, at 5a, Dean's Yard.
In 2005 the school was one of 50 leading independent schools found guilty of running a cartel, exposed byThe Times, which had allowed them to collaborate in uncompetitive fees for thousands of customers.[42][43] Jean Scott, the head of the Independent Schools Council, said that independent schools had always been exempt from anti-cartel rules applied to business, were following a long-established procedure in sharing the information with each other, and that they were unaware of the change to the law (on which they had not been consulted). She wrote to John Vickers, the OFT director-general, saying, "They are not a group of businessmen meeting behind closed doors to fix the price of their products to the disadvantage of the consumer. They are schools that have quite openly continued to follow a long-established practice because they were unaware that the law had changed.".[44] However, each school agreed to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and ex-gratia payments totalling £3 million into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.[45][46][47]
In 2007, the school responded to an invitation to become the sponsor ofPimlico School, which was due to be rebuilt as anacademy, but decided not to do so afterWestminster City Council developed its plans. In 2013 the school collaborated with theHarris Federation to set up a selective, mixed sixth-form academy, with entrance priority being given to those from disadvantaged backgrounds.Harris Westminster Sixth Form opened nearby in 2014; pupils of the academy share some lessons and facilities of the school.
In 2010 the school and the abbey celebrated the 450th anniversary of the granting of their royal charter and Elizabeth I's refoundation of the school in 1560. Queen Elizabeth II with the Duke of Edinburgh unveiled a controversial statue in Little Dean's Yard of the Queen's namesake Elizabeth I, the nominal foundress of the School, by Old Westminster sculptor Matthew Spender.[48] The head of the statue came off in May 2016 after a Sixth Former (a pupil in Year 12) tried to climb onto the statue. The head has since been reattached.
In 2011, the school agreed to buy a 999-year lease ofLawrence Hall, London fromThe Royal Horticultural Society.[49] This listed Art-Deco building adjacent to the school's playing fields at Vincent Square has been converted into a Sports Centre. It provides for climbing, martial arts, fencing, rowing, table tennis, badminton, netball, indoor football and indoor cricket.[50] In 2012 the school took possession of St Edward's House, which was the last Anglican monastery in London.[51] The building, on the corner of Great College Street and Tufton Street, now houses Purcell's, a Boarding House for girls and a Day House for boys, as well as a small Chapel and Refectory.[52] Westminster Under School has also been enlarged by a building in Douglas Street, which provides an Art Studio, IT Suite and Dining Hall.[53]
In May 2013, the school was criticized for staging an auction involving the selling of internships to fund bursaries, resulting in adverse press coverage.[54]
In 2014/2015 Westminster was reported to be the 13th most expensiveHMC day school and tenth most expensive HMC boarding school in the UK[55] It achieved the highest percentage of students accepted byOxbridge colleges over the period 2002–2006,[56] and was ranked as best boys' school in the country in terms of GCSE results in 2017.[57] In 2019, 84% of pupils scored A*-A for their A-Levels examination, while 80% scored A*-A for their GCSEs.[58]
In December 2017, the school announced plans to open six schools in China, working with theHong Kong educational group HKMETG; the first opened inChengdu in 2020.[59] Revenue generated by the deal will be used to support bursary funds at the existing school, and follows similar moves byHarrow School,Malvern School,Wellington College andDulwich College. The school was criticized in the media and by its pupils for its decision to teach the Chinese national curriculum as opposed to an international curriculum normally taught by international schools.[60] Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute atSOAS London, was quoted in theFinancial Times as saying, "I think they have no idea what they're dealing with.... If you set up a school in China, they will have a party secretary superintending the whole school and the party secretary will be responsible for political education."[61] The school responded that it would exercise "soft power" over the teaching and would also teach an international curriculum for students aged 16–18.[62] The issue was re-opened whenThe Times published an article quoting Professor Edward Vickers ofKyushu University, who accused the school (andKing's College School, with similar plans) of "helping Chinese teach propaganda".[63] These plans were cancelled in November 2021 in response to "recent changes in Chinese education policy".[64]
In 2028 The school plans to introduce girls into Year 9.[65] It will beco-educational in all year groups by 2030.[66]
Westminster School, in the middle of theUNESCO World Heritage Site of Westminster Abbey, St. Margaret's, and the Palace of Westminster, has several buildings notable for qualities, age and history. The school stands mainly in the precincts of the medieval monastery of Westminster Abbey,[67] its main buildings surrounding its private squareLittle Dean's Yard (known as Yard), off Dean's Yard, whereChurch House, the headquarters of theChurch of England, is situated,[68] along with some of the houses, the common room, the humanities building Weston's, and College Hall.
Just outside the abbey precincts in Great College Street is Sutcliff's (named after the tuck shop on the site of the building in the 19th century), where Geography, Art,[69] Theology, Philosophy and Classics (Latin and Ancient Greek) are taught. TheRobert Hooke Science Centre[70] is further away, just offSmith Square.[71] As part of an expansion programme funded by donations and a legacy fromA. A. Milne,[72] the school has acquired the nearby Millicent Fawcett Hall for Drama and Theatre Studies lessons and performances;[73][74] the Manoukian Centre for Music Lessons[75][76][77] (timetabled and private) and recitals; and the Weston Building at 3 Dean's Yard.[78][79] It often usesSt John's, Smith Square as a venue for major musical concerts.
College Garden, to the East of Little Dean's Yard, is believed to be the oldest garden in England, under continuous cultivation for about a millennium.[80] Just beyond rises the Victoria Tower of theHouses of Parliament; the King's Scholars have special rights of access to theHouse of Commons.[citation needed] To the North, the Dark Cloister leads straight to the Abbey, which serves as the School Chapel.[81]
The playing fields are half a mile away atVincent Square,[82] whichDean Vincent created for the school by hiring a horse and plough to carve 10 acres (4 hectares) out of the open Tothill Fields. The boathouse is now some way from the school atPutney,[82] where it is also used for theOxford andCambridgeboat race; but the school's First Eight still returns annually to exercise its traditional right to land at Black Rod Steps of thePalace of Westminster.
The Great Cloisters,St Faith's Chapel, The Chapter House, The Parlour, 1 and 2 The Cloisters, and the dormitory with the Chapel of St Dunstan arelisted Grade I as a group on theNational Heritage List for England.[83]
The dormitory at Little Dean's Yard and the staircase and doorway in Little Dean's Yard to the Busby Library are separately listed Grade I.[84][85]
College Hall, the 14th-century abbot's state dining hall, is one of the oldest and finest examples of a medieval refectory and still in daily use for that purpose in term-time; outside of term it reverts to the dean as the abbot's successor.[86] QueenElizabeth Woodville took sanctuary here in 1483 with five daughters and her sonRichard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, but failed to save him from his fate as one of thePrinces in the Tower. In the 1560s,Elizabeth I several times came to see her scholars act their Latin plays on a stage in front of the attractive Elizabethan gallery, which may have been first erected especially for the purpose.[87][88]
College, now shared between the three Houses of College, Dryden's and Wren's, is a dressed stone building overlookingCollege Garden,[89] the former monastery's Infirmary garden, which is still the property of the Collegiate Church of Westminster Abbey. College dates from 1729 and was designed by theEarl of Burlington, based on earlier designs by SirChristopher Wren (himself an Old Westminster).
School, known as "Up School", originally built in the 1090s as the monks' dormitory, is the school's main hall, used for Latin Prayers (a weekly assembly with prayers in the Westminster dialect ofLatin),[90] exams, and large concerts, plays and the like. From 1599 it was used to teach all the pupils, the Upper and Lower Schools being separated by a curtain hung from a 16th-centurypig iron bar, which remains the largest piece of pig iron in the world.[citation needed] The panelling "up School" is painted with the coats of arms of many former pupils. The original shell-shaped apse at the north end of the school gave its name to the 'Shell' forms taught there and the corresponding classes at many otherpublic schools. The current shell displays a Latin epigram on the rebuilding of School, with the acrosticSemper Eadem, Elizabeth I's motto. The classroom door to the right of the Shell was recovered from the notoriousStar Chamber at its demolition, but was destroyed during the Blitz. The building lies directly on top of the Westminster Abbey museum in the Norman Undercroft, and ends at the start of thePyx Chamber. Both School and College had their roofs destroyed by incendiary bombs in the Blitz of 1941. They were re-opened byGeorge VI in 1950.[91]
The school gateway was also designed by theEarl of Burlington. It is engraved with the names of many pupils, who used to hire a stonemason for the purpose.[92]
Ashburnham House, not to be confused with thesimilarly named house, houses the library[93] and the Mathematics Department,[94] and until 2005 accommodated the Economics, English and History of Art departments as well. Ashburnham House may have been built by Inigo Jones or his pupil John Webb around the time of the Restoration, as a London seat for the family, who became theEarls of Ashburnham. It incorporates remains of the mediaeval Prior's House. Its garden is the site of the monks' refectory and some of the earliest sittings of theHouse of Commons.
In 1731 when Ashburnham housed the King's andCottonian libraries, which form the basis of theBritish Library,[95] there was a disastrous fire, and many of the books and manuscripts still show the marks.[96] After thePublic Schools Act 1868 there was a scandalous parliamentary and legal battle between the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey and the School until the School eventually obtained Ashburnham House under the Act for £4,000. The dispute was reported inThe Times and it was suggested by Thomas Wise, Secretary of The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings that the property was "in danger of being pulled down or of being virtually destroyed by being converted into a boarding-house in connexion with Westminster School", adding that the "house is admirably suited for a residence for the Dean or one of the Canons, and is totally unfitted for a school or a boarding house."[97] The school responded: "The Chapter themselves have in past years greatly altered and disfigured Ashburnham-house. It had originally two wings; one was destroyed and never restored. About 1848 the roof was taken off, a story added, and a dome in the ceiling of the drawing-room demolished, the external elevation being ruined. The house now has no beauty externally, and hardly any features of interest internally, except the staircase, which in any case would be preserved".[98] On 28 NovemberWilliam Morris also became involved in the campaign, writing a letter to the editor ofThe Daily News.[99] In the event, the school demolished the adjacent Turle's House and renovated sections of the east wing, but left the staircase and drawing room untouched.[100]
During theSecond World War, the library was used for military purposes and as an American soldiers' club, the Churchill Club.
The Greaze has been held "up School" (in the School Hall) onShrove Tuesday since at least 1753.[101] The head cook ceremoniously tosses a horsehair-reinforcedpancake over a high bar, which was used from the 16th century to curtain off the Under School from the Great School. Members of the school fight for the pancake for one minute, watched over by the Dean of Westminster, the Head Master, and the upper year groups of the school[102] and distinguished or even occasionally royal visitors. The pupil who gets the largest weight is awarded agold sovereign (promptly redeemed for use next year), and the Dean begs for a half-holiday for the whole school. Weighing scales are on hand in the event of a dispute. A cook who failed to get the pancake over the bar after three attempts would formerly have been "booked" or pelted with Latin primers, but that tradition has long lapsed.[103][104]
The privilege of being the firstcommoners to acclaim each newsovereign at theircoronation in Westminster Abbey is reserved for theKing's (or Queen's) Scholars. Their shouts of "Vivat Rex/Regina" ("Long live the king/queen!") are incorporated into the coronation anthem "I was glad" byHubert Parry.[105] The tradition dates back to the coronation ofKing James II.[106]
The School commemorates its benefactors every year with a service in Westminster Abbey in Latin in which the Captain of the King's Scholars lays a wreath of pink roses on the tomb of Elizabeth I: the service alternates between Little Commem, held in Henry VII's Chapel and involving just the King's Scholars, and the Big Commem, to which the whole school community is invited.[107]
The King's Scholars have privileged access to the House of Commons gallery, said to be a compromise recorded in the Standing Orders of the House in the 19th century, to stop the boys from climbing into the Palace over the roofs.
Despite the formal separation from the abbey,[108] the school remainsAnglican, with services in the abbey attended by the entire school at least twice a week, and many other voluntary-attendance services of worship. The school was expressly exempted by theAct of Uniformity to allow it to continue saying Latin prayers despite theReformation. Every Wednesday there is an assembly Up School known as Latin Prayers, which opens with the Head Master leading all members of the school in chanting prayers inLatin, followed by notices in English. The school's unique pronunciation of formal Latin is known as "Westminster Latin",[109][110] and descends frommedieval English scholastic pronunciation: Queen Elizabeth I, who spoke fluent Latin, commanded that Latin was not to be said "in the monkish fashion", a significant warning upon loyalties between Church and State.
Since the monastic Christmas revels of medieval times, Latin plays have been presented by Scholars, with a prologue and witty epilogue on contemporary events. Annual plays, "either tragedy or comedy", were required by the school statutes in 1560, and some early plays were acted in College Hall before Elizabeth I and her whole Council. However, in a more prudish age, Queen Victoria did not accompany Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales to the play, and recorded in her diary that it was "very Improper". Today, the play is put on less frequently, any members of the school may take part, and the Master of the King's Scholars gives the Latin prologue. The 1938 play caused a diplomatic incident, with the German ambassador withdrawing after being offended by the wordsMagna Germania figuring in extenso on a map of Europe displayed.[citation needed]
There is a Westminster jargon little known to the general public:
The school has threeEton Fives courts behindAshburnham House. The school frequently fields pupils as national entries in international competitions inrowing, or "water", and fencing.
Westminster School Boat Club is the oldest rowing club in the world, located on theRiver Thames. TheOxford University Boat Club uses Westminster's boathouse at Putney as its HQ for the annualOxford and Cambridge boat race on the Thames. The boathouse was remodelled in 1997 and won a Wandsworth design award in 1999.[111] The school's colour is pink; Westminster rowers racedEton College for the right to wear the colour.[112] The premierLeander Club at Henley, founded in London by a number of Old Westminster rowers, later adopted it, although they call the colour cerise.[113] The only problems arise when racing againstAbingdon School, whose team also wears pink.
Since 1810, when the Head Master,William Vincent, fenced off and ordered the ploughing of the waste marshlands known as Tothill Fields for use by the school, which were being threatened by London'surban sprawl, the school's main sports ground has been nearby atVincent Square,[114][115] with football and cricket on the main area and tennis and netball on the courts; it also hosts a playground for Westminster Under School. At 13 acres (5 hectares), it is the largest private, open green space in Central London, despite this, it is not large enough for all pupils doing these sports to use simultaneously the three football pitches and typically one smaller practice pitch becomes one main cricket square and several smaller practice squares for the cricket season. So the school hires and owns other sporting facilities near the school. These include the oldest boating club in the world, anastroturf ground in Battersea, and the Queen Mother Sports Centre, home to a variety of sports. "Green" (Dean's Yard) is also used, and the three Eton Fives courts in Ashburnham Garden, the garden behind Ashburnham House.
Westminster played in thefirst school cricket match againstCharterhouse School in 1794[116] and from 1796 played cricket against Eton.[117]
Westminster has a historic joint claim to a major role in developing Association Football.[118] During the 1840s at both Westminster andCharterhouse, pupils' surroundings meant they were confined to playing their football in thecloisters,[119] making the rough and tumble of the handling game that was developing at other schools such asRugby impossible, and necessitating a new code of rules. On 24 November 1858,[120] Westminster playedDingley Dell atVincent Square in the earliest known football fixture in the London area (Dingley Dell was the most active non-school team in the London area in the five years beforethe Football Association was established in 1863).[121] During the formulation of the rules of Association Football in the 1860s, representatives of Westminster School and Charterhouse also pushed for a passing game, in particular rules that allowed forward passing ("passing on"). Other schools (in particularEton College,Harrow, andShrewsbury School) favoured a dribbling game with a tight off-side rule. By 1867the Football Association had chosen in favour of the Westminster and Charterhouse game and adopted an off-side rule that permitted forward passing.[122][123] The modern forward-passing game was a direct consequence of Westminster and Charterhouse football.
The school is split into 11houses, some of which are day houses (only admitting day pupils, who go home after school), the others being boarding houses with a mix of boarders and day pupils.College is the exception to this — allKing's Scholars must board. Each house has a Housemaster, a teacher who is responsible for the house, the pupils in it and their welfare, and aHead of House, a pupil in the Remove, nominated by the Housemaster. The role of the Head of House largely consists of assisting the Housemaster in organising activities such as house competitions, for which the Head of House might draw up teams. Further to these positions, each day house has an Assistant Housemaster, and each boarding house has a Resident Tutor. The houses are named after people connected to the house or school in various ways – mainly prominent Old Westminsters, but also former Head Masters and Housemasters. Grant's is the oldest house for pupils other than scholars, not only of Westminster but of any public school.
Houses are a focus for pastoral care and social and sporting activities, as well as accommodation for boarders. All day houses are mixed-sex, and all houses admit girls; RR is the only boarding house not to admit girls as boarders (up until 2020) and PP does not admit boys as boarders.[124]
| House | Abbr. | Founded | Named after | Colours | Pupils | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boarding | Day | ||||||
| College | CC | 1560 | n/a | Dark green | Mixed[125] | None | |
| Grant's | GG | 1750 | The "mothers" Grant – landladies who owned the property and put up boys in the days before boarding existed, when the School only accommodated Scholars; the oldest house in any of the Public Schools. | ■ | Maroon on light blue | Mixed | Mixed |
| Rigaud's | RR | pre-1896 (rebuilt) | Stephen Jordan Rigaud – former schoolmaster | ■ | Black on orange (Tie uses orange on black) | Mixed | Mixed |
| Busby's | BB | 1925 | Richard Busby – former headmaster | ■ | Dark blue on maroon | Mixed | Mixed |
| Liddell's | LL | 1956 | Henry Liddell – former headmaster | ■ | Blue on yellow (ties are yellow on black or yellow and silver on black) | Mixed | Mixed |
| Purcell's[a] | PP | 1981 | Henry Purcell – former organist of Westminster Abbey | ■ | White on purple | Girls | Boys |
| Ashburnham | AHH | 1881 | TheEarls of Ashburnham whose London house is now part of the School | ■ | Light blue on dark blue | None | Mixed |
| Wren's | WW | 1948 | Christopher Wren | ■ | Pink on black (Blue and Maroon used on ties) | ||
| Dryden's | DD | 1976 | John Dryden | ■ | Silver on red (Tie uses separated silver and red stripes on dark blue) | ||
| Hakluyt's | HH | 1987 | Richard Hakluyt[126] | ■ | Yellow on blue | ||
| Milne's | MM | 1997 | A. A. Milne | ■ | Black on orange (Tie uses Red and Yellow) | ||
All King's Scholars, both boys and girls, are required to board in College (unless under exceptional circumstances). Wren's was formerly known asHomeboarders and Dryden's asDale's. Before it was rebuilt, Rigaud's was known asClapham's andBest's.
Between 2001 and 2004, the school was one of fiftyindependent schools involved in theindependent school fee fixing scandal in the United Kingdom. It was subsequently found guilty of operating a fee-fixing cartel by theOffice of Fair Trading. The commission argued that until 2000, the practice had been legal and that the commission had not been aware of the change in the law.[127]
Twoindependent reviews were commissioned after national campaigns fromEveryone's Invited andBlack Lives Matter unearthed evidence of rape culture and racism at Westminster School.[128] In March 2022, the school issued a "sincere and unreserved" apology for harm caused by racism, sexual harassment and other harmful sexual behaviour.[128][129]
In March 2021, alumni compiled a "dossier of rape culture" at the school.[130] A 21-page document included 76 entries on "everyday life" for female pupils and included claims of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment.[131] Allegations were levelled at both students and teachers.[130][132]
In March 2022, a review into harmful sexual behaviour at the school was headed by Fiona Scolding QC. The review considered 44 Westminster-related posts submitted toEveryone's Invited alongside other evidence. The review found that 25% of pupils and 65% of girls surveyed said they experienced physical or verbal harmful sexual behaviours, sexual discrimination, and unwanted sharing of images.[128] There was also "a strong sense from pupil interviewees of a social hierarchy within the school where some male pupils' status was dictated by familial wealth, academic success and charisma."[128] Submissions toEveryone's Invited also recalled theWestminster Tree website that mapped sexual contact between students.[133]
A total of 44 recommendations included an overhaul of the school's relationships and sex education curriculum, "active bystander" training, and a greater emphasis on building healthy relationships. The report also recommended training for housemasters, matrons, and tutors on managing pastoral issues including mental health. Other recommendations include a behavioural code of conduct for students informed by the student body.[128]
In 2020, more than 250 alumni signed a letter lobbying the school to combat the "toxic culture of racism within the student body." Signatories complained that Westminster did not include any black authors in their curriculum and overlooked Britain's role in the slave trade.[134]
In March 2022, Challenge Consultancy published a Race Review of Westminster School that found "continued denial of the racism and the invisibility of the issue".[128] Challenge Consultancy was commissioned by Westminster School to facilitate understanding of how staff and pupils perceive the culture around race, ethnicity and cultural diversity and consider how it can better engage with these issues in the future. The review's authors were led by Femi Otitoju who found evidence that international pupils including British Asian, British Black, Chinese and Jewish pupils "recounted a lack of sensitivity and delays in responding to emotions they experienced when calling out unacceptable behaviour".[128] 25 recommendations included the recruitment of "diverse teaching staff," a publicised racial harassment policy, and an increased offer of counselling for victims.[128]
About 900 people educated at Westminster School are in theOxford Dictionary of National Biography. Former pupils are known at the school as "Old Westminsters" and include the following:
Six pupils of Westminster have been awarded theVictoria Cross:
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