There are just four remaining all-boys boarding schools in the UK. From September, there will be three: Winchester College has announced that it will start taking girls in the sixth-form. Girls will join the sixth-form as day pupils in a 50-50 split and are expected to be offered boarding places from 2024. Some have said that it’s about time schools like Winchester got with the times. In fact, for Wkyehamists like me, this announcement which breaks a legacy going back 640 years is a great pity.
The all-boys boarding education that Winchester College offers has stood the test of time and it continues to flourish in all areas. Yet by opting to become co-educational, Winchester is in danger of becoming yet another mixed-sex independent school.
The school has defended its move as a chance to ‘diversify’ Winchester and open opportunities to more avenues. It will do the opposite. If Winchester truly wishes to broaden opportunities and access, then it should continue to add to its commendable, sizeable bursaries mission in one particular direction: working-class boys.
With this move, Winchester will never be the same again
Winchester declined an offer in 2019 of a £1m scholarship donation to support disadvantaged white boys.
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