The Westgate School is a mixed

all-through school All-through schools educate young people throughout multiple stages of their education, generally throughout childhood and adolescence. Definition The term "all-through" can be legitimately applied to establishments in many different circumstan ...

located in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, United Kingdom.

History

The school was founded in the early 1900s as the Winchester County School for Girls, becoming Winchester County High School for Girls (WCHS) in 1936. By the 1970s it had 900 girls. It had been a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

for girls only, until September 1973 when the first intake of comprehensive boys and girls entered the first year. At this point the school was renamed as The Westgate School. Many of the old grammar school teachers left in July 1974 to work in the neighbouring newly established sixth form college, the former Peter Symonds boys' grammar school. The Deputy Head, Miss Barbara Taylor, was one who made the move, but the Headmistress, Miss Sylvia Rowe, remained for several more years. The last grammar school intake left in July 1977, leaving The Westgate School entirely comprehensive and co-ed from then on. Peter Jenner was Headmaster at the school from 1983 to 2006, during its formative years as a comprehensive.

Achievements

In recent years between 75 and 80% of 15- and 16-year-olds have achieved five or more

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

grades A* to C, 70-80% including Maths and English.UK Government school performance tables
/ref> According to th
BBC league tables
Westgate is one of Hampshire's top state schools.

Notable former pupils

Andy Burrows Andrew William Burrows (born 30 June 1979) is an English songwriter and musician. He's best known as the drummer for Razorlight from 2004 until 2009 before rejoining in 2021. He's also served as the drummer for We Are Scientists from 2009 to ...

(former drummer for the band

Razorlight Razorlight are an English indie rock band, formed in 2002 in London by lead singer and guitarist Johnny Borrell. Along with Borrell, the current line-up of the band is composed of founding members Björn Ågren on guitar and bassist Carl Delemo ...

) *

Lucy Pinder Lucy Katherine Pinder (born 20 December 1983) is a British actress and former glamour model. Her career began in 2003 after being discovered by a freelance photographer on Bournemouth beach and has appeared in such publications as the '' Dail ...

(British glamour model) *

Philippa Forrester Philippa Clare Ryan Forrester (born September 1968) is a British television and radio presenter, producer and author. Throughout her career, Forrester has presented shows such as CBBC, ''Tomorrow's World'', Crufts, ''The Heaven and Earth Show'' ...

(British TV presenter and co-producer) *

Tom Hayes (trader) Tom Hayes (born October 1979) is a former trader for UBS and Citigroup who was sentenced to 14 years in prison (reduced to 11 years on appeal) for dishonestly driving manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), a bank reported ...

(Former trader who was arrested, tried, sentenced to 14 years in prison for role in the Libor Scandal) * Rick Adams (Television presenter, DJ and producer)

Winchester County High School for Girls

* Gillian Ashmore (''nee'' Oxenham), Chief Executive from 2001-2 of the Equal Opportunities Commission, and Regional Director from 1994-8 of the Government Office for

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...

Diane Corner Diane Corner OBE (born 29 September 1959) is a former British diplomat who is deputy head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). Career Diane Louise Corner was educated ...

, Deputy Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic since 2014, High Commissioner to Tanzania from 2009-13 * Dame

Myra Curtis Dame Myra Curtis DBE (1886–1971) was an editor, civil servant, and the Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge from 1942 to 1954. Early life Curtis was born on 2 October 1886 in Sunderland. She was the daughter of George and Annie (Johnson) ...

, Principal from 1942-54 of

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sid ...

Julia Darling Julia Rose Darling (21 August 1956 – 13 April 2005) was an English novelist, poet and dramatist. Early life and education Darling was born in 1956 in 8 College Street, Winchester—the house Jane Austen died in. Her parents were John Ramsay D ...

, novelist * Dame

Julie Mellor Dame Julie Thérèse Mellor DBE (born 29 January 1957) is chair of Demos (a cross-party think-tank), chair of the Young Foundation, chair of the Federation of Industry Sector Skills and Standards and a trustee of Involve (experts in public par ...

, Chair from 1999-2005 of the Equal Opportunities Commission * Alex Mitchell (née Beale, 1947–2010), former editor of Christian monthly magazine ''

Third Way The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born from a ...

'' *

Winifred Moberly Winifred Horsbrugh Moberly (1 April 1875 – 6 April 1928) was a British academic administrator, the principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford, from 1919 to 1928. She was born in Calcutta, British India on 1 April 1875, the ninth child and fourth da ...

, Principal from 1919-28 of

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it ...

* Jane Reynolds, Chief Executive from 1991-2000 of the

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution Care Company (RMBI Care Co.) cares for older Freemasons and their families as well as people in the wider community. Founded in 1842 by Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, they now provide a home for ...

Marion Richardson Marion Elaine Richardson (9 October 1892 – 12 November 1946) was a British educator and author of books on penmanship and handwriting. Biography Marion Richardson was born on 9 October 1892 in Ashford, Kent, the second daughter of Walter Marsh ...

, artist * Prof

Jocelyn Toynbee Jocelyn Mary Catherine Toynbee, (3 March 1897 – 31 December 1985) was an English archaeologist and art historian. "In the mid-twentieth century she was the leading British scholar in Roman artistic studies and one of the recognized authoriti ...

Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology The Laurence Professorship of Classical Archaeology at the University of Cambridge was established in 1930 as one of the offices endowed by the bequest of Sir Perceval Maitland Laurence.University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

References

OFTSED Report

External links

School website

EduBase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westgate School Schools in Winchester Secondary schools in Hampshire Boarding schools in Hampshire Educational institutions established in 1977 1977 establishments in England Community schools in Hampshire Primary schools in Hampshire