St Swithun's School is an independent day, weekly and full-boarding school for girls 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 N ...

, Hampshire. It is named after Saint

Swithun Swithun (or Swithin; ; ; died 863) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working. Accordin ...

, a

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

and patron saint of

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

History

St Swithun's was founded as "Winchester High School" by Miss Anna Bramston, daughter of John Bramston, the then

Dean of Winchester The Dean of Winchester is the head of the Chapter of Winchester Cathedral in the city of Winchester, England, in the Diocese of Winchester. Appointment is by the Crown. The first incumbent was the last Prior, William Kingsmill, Catherine Ogle ...

, with the ambition of educating "daughters of worthy citizens of Winchester". Not having sufficient money of her own, funds were raised by subscription. The school opened on 5 May 1884 with seventeen pupils. Pupil numbers soon grew and the school began taking in boarders as well. In 1909 the school rented ten acres on Magdalen Hill for sports. The school's name was changed to Winchester Girls' School and then, after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, to St Swithun's School: the recorded virtues of this saint – Caritas, Humilitas, Sinceritas – were adopted as the school’s motto in 1928. St Swithun's moved to its present location on Magdalen Hill Down on the edge of

in 1931. Princess Mary the Princess Royal opened the new buildings formally in 1932, but the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

saw the school turned into a hospital and by 1942 St Swithun's became an American casualty clearing station. The school celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1959 with the

Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester ( ) is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curre ...

as a special guest. Today, St Swithun's includes both junior and senior schools, meaning pupils can attend from nursery all the way to

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

level. Boys may attend Nursery. A new junior school building was opened in September 2015 with a further sports hall opening in Easter 2016. St Swithun's retains a strong

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

tradition through its links with

. It holds five services there every year and the girls' choir sings at the cathedral.

Curriculum

St Swithun's has traditionally had a strong academic reputation. In 2011

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

s, it topped the results table for the city of

with a 100% passing rate and all candidates achieving at least 5 A*-C grades, surpassing

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

. The same year, it broke its records in the

A Levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

with 11 girls scoring 3 or more A* grades. Since the year 2000 the school has had 100% pass rate in both GCSEs and A-Levels. In 2023, the school achieved an 80% pass rate with grades 9-7 in GCSEs and a 61% rate for A*/A grades at A-levels, with 86 percent earning A*-B grades.

School Organisation

Junior School

The Early Years and Pre-Prep departments (nursery to Year 2) are coeducational. The prep department comprises Years 3 to 6 and girls are prepared for the

Common Entrance Examination Common Entrance Examinations (commonly known as CE) are taken by independent school pupils in the UK as part of the selective admissions process at age 13, though ten independent schools do select at 11 using different test papers. They are se ...

. The Junior School is a member of the

Independent Association of Preparatory Schools The Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS, formerly Independent Association of Preparatory Schools) is a schools association, representing more than 660 Preparatory school (United Kingdom), preparatory schools. The majority of IAPS' sch ...

Senior School

;Year Groups *Lower 4 – Year 7 *Upper 4 – Year 8 *Lower 5 – Year 9 *Middle 5 – Year 10 *Upper 5 – Year 11 *Lower Sixth – Year 12 *Upper Sixth – Year 13

Houses

Each girl belongs to a house. Girls are assigned to either a boarding or day house except for those in Upper Sixth (Year 13), who belong to a single house. The house system is an integral part of school life as there are inter-house competitions in many co-curricular activities such as sports, public speaking and drama.

Boarding

St Swithun's school offers boarding facilities for girls of any age who enrol in the senior school.

Facilities

Sports facilities include 9 lacrosse pitches, 13 tennis courts (1 indoors), 6 netball courts, a 25-meter indoor swimming pool and a multi-purpose sports hall. In 2003, the PAC (Performing Arts Centre) – now "The Harvey Hall" – was opened, and it has a large auditorium to sit over 700, and also includes a Studio Theatre, Green Rooms, Box Office and a smaller SPS (Small Performance Space). A new library was opened in 2007 by the Mayor of Winchester Chris Pines and The Very Rev

James Atwell James Edgar Atwell (3 June 1946 – 12 December 2020) was an English priest who was Dean of Winchester. Biography James Edgar Atwell was born on 2 June 1946. He was educated at Dauntsey's School, Dauntsey's and Exeter College, Oxford. He went ...

. In 2021, a new study centre, the Jill Isaac Study Centre, was opened for aspiring Oxbridge candidates.

Sports

St Swithun's has a strong sporting tradition and has enjoyed success at county level and inter-school competitions. The school was national lacrosse champion in 2008. Girls are encouraged to take up a sport and may choose from athletics,

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

, Zumba, handball, trampolining, touch rugby, tennis, pilates and fitness.

Admissions

As for many other independent schools, candidates for entry to St Swithun's must sit the

. Candidates for academic scholarships are selected based on the results of the Common Entrance examinations (11+ and 13+) and are invited to attend an interview soon after completion of the examination. Sixth form scholarship candidates (16+) are selected based solely on the results of academic assessments in the subjects that they intend to take at A level. Music scholarships may be awarded each year to suitable applicants at 11+, 13+ and 16+. The minimum

ABRSM The ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) is an examination board and registered charity based in the United Kingdom. ABRSM is one of five examination boards accredited by Ofqual to award graded exams and diploma qualificat ...

standard required for music scholarships is Grade 5 at 11+, Grade 6 at 13+ and Grade 7 at 16+ on two instruments. Girls can also apply for a sports scholarship, where they should be county level at two or more sports.

Notable alumnae

Alumnae are known as "Old Swithunites". * Sheila Scotter (1920–2012), Australian fashion designer *

Mary Warnock Helen Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, (née Wilson; 14 April 1924 – 20 March 2019) was an English philosopher of ethics, morality, philosophy of education, education, and philosophy of mind, mind, and a writer on existentialism. She is best ...

(1924–2019), philosopher * Alex Mitchell, née Beale (1947–2010), editor of Christian magazine ''

Third Way The Third Way is a predominantly centrist political position that attempts to reconcile centre-right and centre-left politics by advocating a varying synthesis of Right-wing economics, right-wing economic and Left-wing politics, left-wing so ...

'' *

Vivienne Parry Vivienne Mary Hunt Parry (born Vivienne Mary Hunt Mills on 4 June 1956 in Portsmouth) is a British science journalist and author, currently employed as head of engagement at Genomics England. She is most well known for presenting BBC Television ...

(1956–), journalist and author * Arabella Pollen (1961–), fashion designer * Emma Chambers (1964–2018), actress *

Emma Walmsley Dame Emma Natasha Walmsley (born June 1969) is the chief executive officer (CEO) of GSK plc. She succeeded Sir Andrew Witty, who retired in March 2017. Before GSK, she worked for L'Oréal for 17 years, and was a non-executive director of Di ...

(1969–), CEO,

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

Fi Glover Fiona Susannah Grace "Fi" Glover (born 27 February 1969) is a British journalist and presenter who currently hosts a two hour show for Times Radio and the Off Air podcast, for ''The Times''. Before joining ''The Times'' in October 2022, Glover w ...

(1969–), BBC radio presenter * Lady Camilla Bloch (1970–), barrister *

Gabriella Wilde Gabriella Zanna Vanessa Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe (born 8 April 1989), known professionally as Gabriella Wilde or Gabriella Calthorpe, is an English actress and model. She has appeared in the films '' St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's G ...

(1989–), English model and actress *

Zara Rutherford Zara Rutherford (born 5 July 2002) is a Belgian-British aviator. At age 19, she became the youngest female pilot to fly solo around the world and the first person to complete a circumnavigation in a microlight aircraft after a five-month journ ...

, (2002–), aviator

References

External links

School websiteProfile
on

MyDaughter MyDaughter was a British website set up by the Girls' Schools Association (GSA) offering advice to parents of daughters on all aspects of raising and educating girls. Advice was provided by headteachers from the member schools of the Girls' Scho ...

*2011 ISI Inspection Reports for th
Junior
an
Senior School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Swithun's School Private schools in Hampshire Schools in Winchester Boarding schools in Hampshire 1884 establishments in England Girls' schools in Hampshire Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association Educational institutions established in 1884