Winchester CollegeWINCHESTER COLLEGE · PRIVATE SCHOOL GUIDE
Winchester College is in Winchester, Hampshire. Boys join at 13 as full boarders, with the deadline in Year 6 (age 10 to 11). Boys and girls join the sixth form at 16, boarding or day, with the deadline in Year 11 (age 15 to 16). Families abroad can apply for boarding at either age.
Entry at 13 in 2030, at 16 in 2028
GET TO KNOW THE SCHOOL
Winchester has its own names for England’s school years: Junior Part for Year 9, Middle Part for Year 10, and Fifth Book for Year 11. In the sixth form, Year 12 is VI Book 2 and Year 13 is VI Book 1.
IN CLASS
Years 9 to 11 lead to GCSEs and IGCSEs, the qualifications taken near the end of Year 11 (age 15 to 16). Sixth formers normally take three A levels, the exams at 18 that universities look at, and some add Further Mathematics or another approved subject.
IN DIV
Div runs through every year, and sixth formers have six periods of it a week.
IN A HOUSE
Matrons and tutors work alongside the Housedon. A boys’ house has 60 to 70 boarders, 10 to 14 from each year.
At 13, boys join a tutor group of 12 to 14, and sixth formers meet their tutor every week.
When your son gets a house: House places are normally settled in Year 7 (age 11 to 12). A family connection can support a request for a house at registration, but doesn’t guarantee it.
College: Academic scholars live in College, a house of their own.
Girls in the sixth form: Girls board in St Cross and St Catherine, completed in 2026, with single and double en-suite study bedrooms. Girls have boarded since September 2026, and day pupils have joined the sixth form since September 2022.
Health care: A pediatric nurse or healthcare assistant is on duty around the clock, local family doctors (GPs) see pupils on site, and counseling is available.
Learning support: The Learning Centre offers individual help, assessment of specific learning difficulties, and advice on exam arrangements.
If your child has a support plan: It doesn’t carry over automatically, so share your child’s needs and reports early. Winchester makes its own decisions on exam arrangements, such as typing, and gathers its own evidence: it monitors pupils in Year 9 and assesses them in Year 10.
UNDERSTAND WHAT WINCHESTER LOOKS FOR
At both ages, Winchester looks at academic potential and personal qualities together.
AT 13 · CHARACTER
At 13, Winchester looks for “curiosity, kindness, integrity, resilience and a willingness to contribute to the life of a house.”
Letrado’s adviceTwo or three commitments he’s kept, at home, on a team, or in class, say more than a long list.
AT 16 · CURIOSITY
At 16, Winchester looks for “intellectual curiosity,” independent thinking, and originality.
Letrado’s adviceHelp your child pick one question they’ve chased on their own, and say where it led.
AT 16 · GRADES
A sixth-form offer asks for grade 7 or higher in every GCSE, 8 or higher in the subjects they plan to take at A level, and 9 in extension subjects such as Further Mathematics.
Letrado’s adviceTake the hardest courses your child’s school offers that they can do well in.
WHAT WINCHESTER’S RULES SAY
A flexible weekend starts at 5 p.m. on Saturday, if their work is up to date, and comes on top of the fixed weekends away, called exeats. Sunday outings need the Housedon’s permission and a parent’s sign-out.
Under the September 2026 phone policy, Year 9 boys don’t have smartphones. The school gives them a basic phone to use between tea and prep (homework time). Older pupils’ devices stay in the house during the school day, typically until 6 p.m.
WINCHESTER’S TERM DATES
Exeats run from 1:15 p.m. on Friday to 9:15 p.m. on Sunday, and in the summer term they start on Saturday.
WINCHESTER’S PUBLISHED EVENTS
Each runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon, and Winchester aims its 13+ visits at families with a child in Year 5 (age 9 to 10).
Sixth-form visits happen in the summer of Year 10 or the fall of Year 11. The next sixth-form open event is on Saturday 1 May.
Dates without a year are as Winchester lists them.
PLAN THE APPLICATION
Registration for September 2029 entry at 13 and September 2027 entry at 16 closed on 1 October 2026. After that, Winchester considers late registrations through its Registrar’s Route, only as places become available, and the sixth form is a second way in.
Registration for 2030 entry at 13
1 Oct of Year 6Registration for 2029 entry at 13
1 Oct 2026Registration for 2028 entry at 16
1 Oct of Year 11Registration for 2027 entry at 16
1 Oct 2026Dates without a year are as Winchester lists them.
Your child’s birth certificate (with parents’ details), passport, and photo, plus any court orders that apply. The fee isn’t refundable.
School reports, a confidential reference, and a short CV of activities, at either age.
Winchester’s online test comes first at both ages, and shortlisted candidates are interviewed.
Sent with your registration.
Plan a trip: For 2029 entry at 13, interviews are at Winchester, and for 2027 entry at 16, shortlisted candidates attend in person. For 2027 entry, music auditions are at Winchester too. Ask the admissions office where your child can sit the GAT.
English tests and GCSEs: Ask the admissions office whether your child needs an English test at 13 or 16, and, if your child’s school doesn’t teach GCSEs, what the sixth form expects instead of GCSE grades.
Visa sponsorship: Winchester sponsors a limited number of boarders, and no day pupils, for the Child Student visa. Its visa team gets in touch after Easter in Year 8 or Year 11, and issues the CAS, the reference number your application needs, once your documents are checked.
The government’s rules: UK rules, not the school, decide whether your child needs a visa. The Child Student visa is for ages 4 to 17 and needs an unconditional offer from a licensed sponsor.
A UK guardian: If you live outside the UK, your child must have an educational guardian in the UK, at any age. You appoint a friend, a relative, or an agency; Winchester doesn’t arrange one.
Who can be a guardian: Someone over 25, not on Winchester’s staff, who meets your child before they arrive. They should speak English, be reachable at all times, be British or have Settled Status, and live permanently in the UK.
What the guardian does: They look after your child when the school is closed, or if your child is ill or suspended, and never leave them alone in a hotel or B&B. If they’ll be away, tell the school two weeks ahead and name a stand-in.
Getting here: Winchester says it’s under an hour from London Waterloo by direct train, and 15 minutes by road or rail from Southampton Airport.
Winchester Entrance: In April or May of Year 8 (age 12 to 13), boys with a place take Winchester’s own exam at their school or an approved center. It tracks progress, and an ordinary place doesn’t depend on the result. If your son holds a music award, ask the admissions office whether his place does.
The papers: English, math, science, history, and geography, plus French or Latin if your son studies them. Boys at schools abroad should try every paper, but English and math come first.
The Election, for academic scholarships: Scholarship candidates take the Election instead: three days of exams and two interviews at Winchester. Dates for 2029 and 2030 entry aren’t announced yet.
The Registrar’s Route: You send two reports, a short CV, a referee’s details, identity documents, any evidence of support needs, and the £480 fee, which isn’t refundable and doesn’t guarantee a place.
Other years: To join in a year other than Year 9 or Year 12, start with an inquiry to the admissions office.
At 11: Boys finishing Year 6 can spend Years 7 and 8 at The Pilgrims’ School, which merged with Winchester in September 2025, then move up to Winchester in Year 9. Registration for Year 7 entry in September 2027 closed on 1 October 2026.
PREPARE FOR EACH STAGE
Sixth-form statement: 800–1,000 words, typedIt covers “why you would like to join Winchester College,” your academic curiosity, your particular interests, and the A levels you propose.
At both ages, your child starts with the GAT, an adaptive online test covering areas such as vocabulary, math, and non-verbal skills. Winchester says its assessments shouldn’t need extra tutoring, and that the GAT needs no special preparation.
Letrado’s adviceWe don’t drill for the GAT, and we practice interviews as conversations. AI can help your child brainstorm or check spelling, but every sentence they submit is theirs, and our mentors never write for them. Where Winchester limits outside help, as its sports award does, we follow it, and we count AI as outside help.
Alongside the GAT, your son writes an extended response by hand to a stimulus Winchester gives him.
If he’s shortlisted, he has a pastoral interview with a Housedon or senior staff.
Shortlisted candidates write at length on an unfamiliar stimulus, take a Humanities or STEM assessment, or both, based on their three proposed A levels, and have academic and pastoral interviews. The academic interview is like a short Div lesson.
Other samples ask about books, free will, social media, belief, and customs. At 16, Founder’s candidates add an essay-style paper and an interview. At 13, the 2024 sample paper gave 90 minutes for three questions.
The sports award asks for a personal statement “written by the applicant, not the parent,” along with a sports CV and references.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
More than 140 pupils receive bursary support. In 2024–25, Winchester gave £5 million in bursaries, averaging 74% off the fees, and 33 pupils paid no fees.
BURSARIES · MEANS-TESTED
of the fees, set by your family’s finances, with extra help for equipment, trips, and activities.
FOUNDER’S SCHOLARSHIPS · AT 13 OR 16
the fees, with no means test, and a bursary can top it up to 100%.
MAJOR SCHOLARSHIPS
the fees. Other scholarships and Exhibitions don’t reduce the fees on their own.
2026–27 BOARDING FEE PER TERM · VAT INCLUDED
£20,700Day pupils in the sixth form pay £15,318 a term, and there are three terms a year. Both fees include VAT, charged at 20% on school fees since 1 January 2025. Deposits are refunded when your child leaves, less anything owed, but not if you withdraw before entry.
For entry in 2027 or later, use the fees Winchester publishes for that year.
Winchester’s fees and extras (opens in a new tab)Letrado’s adviceAsk the admissions office when to apply for your entry year and, if you live abroad, whether its general bursaries are open to you, before you rely on one.
CLIENT JOURNEYS
Here are three related stories. These students applied to American boarding schools, and they worked through questions Winchester families face too: keeping writing in their own voice, giving honest examples in interviews, and settling into a new school.
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AI illustrationWHEN YOU’D LIKE A HAND
Bring your questions to a free 45-minute introduction with your proposed mentor. Afterward, we’ll email a personalized plan with recommended next steps.
