Exams and Universities

University Admissions from Winchester

Almost all boys leave Winchester to go to good universities in the United Kingdom, and some go to universities in the United States of America or continental Europe. Every year a substantial number, about a third of the year group, go on to Oxford and Cambridge. We do not produce a 'type' - Wykehamists will be found in most of the professions and the arts. They leave with a quiet but confident sense of who they are, well-motivated and well-equipped to continue their studies, and, we hope, inspired with a sense of social responsibility and a lifelong love of learning.     

Winchester prides itself on providing an excellent preparation for study at university. All boys gain admission to good universities. This is achieved through high-quality teaching for public examinations and expert and personal advice to all boys from Housemasters, Div Dons and the School's University & Careers service. 
      
Opportunities for extension study which include:  

• Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry Olympiad programmes, in which Winchester boys regularly gain a very high number of gold, silver and bronze medals, and in which we have a distinguished history of representatives on national teams
• The Erasmus Prize Examination, in which senior boys are given the opportunity to read from a list of academic books on an ethical and philosophical theme and to respond to questions in two written examination papers set and marked by a distinguished university academic in the relevant field, who delivers his or her findings by way of discussion with the candidates
• The Winchester Symposium programme, a series of Sunday study days held throughout the year, when pupils from other schools are invited to join the Winchester boys to hear lectures from university teachers and to engage in symposium discussions
• Our Div programme
• A rich menu of society meetings in which intellectuals and people prominent in public life come to Winchester to share their knowledge and interests with the boys.

We maintain strong links with a great range of British and overseas universities, among whom Wykehamists are noted for the clarity and rigour of their intellectual training and their capacity to organise themselves and participate fully in university academic, social, cultural and sporting life.    

In the last four years 194 Wykehamists have matriculated to Oxford and Cambridge, 45 of them in the 2010 admission (33.5% of the year group). There have also been places secured at Brown, Georgetown, Harvard, Princeton and UPenn.