News & Diary
Winchester Weekly – 16th September 2025
From the Second Master
WEEKEND ARRANGEMENTS FOR BOARDERS
Details for this weekend can be found below. Please access the Parent Portal via the link below to inform us of your child’s plans for this weekend by 23:00 on Thursday 18 September. Log in, select ‘Interactive’ and ‘Weekend Sign-out’ to complete the form.
PLEASE NOTE:
JP pupils have a modified programme this weekend, designed to give them a lighter schedule after three full weeks of term. They will not be up to Books this Saturday: instead they will be taking part in some year-group activities after a later morning start. The sports schedule will run as planned on Saturday afternoon.
EXEAT ARRANGEMENTS FOR BOARDERS
In preparation for Exeat, all parents of boarders should complete the Exeat Arrangements form, which is also accessed via the same route on the Parent Portal; under ‘Exeat Arrangements’. Please complete the form by 13:00 on Friday 19 September. Regulations concerning our duty of care continue to change, such that we are required to hold more extensive information for certain pupils in particular circumstances: thank you therefore for the time you put into providing these details.
Exeat will begin at 13:05 on Friday 26 September and end at 21:15 on Sunday 28 September. Pupils may return to the boarding houses from 18:00 on Sunday.
To access these events, please ensure that you are a registered user of the Winchester College Society website and are logged in.
Coffee – Winchester – 26 September (new parents)
Are you a new parent to Winchester College? If so, we would like to invite you to join us for coffee before the first exeat of the school year on 26 September. It will be held in School at 12pm (N.B. the location of the coffee morning has changed location from Musã to School). We look forward to meeting you.
Parents Drinks (all parents welcome)
Parents are invited by Winchester College Society to join us for drinks at either New Hall, Winchester on Thursday 16 October or at the Cavalry and Guards Club, London on Thursday 12 February. We are delighted that the Headmaster will be joining us at both events and is looking forward to seeing everyone there. Kindly ensure that you are a registered user of the Winchester College Society website, and are logged in to sign up. Please choose which event you’d like to attend and register accordingly.
Futures Fair – 15 November
Futures Fair will be held on the evening of Saturday 15 November, from 6:00PM – 8:00PM. We would love to hear from any parents or Old Wykehamists who are happy to talk about their own careers or the sectors they work in to VI Book pupils.
We are looking for expertise from all sectors, but if you have experience in Humanities, Languages, Geography, Psychology, Art, Scientific Research or are an Entrepreneur, we’d love to hear from you.
If you are also able to borrow any marketing materials from your employer that would add to the sense of occasion.
Parents Quiz – (all parents welcome)
Our Parents Quiz returns for 2026 on Friday 27 February. Gather your teams and get ready to buy your tickets for an evening that promises to test your general knowledge.
Yuriy Evdokimov, a current parent is back by popular demand and will host the evening.
The tickets are sold by table, which seat 10 people each and the cost includes your food and drink for the evening. Save the Date. More information to follow.
Parents are very welcome to join us for College events. Upcoming events, including the Autumn Lecture Series (link below) are typically highlighted in the Winchester Weekly newsletter. One such talk will be with the Rt. Honourable Andrew Mitchell, MP, the former cabinet minister and current Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield. Below, you can find links to our lecture series and music diary for the upcoming term.
Last Thursday, the Winchester College Golf Team took two Foursome pairs to the West Sussex GC Schools’ Invitational; a prestigious season opener against 15 other schools, including the likes of golfing heavyweights, Wellington and Epsom. Winchester’s 1st pair, Harry (I) & Seb (G) played some very good golf in the difficult windy, rainy conditions and finished with a fantastic score. Despite Wellington boasting a 1st pair with a combined handicap of +8, the score proved to be the lowest of the day by a handsome, 3-stroke margin.
2nd pair Kevin (G) and Sander (A) struggled at times, but played as a team and completed a commendable round, contributing 29 points to the school’s total.
This was enough for Winchester to come out on top overall, bringing home the season’s first piece of silverware. A fantastic start to the year, congratulations boys!
Congratulations to Nye (X), who recently concluded a busy summer with the National Youth Orchestra.
Following a residential course, Nye and the Orchestra embarked on a tour around the UK, performing at the Birmingham Symphony Hall and the Snape Maltings Concert Hall in Suffolk, culminating in the NYO’s Prom at the Royal Albert Hall in August.
You can watch the Orchestra’s performance of John Williams’ Star Wars (Main Title) and Mars from Holst’s The Planets below.
The College’s official school newspaper, The Wykehamist, was first published in 1866, and we are delighted to present to you its 1480th edition.
Inside, you will find an exposé on the oddities of QEII, a stab at an election paper from a former Collegeman, and an overview of the Lemon Shark, among other articles.
You can read the full paper via the link below.
On Saturday, October 4th, the College will host its annual ‘Be a Quirister for the Day’ event, where aspiring singers and their families will get to experience life as a Quirister.
As part of the open morning, boys and their parents will gain valuable insight into a Quirister’s daily routine: touring the facilities, hearing the Quiristers sing and visiting the Song School and Organ Loft. Participants will also sing alongside the Quiristers and try on one of their iconic cassocks.
To find out more please use the links below.
Dear all,
I wanted to make you aware that we have recently launched Founder’s Scholarships to new pupils joining JP or VI Book from September 2026.
The Scholarships will recognise original thinking, intellectual curiosity, analytical rigour and flexibility of mind. They will be awarded on academic merit and will not be means-tested. Recipients of a Founder’s Scholarship will benefit from a 25% remission of school fees.
Our means-tested bursary programme is among the most generous in the country and is wholly funded through the school’s endowment and ongoing fundraising. This commitment remains unchanged. We will continue to offer and actively grow our bursary provision even further, widening access and supporting affordability for even more families. The Founder’s Scholarships will be funded through a combination of the school’s endowment and fundraising, and will not affect our existing bursary programme.
Our next Sixth Form Open Event for new entrants will a Virtual Open Evening on the 22nd of September, ahead of the application deadline date of the 29th.
If you have a friend or a family member who would benefit from a Winchester education, they can book onto the event via the link below.
