An important part of a Wykehamist’s life is service.
Each week, more than 400 pupils actively support the local Winchester community by engaging with a diverse range of groups such as children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and the vulnerable.
Our extensive Community Service programme, which partners with more than 40 organisations, reflects our enduring commitment to the value of service and cultivates empathy, communication, collaboration, and a broader understanding of the world beyond the classroom.
Pupils engage in a wide range of activities such as educational support in local primary, secondary and special needs schools; supporting refugees; environmental initiatives like rewilding and butterfly conservation; arts and music outreach; and working at the local night shelter.
Our extensive collections of documents, artefacts, rare books and artworks have been carefully preserved over several centuries.
The collections at Winchester include one of the most extensive archives of any medieval institution, and a rare book library of over ten thousand volumes, including manuscripts that belonged to Elizabeth I and first editions of Shakespeare, Newton, and Keats.
The school’s museum, Treasury, houses nationally significant collections, from Chinese ceramics and early English silver to ancient Greek vases.
Our collections are actively used for teaching, research, and exhibitions. They are accessible to visiting students, researchers, and members of the public, and some of the collections are publicly available online.
Winchester College plays an important cultural and educational role within the wider City of Winchester.
The College offers daily guided tours showcasing the history and medieval architecture of the school. Our tours programme recently expanded to include our War Cloister, gardens, archives and collections.
We welcomed over 8,500 visitors on tours in 2023/24, including nearly 4,000 international students.
Most recently, our College Estates team restored No.8 College Street, where author Jane Austen spent her final weeks. The house was open to the public throughout summer 2025 and played a key part in the worldwide celebration of the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth.
Winchester College maintains a collaborative programme of partnerships with secondary schools in Hampshire and along the south coast, creating opportunities for mutual benefit.
This includes after-school clubs, specialist talks and lectures, field work, curriculum-led courses and projects, hands-on sessions in the Treasury and much more. You can find a link to our Maths Outreach Programme via the link below.
Beyond the local area, we also have a strong partnership with Crown and Manor, a boys’ club in Hoxton, East London. Several times a year, members of the club visit the College for academic and sporting sessions in our Sports Centre and Treasury.
Drawing on our scholastic ethos of holistic learning, CATALYST offers online courses for students through intensive one-week programmes during the half-term and summer holidays, tailored for 10-13 and 14-17 year olds.
Shorter skills-based masterclasses are offered during term time and after school on a weekly basis.
CATALYST partners with schools and educational organisations, delivering a unique style of learning and engagement through its educational technology platform.
Financial assistance, including free places, is available.
