Editing Winchester College (section)

== Controversy ==

In 1872, under the headmaster [[George Ridding]], "tunding", beatings given by a prefect (a senior pupil), using a ground-ash across the shoulders, were still permitted. The matter became a national scandal, known as "[[Notions (Winchester College)#Tunding|the Tunding Row]]", when "an overzealous Senior Commoner Prefect"{{sfn|Sabben-Clare|1981|pp=44–45}} beat a pupil for refusing to attend a notions test.<ref name="Gwyn 1982"/> Ridding made matters worse by trying to defend the action. He eventually limited the prefects' power to beat, and forbade notions tests as a "disgraceful innovation".<ref name="Gwyn 1982">{{cite book |last=Gwyn |first=Peter |editor-last=Custance |editor-first=Roger |title=Winchester College, sixth-centenary essays |date=1982 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=019920103X |pages=431–477 |chapter=The 'Tunding Row' [of 1872]. George Ridding and the belief in 'boy-government'}}</ref>

In the 1970s and 80s, the college allowed a Christian Forum to operate on college grounds which was later described as "cult-like", and which gave access to pupils to a man who carried out sadomasochistic abuse on several of them.<ref name=guardian>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jan/18/winchester-college-christian-forum-society-report-child-abuse|title=Winchester college society was cult-like, finds report into child abuse|first=Harriet|last=Sherwood|date=18 Jan 2022|work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name=review /> The perpetrator, [[John Smyth (barrister)|John Smyth]], was a leader of the [[evangelical Christian]] [[Iwerne camps]] where abuse was also reported to have taken place. He was assisted in this by former Winchester pupil [[Simon Doggart]]. The college and the Iwerne Trust became aware of these allegations in 1982, but neither reported them to the police.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Laville |first1=Sandra |last2=Sherwood |first2=Harriet |title=Public school defends role in alleged cover up of abuse at Christian camps |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/02/public-school-defends-role-in-alleged-cover-up-of-abuse-at-christian-camps |access-date=13 August 2019 |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=2 February 2017}}</ref> Smyth was warned off and moved to Zimbabwe and then South Africa where abuse continued.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sherwood |first=Harriet |title=Welby in spotlight over sadistic abuse claims at Christian camps |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/13/justin-welby-church-scrutiny-sadistic-christian-camp |access-date=13 August 2019 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=13 August 2019}}</ref> An independent review into the abuse, commissioned by the college, was published in January 2022,<ref name=review>{{cite web |title=Review of Abuse in The 1970s and 1980s by John Smyth QC of Pupils from Winchester College |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/stories/a-statement-from-the-warden-and-fellows-of-winchester-college |access-date=2022-01-20 |publisher=Winchester College}}</ref> alongside the [[Makin Review]] by the [[Church of England]] and a review by the [[Titus Trust]] (which succeeded the Iwerne Trust).<ref name=guardian /> On 12 November 2024, following publication of the Makin Review, [[Justin Welby]] announced his intention to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury; this report was critical of the Church's handling of allegations of abuse committed by the barrister John Smyth, aided by Doggart, and was also critical of Welby's failure to investigate the allegations.

In 2005, Winchester College was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools found guilty of running an unlawful [[price-fixing]] cartel by the [[Office of Fair Trading]].<ref name=SCASTPriceFixing>[The Schools Competition Act Settlement Trust {{cite web |url=http://www.scast.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=54 |title=History |access-date=2011-02-15 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320120955/http://www.scast.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=54 |archive-date=20 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}]</ref> As a penalty, the schools paid for a trust fund to benefit the affected pupils.<ref name=OFTPriceFixing>{{cite web |url=http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06 |title=OFT names further trustees as part of the independent schools settlement |publisher=[[Office of Fair Trading]] |access-date=2 May 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610055129/http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06 |archive-date=10 June 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Winchester College, like Eton, received a fifty per cent reduction in its penalty in return for its full cooperation.<ref name=TimesPriceFixing>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article588559.ece |title=Independent schools face huge fines over cartel to fix fees |newspaper=[[The Times]] |access-date=2015-08-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007080058/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article588559.ece |archive-date=7 October 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=TelegraphPriceFixing>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1455730/Private-schools-send-papers-to-fee-fixing-inquiry.html |title=Private schools send papers to fee-fixing inquiry |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |date=3 January 2004 |access-date=15 March 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625070958/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1455730/Private-schools-send-papers-to-fee-fixing-inquiry.html |archive-date=25 June 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In 2017 Winchester College suspended its Head of Art History for providing students with information about questions on an upcoming public exam.<ref name=TimesFraud>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/exam-fraud-scandal-at-winchester-college-7mff3dp8p |title=Exam fraud scandal at Winchester College |first=Callum |last=Adams |date=28 August 2017 |access-date=2 May 2018 |newspaper=[[The Times]] }}</ref> The headmaster of Winchester confirmed that the school had treated the matter "very seriously" and that no boy was responsible for the "exam irregularity". The information was widely distributed, resulting in their papers being disallowed.<ref name=GuardianFraud>{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Richard |title=Eton pupils' marks disallowed over second exam paper leak |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/aug/30/eton-pupils-marks-disallowed-over-second-exam-paper-leak |access-date=30 August 2017 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=30 August 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830170131/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/aug/30/eton-pupils-marks-disallowed-over-second-exam-paper-leak |archive-date=30 August 2017 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=FTFraud>{{citation |title=The rigged crapshoot of top exam grades |url=https://www.ft.com/content/67c52b88-8e2f-11e7-a352-e46f43c5825d |author=Miranda Green | publisher=[[The Financial Times]] |date=1 September 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010204026/https://www.ft.com/content/67c52b88-8e2f-11e7-a352-e46f43c5825d |archive-date=10 October 2017 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>