Editing Westminster School

{{short description|Public school in Westminster, England}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox school
 | name                    = Westminster School
 | caption                =
 | logo                   = Official rendition of the Coat of arms of Westminster School.svg
 | logo_size              = 160px
 | image                   = Westminster school arch view.jpg
 | image_size              = 200px
 | coordinates             = {{coord|51.4984|-0.1284|type:edu_region:GB_dim:100|format=dec|display=inline,title}}
 | motto                   = {{langx|la|Dat Deus Incrementum}} <br /> (God Gives the Increase)
 | established             = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
 | type                    = [[Public school (United Kingdom)|Public school]] <br /> [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|Private]] [[day school|day]] and [[boarding school]]
 | religion                = [[Church of England]]<ref>[http://schoolsfinder.direct.gov.uk/2136047/overview/ School Overview – Westminster School] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215081644/http://schoolsfinder.direct.gov.uk/2136047/overview/ |date=15 February 2012}}, ''schoolsfinder'' (government website).</ref>
 | head_label              = Head Master
 | head                    = Gary Savage<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.westminster.org.uk/new-head-master-announced |title=New Head Master Announced |date=25 November 2019 |access-date=16 October 2020 |publisher= Westminster School}}</ref>
 | chair_label             = Chairman of Governors
 | chair                   = Mark Batten<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.westminster.org.uk/about/governing-body/|title=Governing Body |date=1 February 2021 |access-date=29 February 2024 |publisher= Westminster School}}</ref>
 | founder                 = [[Henry VIII]] (1541)<br />[[Elizabeth I]] (1560 – refoundation)
 | address                 = Little Dean's Yard
 | city                    = [[London]], [[SW postcode area|SW1P]] 3PF<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/08/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/213_6047.stm |work= BBC News |title=Westminster School |date=15 January 2009 |access-date=6 April 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/dfe1x1_05.pl?Mode=Z&Code=&School=2136047&Type=&back=&No=213 Performance tables, Westminster School] {{webarchive |url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20091012101122/http%3A//www.dcsf.gov.uk/cgi%2Dbin/performancetables/dfe1x1_05.pl?Mode%3DZ%26Code%3D%26School%3D2136047%26Type%3D%26back%3D%26No%3D213 |date=12 October 2009 }}. Department for Education, 2005.</ref>
 | country                 = England
 | local_authority         = [[City of Westminster]]
 | urn                     = 101162
 | ofsted                  = 
 | dfeno                   = 213/6047
 | staff                   = 105
 | enrolment               = 747
 | gender                  = Boys<br />Coeducational (Sixth Form)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.isc.co.uk/school_WestminsterSchool_Westminster.htm |title=Westminster School, Westminster, London Area, Independent Schools |publisher=Isc.co.uk |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ogdentrust.com/page/24/schools-list-south.htm |title=Schools List South |publisher= Ogden Trust |date=25 January 2008 |access-date=26 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120216032610/http://www.ogdentrust.com/page/24/schools-list-south.htm |archive-date=16 February 2012 }}</ref>
 | lower_age               = 13 (boys), 16 (girls)
 | upper_age               = 18
 | houses                  = {{color box|#006}} Ashburnham<br />{{color box|#aa0033}} Busby's<br />{{color box|#005500}} College<br />{{color box|red}} Dryden's<br />{{color box|#aadddd}} Grant's<br />{{color box|#000ee0}} Hakluyt's<br />{{color box|#ffff00}} Liddell's<br />{{color box|orange}} Milne's<br />{{color box|#9900CC}} Purcell's<br />{{color box|#FF7F00}} Rigaud's<br />{{color box|black}} Wren's<br />
 | colours                 = {{Color box|#FFC0CB|border=darkgray}} Pink
 | publication             = ''The Elizabethan''
 | alumni                 = [[List of people educated at Westminster School|Old Westminsters]]
 | free_label_2            = 
 | free_2                  = 
 | free_label_3            = 
 | free_3                  = 
 | website                 = {{url|https://www.westminster.org.uk/}}
}}
'''Westminster School''' is a [[Public school (United Kingdom)|public school]] in [[Westminster]], London, England, in the precincts of [[Westminster Abbey]]. It descends from a [[charity school]] founded by Westminster [[Benedictines]] before the [[Norman Conquest]], as documented by the [[Croyland Chronicle]] and a charter of [[King Offa]]. Continuous existence is clear from the early 14th century.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web |url= https://www.westminster.org.uk/about/our-history/ |title=Our History |publisher= Westminster School}}</ref> Westminster was one of nine schools examined by the 1861 [[Clarendon Commission]]<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.publicschools.co.uk/guide.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061004211233/http://publicschools.co.uk/guide.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 October 2006 |title=A Guide to Public Schools in the United Kingdom |publisher=Publicschools.co.uk |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> and reformed by the [[Public Schools Act 1868]]. The school motto, ''Dat Deus Incrementum'', quotes [[1 Corinthians]] 3:6: "I planted the seed... but God made it grow."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/3-6.htm |title=1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow}}</ref> The school owns playing fields and tennis courts in the centre of the 13-acre [[Vincent Square]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.westminster.org.uk/westminster-sport-returns-to-vincent-square/|title=WESTMINSTER SPORT RETURNS TO VINCENT SQUARE FOLLOWING YEAR OF EXTENSIVE WORK|work=Westminster School|date=5 September 2023|accessdate=23 November 2024}}</ref> along which [[Westminster Under School]] is also situated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.westminsterunder.org.uk/about/school-history/|title=School History|work=Westminster Under School|accessdate=23 November 2024}}</ref>

Its academic results place it among the top schools nationally;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top UK 100 boarding schools by A-levels results |url= https://www.ukuni.net/articles/top-uk-100-boarding-schools-levels-results |access-date=8 October 2020 |website=www.ukuni.net }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kirk |first1=Ashley |last2=Scott |first2=Patrick |date=24 August 2019 |title=Best independent schools in the UK: Compare league table results for A-levels |work=The Telegraph |location= London |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education-and-careers/0/best-independent-schools-uk-compare-league-table-results-a-levels2/ |archive-url= https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education-and-careers/0/best-independent-schools-uk-compare-league-table-results-a-levels2/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=8 October 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> about half its students go to [[Oxbridge]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=University Destinations |url=https://www.westminster.org.uk/academic-life/university-destinations/ |access-date=19 November 2020 |publisher=Westminster School |archive-date=3 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103091512/https://www.westminster.org.uk/academic-life/university-destinations/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> giving it the highest national Oxbridge acceptance rate.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 September 2020 |title=These are officially the private schools who get the most students into Oxbridge |url= https://thetab.com/uk/2020/09/10/these-are-officially-the-private-schools-who-get-the-most-students-into-oxbridge-174560 |access-date=19 November 2020 |website=The Tab |location= London}}</ref>
In the 2023 [[A-level (United Kingdom)|A-levels]], the school saw 82.3% of its candidates score A* or A.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 September 2023 |title=Westminster School Reviews, Rankings, Fees And More |url=https://britannia-study.co.uk/boarding-schools/westminster-school-reviews/ |access-date=9 September 2023 |website=Britannia UK |location= London}}</ref> The school is included in [[The Schools Index]] of the world's 150 best private schools and among top 30 senior schools in the UK.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McNamee |first=Annie |date=6 April 2024 |title=These are UK's best private schools, according to a prestigious ranking |url= https://www.timeout.com/uk/news/these-are-uks-best-private-schools-according-to-a-prestigious-ranking-040624 |access-date=11 April 2024 |website=Time Out |location= London}}</ref> Among its graduates are three Nobel laureates: [[Edgar Adrian]] ([[Nobel Prize for Physiology]] in 1932), Sir [[Andrew Huxley]] (likewise in 1963) and Sir [[Richard Stone]] ([[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Nobel Prize in Economics]] in 1984). During the mid-17th century, the liberal philosopher of the [[The Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], [[John Locke]], attended the school, and seven UK prime ministers  also then attended, all belonging to the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] or [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] factions of British politics: [[Henry Pelham]] and his brother [[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle|Thomas Pelham-Holmes]], [[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham|Charles Watson-Wentworth]], [[James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave|James Waldegrave]], [[Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton|Augustus Fitzroy]], [[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland|William Cavendish-Bentinck]], and [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|John Russell]].

Boys join the [[Westminster Under School|Under School]] at seven and the Senior School at 13 if they pass their examinations. Girls join the Sixth Form at 16.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.boardingschools.hobsons.com/school/Westminster-School-475.html |title=Westminster School |publisher=UK Boarding Schools Guide |access-date=30 August 2011}}{{dead link |date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> About a quarter of the 750 pupils [[Boarding school|board]]. Weekly boarders may go home after Saturday morning school.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120711031509/http://guides.tatler.co.uk/WCS/Schools/2009/Details.aspx?Type=Public&Area=London&ID=2246&List= Schools Guide]. ''The Tatler''. London. 2009.</ref>

==History==
[[File:Cmglee Westminster School front.jpg|thumb|The entrance to Dean's Yard and Westminster School war memorial viewed from the [[Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre]] in August 2012]]
{{see also|Grammar school#History|Latin school|Neo-Latin#Latin in school education 1500-1700}}
The earliest records of a school at Westminster date back to the 1340s and are held in Westminster Abbey's Muniment Room.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westminster.org.uk/westminster/about/history/ |title=History |publisher= Westminster School |access-date=24 August 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170824220919/http://www.westminster.org.uk/westminster/about/history/ |archive-date=24 August 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Parts of the buildings now used by the school date back to the tenth-century Anglo-Saxon abbey at Westminster.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbey/history/benedictine-monastery |title=About the Abbey |publisher= Westminster Abbey}}</ref>

In 1540, [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] ordered the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] in England, including that of the powerful Abbots of Westminster, but personally ensured the School's survival by his royal charter.<ref>[http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/archives/schools.pdf "Historical notes on Westminster Schools".] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903133650/http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/archives/schools.pdf |date=3 September 2013 }} Westminster City Council. "After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1540, Henry VIII personally ensured its survival by statute".</ref> The Royal College of St. Peter carried on with forty "King's Scholars" financed from the royal purse. By this point Westminster School had certainly become a [[public school (UK)|public school]] (i.e. a school available to members of the paying public, rather than the private tuition arranged by the nobility). During [[Mary I of England|Mary I]]'s reign the Abbey was reinstated as a [[Roman Catholic]] monastery, but the school continued.

[[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] refounded the school in 1560,<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/westminsterschool.htm |title=Elizabeth I has been credited with founding the Westminster School in 1560 |publisher=Luminarium.org |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> with new statutes to select 40 [[King's Scholar]]s from boys who had attended the school for a year.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.londonancestor.com/leighs/chr-wests.htm |title=Westminster School in London |publisher=Londonancestor.com |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> Queen Elizabeth frequently visited her scholars, although she never signed the statutes or endowed her scholarships; 1560 is now generally taken as the date that the school was "founded".

[[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] appointed [[William Camden]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/william-camden |title=William Camden |publisher=Westminster Abbey |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> as Head Master, and he is the only layman known to have held the position until 1937.<ref>The King's Nurseries, John Field, page 29</ref> It was [[Richard Busby]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/willen99/w_people/Busby/Busby/busby.html |title=Dr. Richard Busby, Lord of the Manor & Headmaster of Westminster School |publisher=Clutch.open.ac.uk |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/willen99/w_people/Busby/Bustrus/Bustrus.html |title=Dr. Richard Busby's legacy |publisher=Clutch.open.ac.uk |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> himself an Old Westminster, who established the reputation of the school for several hundred years, as much by his classical learning as for his ruthless discipline by the [[birching|birch]], immortalised in [[Alexander Pope|Pope]]'s ''[[Dunciad]]''. Busby prayed publicly up School<ref>"Up School" is a Westminster term, meaning in or to the ancient school hall.</ref> for the safety of the Crown, on the very day of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]'s execution, and then locked the boys inside to prevent their going to watch the spectacle a few hundred yards away. Regardless of politics, he [[School corporal punishment|thrashed]] Royalist and Puritan boys alike without fear or favour. Busby also took part in [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s funeral procession in 1658, when a Westminster schoolboy, [[Robert Uvedale]], succeeded in snatching the "Majesty [[Escutcheon (heraldry)|Scutcheon]]" (white satin banner) draped on the coffin, which is now held in the library<ref>{{Cite web |author=Denis Larionov & Alexander Zhulin |url=http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/frances-parthenope-verney/memoirs-of-the-verney-family--volume-3-ala/page-28-memoirs-of-the-verney-family--volume-3-ala.shtml |title=The 'Majesty Scutcheon.' taken from Cromwell's bier. ebooksread.com electronic library |publisher=Ebooksread.com |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> (it was given to the school by his family three hundred years later).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://collections.westminster.org.uk/index.php/gb-2014-ws-03-pic-001-77 |title=The Majesty Scutcheon |access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref> Busby remained in office throughout the Civil War and the Commonwealth, when the school was governed by Parliamentary Commissioners, and well into the Restoration.

In 1679, a group of scholars killed a bailiff, ostensibly in defence of Abbey's traditional right of [[sanctuary]] after the man had arrested a person connected to the college. <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archiveblog.westminster.org.uk/?p=501 |title=The King's Scholars' Pardon |access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref> Busby obtained a royal [[pardon]] for his scholars from [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] and added the cost to the school bills.

[[File:Westminster School Arch.jpg|thumb|left|Liddell's arch, the main entrance to [[Little Dean's Yard]]]]

Until the 19th century, the curriculum was predominantly made up of Latin and Greek, and all taught up School.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/westminsterschoo00fors |title=Westminster School Past and Present|year=1884|publisher=Wyman & Sons |access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref> Westminster boys were uncontrolled outside school hours and notoriously unruly about town, but the proximity of the school to the Palace of Westminster meant that politicians were well aware of boys' exploits. After the [[Public Schools Act 1868]], in response to the Clarendon Commission<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1RcNAQAAIAAJ&q=Westminster+School&pg=PA113 |title=Public Schools and Private Education: The Clarendon Commission, 1861–64 |publisher=Manchester University Press |access-date=10 July 2015|isbn=9780719025808 |year=1988 }}</ref> on the financial and other malpractices at nine pre-eminent public schools, the school began to approach its modern form. It was legally separated from the Abbey, although the organisations remain close. The Dean of Westminster was ''ex officio'' the Chair of the Governing Body until 2020 and remains a Governor. There followed a scandalous public and parliamentary dispute lasting a further 25 years, to settle the transfer of the properties from the Canons of the Abbey to the school. School statutes have been made by [[Order in Council]] of Queen [[Elizabeth II]]. The Dean of [[Christ Church, Oxford]], and the Master of [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], were also ''ex officio'' members of the school's Governing Body until 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.westminster.org.uk/about/governing-body/ |title=Westminster School: The Governing Body |publisher=www.westminster.org.uk |access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref>

Unusually among public schools, Westminster did not adopt most of the broader changes associated with the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] ethos of [[Thomas Arnold]], such as the emphasis on team over individual spirit, and the school retained much of its distinctive character. Despite many pressures, including evacuation and the destruction of the school roof during the [[The Blitz|Blitz]], the school refused to move out of the city, unlike other schools such as [[Charterhouse School|Charterhouse]] and [[St Paul's School (London)|St. Paul's]], and remains in its central London location.

[[Westminster Under School]] was formed in 1943<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westminsterunder.org.uk/about.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126054443/http://www.westminsterunder.org.uk/about.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 November 2005 |title=Westminster Under School |publisher=Westminsterunder.org.uk |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> in the evacuated school buildings in Westminster, as a distinct preparatory school for day pupils between the ages of eight to 13 (now seven to 13). Only the separation is new: for example, in the 18th century, [[Edward Gibbon]] attended Westminster from the age of 11 and [[Jeremy Bentham]] from the age of eight.<ref>The Record of Old Westminsters</ref> The Under School has since moved to [[Vincent Square]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.educationuk.org/pls/hot_bc/bc_bd_school.page_pls_school_details?x=126739512409&y=0&a=0&b=&psch=1227&psrc=16254576&pseq=1&pinc=1000 |title=Innovative. Individual. Inspirational |publisher=Education UK |date=27 May 2011 |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> overlooking the school's playing fields. Its current Master is Kate Jefferson.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.westminsterunder.org.uk/staff.html |title=Westminster Under School |publisher=Westminsterunder.org.uk |access-date=4 January 2009 |archive-date=9 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509091051/http://www.westminsterunder.org.uk/staff.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1967, the first female pupil was admitted to the school. Girls became full members in 1973.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rae |first=John |url= http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/3539666/tales-out-of-school.thtml |title=The Old Boys' Network |work=The Spectator |location=London |date=18 April 2009 |access-date=30 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110605082432/http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/3539666/tales-out-of-school.thtml |archive-date=5 June 2011 }}</ref> In 1981, a single-sex boarding house, Purcell's, was created for girls. In 1997 the school expanded further with the creation of a new day house, Milne's, at 5a, Dean's Yard.

In 2005 the school was one of 50 leading independent schools found guilty of running a cartel, exposed by ''[[The Times]]'', which had allowed them to collaborate in uncompetitive fees for thousands of customers.<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article588559.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070310233300/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article588559.ece |url-status= dead |archive-date= 10 March 2007 |title= Independent schools face huge fines over cartel to fix fees |newspaper=[[The Times]] |location= London |first=Tony |last=Halpin |date=10 November 2005}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article877567.ece |title= Parents may sue on school fee rise 'cartel' |newspaper=[[The Times]] |location= London |date=4 May 2003 |first=Jonathan |last=Calvert}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Jean Scott, the head of the Independent Schools Council, said that independent schools had always been exempt from anti-cartel rules applied to business, were following a long-established procedure in sharing the information with each other, and that they were unaware of the change to the law (on which they had not been consulted). She wrote to John Vickers, the OFT director-general, saying, "They are not a group of businessmen meeting behind closed doors to fix the price of their products to the disadvantage of the consumer. They are schools that have quite openly continued to follow a long-established practice because they were unaware that the law had changed.".<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1455730/Private-schools-send-papers-to-fee-fixing-inquiry.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1455730/Private-schools-send-papers-to-fee-fixing-inquiry.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Private schools send papers to fee-fixing inquiry |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=1 March 2004 |access-date=15 March 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> However, each school agreed to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and ex-gratia payments totalling £3 million into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.<ref>{{Cite press release |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 |date=21 December 2006 |access-date=30 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url= http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140402142426/http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06 |archive-date=2 April 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1511425/Why-did-OFT-take-a-pile-driver-to-crack-a-nut.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1511425/Why-did-OFT-take-a-pile-driver-to-crack-a-nut.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |title=Why did OFT take a pile-driver to crack a nut? |first=John |last=Clare |date=25 February 2006 |access-date=6 April 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/nov/09/schools.uk |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=Elite schools 'breached law' on fees |first=Donald |last=MacLeod |date=9 November 2005 |access-date=6 April 2010}}</ref>

In 2007, the school responded to an invitation to become the sponsor of [[Pimlico School]], which was due to be rebuilt as an [[Academy (English school)|academy]], but decided not to do so after [[Westminster City Council]] developed its plans. In 2013 the school collaborated with the [[Harris Federation]] to set up a selective, mixed sixth-form academy, with entrance priority being given to those from disadvantaged backgrounds. [[Harris Westminster Sixth Form]] opened nearby in 2014; pupils of the academy share some lessons and facilities of the school.

In 2010 the school and the abbey celebrated the 450th anniversary of the granting of their royal charter and Elizabeth I's refoundation of the school in 1560. Queen Elizabeth II with the Duke of Edinburgh unveiled a controversial statue in Little Dean's Yard of the Queen's namesake Elizabeth I, the nominal foundress of the School, by Old Westminster sculptor Matthew Spender.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/7750380/Queen-unveils-statue-of-Elizabeth-I-at-Westminster-Abbey.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/7750380/Queen-unveils-statue-of-Elizabeth-I-at-Westminster-Abbey.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Queen unveils statue of Elizabeth I at Westminster Abbey |work=The Telegraph |location= London |date=22 May 2010 |access-date=5 May 2016}}{{cbignore}}{{subscription required}}</ref> The head of the statue came off in May 2016 after a Sixth Former (a pupil in Year 12) tried to climb onto the statue. The head has since been reattached.

In May 2013, the school was criticized for staging an auction involving the selling of internships to fund bursaries, resulting in adverse press coverage.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/luke-hurst/westminster-school-are-slapping-you-in-the-face_b_3287061.html "Luke Hurst: Westminster School are Slapping You in the Face With a Big Wad of Cash"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112354/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/luke-hurst/westminster-school-are-slapping-you-in-the-face_b_3287061.html |date=4 March 2016}}. ''Huffington Post''. Retrieved 13 August 2013.</ref>

In December 2017, the school announced plans to open six schools in China, working with the [[Hong Kong]] educational group HKMETG; the first opened in [[Chengdu]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/westminster-school-to-open-in-china-wtw02hrd5 |title=Westminster School to open in China |last=Bennett| first=Rosemary |date=7 December 2017 |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=7 December 2017 |location= London}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Revenue generated by the deal will be used to support bursary funds at the existing school, and follows similar moves by [[Harrow School]], [[Malvern College|Malvern School]], [[Wellington College, Berkshire|Wellington College]] and [[Dulwich College]]. The school was criticized in the media and by its pupils for its decision to teach the Chinese national curriculum as opposed to an international curriculum normally taught by international schools.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/dec/07/westminster-school-to-set-up-branches-in-china-to-teach-chinese-curriculum |title=Westminster School to set up branches in China to teach Chinese curriculum |last=Phillips |first=Tom |date=7 December 2017 |work=The Guardian |access-date=7 December 2017 |location= London}}</ref> Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at [[SOAS, University of London|SOAS London]], was quoted in the ''[[Financial Times]]'' as saying, "I think they have no idea what they're dealing with.... If you set up a school in China, they will have a party secretary superintending the whole school and the party secretary will be responsible for political education."<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.ft.com/content/4ea11ec0-daa9-11e7-a039-c64b1c09b482 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/4ea11ec0-daa9-11e7-a039-c64b1c09b482 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Westminster School to teach Chinese curriculum in China – Political education at UK private school's new sites to fall under Communist party direction |website=Financial Times |date=7 December 2017 |access-date=7 December 2017 |location= London}}{{subscription required}}</ref> The school responded that it would exercise "soft power" over the teaching and would also teach an international curriculum for students aged 16–18.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42255159 |title=Westminster to open six schools in China |last=Coughlan |first=Sean |date=7 December 2017 |work=BBC News |access-date=7 December 2017 }}</ref> The issue was re-opened when ''The Times'' published an article quoting Professor Edward Vickers of [[Kyushu University]], who accused the school (and [[King's College School]], with similar plans) of "helping Chinese teach propaganda".<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/westminster-and-kings-accused-of-helping-chinese-teach-propaganda-g2982z3sj |title=Westminster and Kings accused of helping Chinese teach propaganda |first=Rosemary |last=Bennett |date=18 May 2018 |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=20 May 2018 |location= London}}{{subscription required}}</ref> These plans were cancelled in November 2021 in response to "recent changes in Chinese education policy".<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://inews.co.uk/news/westminster-school-china-sites-chengdu-scrapped-amid-concerns-communist-curriculum-1282000 |title=Westminster School abandons plans for sister sites in China amid concerns about communist curriculum |first=Poppy |last=Wood |date=3 November 2021 |work=i news |access-date=1 August 2021 |location= London}}</ref>

The school stands mainly in the precincts of the medieval monastery of Westminster Abbey,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/archives/schools.pdf |title=Westminster School has been teaching scholars in the precincts of the Abbey since at least 1394 |date=10 July 2015 |publisher=Westminster City Council |access-date=26 April 2009 |archive-date=3 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903133650/http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/archives/schools.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> its main buildings surrounding its private square [[Little Dean's Yard]] (known as Yard), off Dean's Yard, where [[Church House (Church of England)|Church House]], the headquarters of the [[Church of England]], is situated,<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.churchhouse.org.uk/ |title=The Corporation of Church House |publisher= Church House |date=10 June 1940 |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> along with some of the houses, the common room, the humanities building Weston's, and College Hall.

[[File:Dean's Yard westminster.jpg|thumb|left|Liddell's House, and the school reception, taken from Dean's Yard]]
Just outside the abbey precincts in Great College Street is Sutcliff's (named after the tuck shop on the site of the building in the 19th century), where Geography, Art,<ref>[http://www.westminster.org.uk/activities/art.asp Westminster School|Activities|Art] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131174449/http://www.westminster.org.uk/activities/art.asp |date=31 January 2010}}</ref> Theology, Philosophy and Classics (Latin and Ancient Greek) are taught. The [[Robert Hooke]] Science Centre<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.westonwilliamson.com/projects.php?a=westminster_school |publisher=Weston Williamson Architects |title=Projects |access-date=30 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110910053310/http://www.westonwilliamson.com/projects.php?a=westminster_school |archive-date=10 September 2011 }}</ref> is further away, just off [[Smith Square]].<ref>[http://www.westminster.org.uk/academiclife/science_centre.asp Westminster School|Academic Life|Robert Hooke Science Centre] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229194704/http://www.westminster.org.uk/academiclife/science_centre.asp |date=29 December 2009}}</ref> As part of an expansion programme funded by donations and a legacy from [[A. A. Milne]],<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3611924/Trust-me-TJP-would-gain-nothing-from-taking-a-PGCE.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3611924/Trust-me-TJP-would-gain-nothing-from-taking-a-PGCE.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |title=Trust me: TJP would gain nothing from taking a PGCE |first=Harry |last=Mount |date=12 October 2004 |access-date=6 April 2010}}{{cbignore}}{{subscription required}}</ref> the school has acquired the nearby Millicent Fawcett Hall for Drama and Theatre Studies lessons and performances;<ref>[http://www.westminster.org.uk/activities/drama.asp Westminster School |Activities |Drama] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229193124/http://www.westminster.org.uk/activities/drama.asp |date=29 December 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/making_history/making_history_20060110.shtml |title=Radio 4 Making History – Latest programme |publisher=BBC |date=18 October 2005 |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> the Manoukian Centre for Music Lessons<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.smartcomm.co.uk/casestudies/commercial/westminster-school-smart-technology.aspx |title=Commercial Case Studies |publisher=Smartcomm |access-date=30 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111007072120/http://www.smartcomm.co.uk/casestudies/commercial/westminster-school-smart-technology.aspx |archive-date=7 October 2011 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.westminster.org.uk/activities/music.asp Westminster School|Activities|Music] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091228011552/http://www.westminster.org.uk/activities/music.asp |date=28 December 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.london-conducting-workshop.com/about.htm |title=London Conducting Workshop Details |publisher=London-conducting-workshop.com |access-date=30 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007113342/http://www.london-conducting-workshop.com/about.htm |archive-date=7 October 2011 }}</ref> (timetabled and private) and recitals; and the Weston Building at 3 Dean's Yard.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.westminster.org.uk/academiclife/weston.asp |website=Westminster School |title=Academic Life - Weston building |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124071459/http://www.westminster.org.uk/academiclife/weston.asp |archive-date=24 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.byrnegroup.co.uk/CaseStudies/ViewCaseStudy.aspx?CaseID=25&Sector=EducationCentres&MainImageToLoad=6 |title=Archived copy |website=www.byrnegroup.co.uk |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170712/http://www.byrnegroup.co.uk/CaseStudies/ViewCaseStudy.aspx?CaseID=25&Sector=EducationCentres&MainImageToLoad=6 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It often uses [[St John's, Smith Square]] as a venue for major musical concerts.

[[File:St john smith.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The School often uses [[St John's, Smith Square]] as a venue for major musical concerts.]]
[[College Garden]], to the East of Little Dean's Yard, is believed to be the oldest garden in England, under continuous cultivation for about a millennium.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/venue-bookings/venues/college-garden |title=College Garden |publisher=Westminster Abbey |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> Just beyond rises the Victoria Tower of the [[Palace of Westminster|Houses of Parliament]]; the King's Scholars have special rights of access to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2018}} To the North, the Dark Cloister leads straight to the Abbey, which serves as the School Chapel.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5094502/The-Old-Boys-Network-a-Headmasters-Diaries-1970-86-by-John-Rae-Review.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5094502/The-Old-Boys-Network-a-Headmasters-Diaries-1970-86-by-John-Rae-Review.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |title=The Old Boys' Network: a Headmaster's Diaries, 1970–86 by John Rae: Review |first=Tom |last=Horan |date=2 April 2009 |access-date=6 April 2010}}{{cbignore}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

The playing fields are half a mile away at [[Vincent Square]],<ref name="westminster.org.uk sports">[http://www.westminster.org.uk/activities/sports.asp Westminster School|Activities|Sports] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112011139/http://www.westminster.org.uk/activities/sports.asp |date=12 January 2010 }}</ref> which [[William Vincent (priest)|Dean Vincent]] created for the school by hiring a horse and plough to carve {{convert|10|acre|m2}} out of the open Tothill Fields. The boathouse is now some way from the school at [[Putney]],<ref name="westminster.org.uk sports"/> where it is also used for the [[Oxford University|Oxford]] and [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]] [[The Boat Race|boat race]]; but the school's First Eight still returns annually to exercise its traditional right to land at Black Rod Steps of the [[Palace of Westminster]].

In 2011, the school agreed to buy a 999-year lease of [[Lawrence Hall, London]] from [[The Royal Horticultural Society]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westminster.org.uk/news-article.html?id=114 |title=Westminster School News |publisher=Westminster.org.uk |access-date=8 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408223823/http://www.westminster.org.uk/news-article.html?id=114 |archive-date=8 April 2014 }}</ref> This listed Art-Deco building adjacent to the school's playing fields at Vincent Square has been converted into a Sports Centre. It provides for climbing, martial arts, fencing, rowing, table tennis, badminton, netball, indoor football and indoor cricket.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oldwestminster.org.uk/document.doc?id=162 |title=The Elizabethan Newsletter, 2012/2013, p. 14 |publisher=oldwestminster.org.uk/ |access-date=8 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408225807/http://www.oldwestminster.org.uk/document.doc?id=162 |archive-date=8 April 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2012 the school took possession of St Edward's House, which was the last Anglican monastery in London.<ref>[[Society of St. John the Evangelist#British congregation]].</ref> The building, on the corner of Great College Street and Tufton Street, now houses Purcell's, a Boarding House for girls and a Day House for boys, as well as a small Chapel and Refectory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Elizabethan Newsletter, 2012/2013, p. 16 |url=http://www.oldwestminster.org.uk/document.doc?id=162 |publisher=oldwestminster.org.uk/ |access-date=8 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408225807/http://www.oldwestminster.org.uk/document.doc?id=162 |archive-date=8 April 2014 |url-status = dead}}</ref> Westminster Under School has also been enlarged by a building in Douglas Street, which provides an Art Studio, IT Suite and Dining Hall.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oldwestminster.org.uk/document.doc?id=162 |title=The Elizabethan Newsletter, 2012/2013, p. 17 |publisher=oldwestminster.org.uk/ |access-date=8 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408225807/http://www.oldwestminster.org.uk/document.doc?id=162 |archive-date=8 April 2014 |url-status=dead| df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Westminster was the 13th most expensive [[Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference|HMC]] day school and tenth most expensive HMC boarding school in the UK in 2014/2015<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.privateschoolfees.co.uk |title=Private School Fees |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010123134/http://www.privateschoolfees.co.uk/ |archive-date=10 October 2016 |access-date=7 April 2015 }}</ref> It achieved the highest percentage of students accepted by [[Oxbridge]] colleges over the period 2002–2006,<ref name="parliament.uk">[http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn00616.pdf "Oxbridge 'elitism'".]</ref> and was ranked as best boys' school in the country in terms of GCSE results in 2017.<ref name="best-schools.co.uk">{{Cite web|url=https://www.best-schools.co.uk/uk-school-league-tables/gcse-grades/|title=Top 100 Schools by GCSE}}</ref> In 2019, 84% of pupils scored A*-A for their A-Levels examination, while 80% scored A*-A for their GCSEs.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 October 2019 |title=Westminster School UK: Reviews, Ranking, Fees And More |url= https://britannia-study.com.my/uk-boarding-school/westminster-school |access-date=8 January 2021 |website=Britannia StudyLink Malaysia: UK Study Expert}}</ref>

The school plans to introduce girls into Year 9 in 2028.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Co-Education and Pre-Prep |url= https://www.westminster.org.uk/co-education-and-pre-prep/ |access-date=5 January 2025 |publisher= Westminster School }}</ref> It will be [[Mixed-sex education|co-educational]] in all year groups by 2030.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clarence-Smith |first=Louisa |date=27 March 2023 |title=Leading private school to open all classes to girls for first time |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/27/westminster-school-admit-girls-year-groups/ |access-date=5 January 2025 |work=The Telegraph |location= London}}</ref>

==Architecture==
Westminster School, in the middle of the [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] of Westminster Abbey, St. Margaret's, and the Palace of Westminster, has several buildings notable for qualities, age and history.
* The Great Cloisters, St Faith's Chapel, The Chapter House, The Parlour, 1 and 2 The Cloisters, and the dormitory with the Chapel of St Dunstan are [[Listed building#England and Wales|listed Grade I]] as a group on the [[National Heritage List for England]].<ref name=NHLEGreat>{{NHLE|num=1066370|desc=The Great Cloisters, including St Faiths Chapel, The Chapter House...|access-date=9 August 2021}}</ref> 
* The dormitory at Little Dean's Yard and the staircase and doorway in Little Dean's Yard to the Busby Library are separately listed Grade I.<ref name=NHLELittle>{{NHLE|num=1066372|desc=Little Dean's Yard (College of Westminster School)|access-date=9 August 2021}}</ref><ref name=NHLEStair>{{NHLE|num=1066373|desc=Little Dean's Yard: Staircase to Doorway and Gateway to 'School' and Busby Library|access-date=9 August 2021}}</ref>
* College Hall, the 14th-century abbot's state dining hall, is one of the oldest and finest examples of a medieval refectory and still in daily use for that purpose in term-time; outside of term it reverts to the dean as the abbot's successor.<ref>[http://www.westminster-abbey.org/__data/assets/file/0012/20253/2007-annual-report.pdf] {{webarchive|url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091016052718/http://www.westminster%2Dabbey.org/__data/assets/file/0012/20253/2007%2Dannual%2Dreport.pdf|date=16 October 2009}}</ref> Queen [[Elizabeth Woodville]] took sanctuary here in 1483 with five daughters and her son [[Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York]], but failed to save him from his fate as one of the [[Princes in the Tower]]. In the 1560s, [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] several times came to see her scholars act their Latin plays on a stage in front of the attractive Elizabethan gallery, which may have been first erected especially for the purpose.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1845552.stm |work= BBC News |title= Abbey's 'secret' hall opens its doors |date=28 February 2002 |access-date=6 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1846818.stm |work= BBC News |title=Six hundred years of history |date=28 February 2002 |access-date=6 April 2010}}</ref>
* College, now shared between the three Houses of College, Dryden's and Wren's, is a dressed stone building overlooking [[College Garden]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/college-garden |title=College Garden |publisher=Westminster Abbey |date=25 October 2010 |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> the former monastery's Infirmary garden, which is still the property of the Collegiate Church of Westminster Abbey. College dates from 1729 and was designed by the [[Earl of Burlington]], based on earlier designs by Sir [[Christopher Wren]] (himself an Old Westminster).
[[File:Dragon-weathervanejpg.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Phoenix (mythology)|phoenix]] which was placed on the roof of the school in the 1950s to commemorate the school's resurgence after [[World War II]]]] 
* School, originally built in the 1090s as the monks' dormitory, is the school's main hall, used for Latin Prayers (a weekly assembly with prayers in the Westminster dialect of [[Latin]]),<ref>[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090225223115/https://intranet.westminster.org.uk/almanack/pdf/play08.pdf Westminster School Almanack], p. 13.</ref> exams, and large concerts, plays and the like. From 1599 it was used to teach all the pupils, the Upper and Lower Schools being separated by a curtain hung from a 16th-century [[pig iron]] bar, which remains the largest piece of pig iron in the world.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}} The panelling "up School" is painted with the coats of arms of many former pupils. The original shell-shaped apse at the north end of the school gave its name to the 'Shell' forms taught there and the corresponding classes at many other [[Public school (UK)|public schools]]. The current shell displays a Latin epigram on the rebuilding of School, with the acrostic ''Semper Eadem'', Elizabeth I's motto. The classroom door to the right of the Shell was recovered from the notorious [[Star Chamber]] at its demolition, but was destroyed during the Blitz. The building lies directly on top of the Westminster Abbey museum in the Norman Undercroft, and ends at the start of the [[Trial of the Pyx|Pyx]] Chamber. Both School and College had their roofs destroyed by incendiary bombs in the Blitz of 1941. They were re-opened by [[George VI of the United Kingdom|George VI]] in 1950.<ref>The King's Nurseries, John Field, p. 101.</ref>
* The school gateway was also designed by the [[Earl of Burlington]]. It is engraved with the names of many pupils, who used to hire a stonemason for the purpose.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://schoolgateway.westminster.org.uk/?page_id=7 |title=History of the School Gateway |publisher=Westminster School |access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref> 
[[File:Ashburnham House 1880.jpg|thumb|left|Ashburnham House, as seen in 1880]]
* [[Ashburnham House]] houses the library<ref>[http://www.westminster.org.uk/academiclife/library.asp Westminster School |Academic Life |The Library] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030115034831/http://www.westminster.org.uk/academiclife/library.asp |date=15 January 2003}}</ref> and the Mathematics Department,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://intranet.westminster.org.uk/almanack/pdf/play08.pdf |title=Westminster Almanack, p. 16 |access-date=26 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726153853/https://intranet.westminster.org.uk/almanack/pdf/play08.pdf |archive-date=26 July 2011 }}</ref> and until 2005 accommodated the Economics, English and History of Art departments as well. [[Ashburnham House]] may have been built by Inigo Jones or his pupil John Webb around the time of the Restoration, as a London seat for the family, who became the [[Earl of Ashburnham|Earls of Ashburnham]]. It incorporates remains of the mediaeval Prior's House. Its garden is the site of the monks' refectory and some of the earliest sittings of the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]]. In 1731 when Ashburnham housed the King's and [[Cottonian libraries]], which form the basis of the [[British Library]],<ref>[http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/manuscripts/cottonmss/cottonmss.html Cotton Manuscripts] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912081329/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/manuscripts/cottonmss/cottonmss.html |date=12 September 2016}}, British Library.</ref> there was a disastrous fire, and many of the books and manuscripts still show the marks.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/collectioncare/2014/10/burnt-cotton-collection-survey-enables-digitisation-prioritisation.html |title=Burnt Cotton Collection survey enables digitisation prioritisation |access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref> After the [[Public Schools Act 1868]] there was a scandalous parliamentary and legal battle between the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey and the School until the School eventually obtained Ashburnham House under the Act for £4,000. The dispute was reported in ''The Times'' and it was suggested by Thomas Wise, Secretary of The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings that the property was "in danger of being pulled down or of being virtually destroyed by being converted into a boarding-house in connexion with Westminster School", adding that the "house is admirably suited for a residence for the Dean or one of the Canons, and is totally unfitted for a school or a boarding house."<ref>[''The Times'' (London, England), Wednesday, 23 November 1881; pg. 8]</ref> The school responded: "The Chapter themselves have in past years greatly altered and disfigured Ashburnham-house. It had originally two wings; one was destroyed and never restored. About 1848 the roof was taken off, a story added, and a dome in the ceiling of the drawing-room demolished, the external elevation being ruined. The house now has no beauty externally, and hardly any features of interest internally, except the staircase, which in any case would be preserved".<ref>[''The Times'' (London, England), Monday, 28 November 1881; p. 6]</ref> On 28 November [[William Morris]] also became involved in the campaign, writing a letter to the editor of ''[[The Daily News (UK)|The Daily News]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Collected Letters of William Morris, Volume II, Part A: 1881–1884, Volume 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qggABAAAQBAJ&q=%22Ashburnham+House%22+%22William+Morris%22&pg=PA83 |access-date= 10 July 2015|isbn=9781400858675 |last1=Morris |first1=William |date=14 July 2014 | publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref> In the event, the school demolished the adjacent Turle's House and renovated sections of the east wing, but left the staircase and drawing room untouched.<ref>{{Cite book |title=William Morris and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4seSAgAAQBAJ&q=%22Ashburnham+House%22+%22William+Morris%22&pg=PA75 |access-date= 10 July 2015|isbn=9781135914080 |last1=Donovan |first1=Andrea Elizabeth |date=12 December 2007| publisher=Routledge }}</ref> During the [[Second World War]], the library was used for military purposes and as an American soldiers' club, the Churchill Club.

==Customs==
===The Greaze===
[[File:The Greaze.jpg|thumb|right|Pupils fight for the pancake (left), watched by the Dean of Westminster and the Head Master (right). The set of scales determines the winner.]]
The Greaze has been held "up School" (in the School Hall) on [[Shrove Tuesday]] since at least 1753.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.westminster.org.uk/about-westminster/history/westminster-milestones |title=Westminster School, Milestones |access-date=10 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304134730/https://www.westminster.org.uk/about-westminster/history/westminster-milestones |archive-date=4 March 2016 }} 1753 – "First recorded 'Pancake Greaze".</ref> The head cook ceremoniously tosses a horsehair-reinforced [[pancake]] over a high bar, which was used from the 16th century to curtain off the Under School from the Great School. Members of the school fight for the pancake for one minute, watched over by the Dean of Westminster, the Head Master, and the upper year groups of the school<ref>{{Cite news |title=Health and safety diminishes Westminister School's annual Pancake 'Greaze' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/7361452/Health-and-safety-diminishes-Westminister-Schools-annual-Pancake-Greaze.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/7361452/Health-and-safety-diminishes-Westminister-Schools-annual-Pancake-Greaze.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=4 March 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and distinguished or even occasionally royal visitors. The pupil who gets the largest weight is awarded a [[Sovereign (British coin)|gold sovereign]] (promptly redeemed for use next year), and the Dean begs for a half-holiday for the whole school. Weighing scales are on hand in the event of a dispute. A cook who failed to get the pancake over the bar after three attempts would formerly have been "booked" or pelted with Latin primers, but that tradition has long lapsed.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/03/02/117915167.pdf |title=One Pancake for Fifteen Boys |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2 March 1899}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=English Schoolboys: Recollections of Westminster |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/07/11/102012887.pdf |date=11 July 1903}}</ref>
===Coronation===
The privilege of being the first [[commoner]]s to acclaim each new [[Monarch|sovereign]] at their [[Coronation of the British monarch|coronation]] in Westminster Abbey is reserved for the King's (or Queen's) Scholars. Their shouts of "''Vivat Rex/Regina''" ("Long live the king/queen!") are incorporated into the coronation anthem "[[I was glad]]".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/coronations/guide-to-the-coronation-service |title=Guide to the Coronation Service |publisher=Westminster Abbey |access-date=30 August 2011 |archive-date=5 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205061127/http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/coronations/guide-to-the-coronation-service |url-status=dead }}</ref> The tradition dates back to the coronation of [[James II of Great Britain|King James II]].<ref>Lawrence E. Tanner (1934), ''Westminster School: A History'', Country Life Ltd, London, p. 36.</ref>

===Commem===
The School commemorates its benefactors every year with a service in Westminster Abbey in Latin in which the Captain of the King's Scholars lays a wreath of pink roses on the tomb of Elizabeth I: the service alternates between Little Commem, held in Henry VII's Chapel and involving just the King's Scholars, and the Big Commem, to which the whole school community is invited.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.oldwestminster.org.uk/big-commem-2014 |title=Big Commem 2014 |access-date=10 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309154727/https://www.oldwestminster.org.uk/big-commem-2014 |archive-date=9 March 2016 }}</ref>
===House of Commons gallery===
The King's Scholars have privileged access to the House of Commons gallery, said to be a compromise recorded in the Standing Orders of the House in the 19th century, to stop the boys from climbing into the Palace over the roofs.
===Latin prayers===
Despite the formal separation from the abbey,<ref>[http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/encyclopedia/article_show/Westminster_Abbey/m0009100.html?from=hotlink "Westminster School, a public school with ancient and modern buildings nearby, was once the Abbey School."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611125707/http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/encyclopedia/article_show/Westminster_Abbey/m0009100.html?from=hotlink |date=11 June 2009}}</ref> the school remains [[Anglicanism|Anglican]], with services in the abbey attended by the entire school at least twice a week, and many other voluntary-attendance services of worship. The school was expressly exempted by the [[Act of Uniformity 1559|Act of Uniformity]] to allow it to continue saying Latin prayers despite the [[English Reformation|Reformation]]. Every Wednesday there is an assembly Up School known as Latin Prayers, which opens with the Head Master leading all members of the school in chanting prayers in [[Latin]], followed by notices in English. The school's unique pronunciation of formal Latin is known as "Westminster Latin",<ref>[https://archive.org/details/annalsofwestmins00sarguoft/page/272/mode/2up ''Annals of Westminster School'' by John Sargeaunt], 1898</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkuCY1cRA7E Charles Low reads the Election Dinner graces]</ref> and descends from [[Traditional English pronunciation of Latin|medieval English scholastic pronunciation]]: Queen Elizabeth I, who spoke fluent Latin, commanded that Latin was not to be said "in the monkish fashion", a significant warning upon loyalties between Church and State. 

===Latin plays===
Since the monastic Christmas revels of medieval times, Latin plays have been presented by Scholars, with a prologue and witty epilogue on contemporary events. Annual plays, "either tragedy or comedy", were required by the school statutes in 1560, and some early plays were acted in College Hall before Elizabeth I and her whole Council. However, in a more prudish age, Queen Victoria did not accompany Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales to the play, and recorded in her diary that it was "very Improper". Today, the play is put on less frequently, any members of the school may take part, and the Master of the King's Scholars gives the Latin prologue. The 1938 play caused a diplomatic incident, with the German ambassador withdrawing after being offended by the words ''Magna Germania'' figuring in extenso on a map of Europe displayed.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

===Language===
There is a Westminster jargon little known to the general public:
*Years 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 are called Fifth Form, Lower Shell, Upper Shell, Sixth Form and Remove, respectively.
*'Green' is Dean's Yard.
*'Yard' is Little Dean's Yard.
*'School' is the main school hall, where Latin Prayers, exams and major plays and talks take place.
*'Sanctuary' is the area outside the Great West Door of the Abbey off Broad Sanctuary.
*'Fields' is Vincent Square.
*The preposition "up" is used to mean "at" or "towards" (hence up School). At my house (boarding/day) and home can be differentiated thus, up House means at School and at my house means at home.
*'Station' is sport.
*'Water' is rowing.

==Station==
[[File:Westminster School Boat Club early morning.jpg|thumb|Westminster School Boat Club's boathouse in [[Putney]]]]
The school has three [[Eton Fives]] courts behind [[Ashburnham House]]. The school frequently fields pupils as national entries in international competitions in [[Sport rowing|rowing]], or "water", and fencing.

[[Westminster School Boat Club]] is the oldest rowing club in the world, located on the [[River Thames]]. The [[Oxford University Boat Club]] uses Westminster's boathouse at Putney as its HQ for the annual [[The Boat Race|Oxford and Cambridge boat race]] on the Thames. The boathouse was remodelled in 1997 and won a Wandsworth design award in 1999.<ref>[https://homepages.westminster.org.uk/wsbc2/facilities.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912192905/https://homepages.westminster.org.uk/wsbc2/facilities.htm|date=12 September 2007}}</ref> The school's colour is pink; Westminster rowers raced [[Eton College]] for the right to wear the colour.<ref>[http://www.westminster.org.uk/prospectus.pdf Prospectus] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225223111/http://www.westminster.org.uk/prospectus.pdf |date=25 February 2009}}, p. 20. "In 1837 there was a boat race against Eton in which each school chose their colours – Westminster chose pink which remains the school's colour to this day."</ref> The premier [[Leander Club]] at Henley, founded in London by a number of Old Westminster rowers, later adopted it, although they call the colour cerise.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leander.co.uk/shop/about.asp |title=Leander Club – Shop – About |publisher=Leander.co.uk |access-date=30 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928232723/http://www.leander.co.uk/shop/about.asp |archive-date=28 September 2011 }}</ref> The only problems arise when racing against [[Abingdon School]], whose team also wears pink.
[[File:Vincentsquare.jpg|thumb|The school playing fields in [[Vincent Square]]|right]]

Since 1810, when the Head Master, [[William Vincent (priest)|William Vincent]], fenced off and ordered the ploughing of the waste marshlands known as Tothill Fields for use by the school, which were being threatened by London's [[urban sprawl]], the school's main sports ground has been nearby at [[Vincent Square]],<ref>{{Cite news |first=Paul |last=Shearer |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/4f85705a-401d-11de-9ced-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/4f85705a-401d-11de-9ced-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Palatial surroundings |newspaper=Financial Times |location=London |date=16 May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/giles_coren/article6345675.ece |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |title=Forget the Ashes This is how to play cricket |date=23 May 2009 |access-date=6 April 2010 |first=Giles |last=Coren}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> with football and cricket on the main area and tennis and netball on the courts; it also hosts a playground for Westminster Under School. At 13 acres, it is the largest private, open green space in Central London, despite this, it is not large enough for all pupils doing these sports to use simultaneously the three football pitches and typically one smaller practice pitch becomes one main cricket square and several smaller practice squares for the cricket season. So the school hires and owns other sporting facilities near the school. These include the oldest boating club in the world, an [[astroturf]] ground in Battersea, and the Queen Mother Sports Centre, home to a variety of sports. "Green" (Dean's Yard) is also used, and the three Eton Fives courts in Ashburnham Garden, the garden behind Ashburnham House.

Westminster played in the [[first school cricket match]] against [[Charterhouse School]] in 1794<ref name=West>[https://homepages.westminster.org.uk/cricketarchive/webpage/temp/The%20Earliest%20School%20Match.htm The Earliest School Match] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040125012748/http://homepages.westminster.org.uk/cricketarchive/webpage/temp/The%20Earliest%20School%20Match.htm |date=25 January 2004}}</ref> and from 1796 played cricket against Eton.<ref name=CA>{{Cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/314/314336.html |title=Eton College v Westminster 1796 |publisher=Cricket Archive |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
{{wikisource |Description of the Rules of Football as played at Westminster School (1849-1855)}}
Westminster has a historic joint claim to a major role in developing Association Football.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Football – The Global Growth |url=https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/game/historygame4.html |publisher=FIFA |access-date=30 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904091017/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/game/historygame4.html |url-status=dead|archive-date=4 September 2011 }}</ref> During the 1840s at both Westminster and [[Charterhouse School|Charterhouse]], pupils' surroundings meant they were confined to playing their football in the [[cloisters]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/press/news/news/2006/june/world-cup-kicked-off-in-the-cloisters |title=World Cup kicked off in the Cloisters |publisher=Westminster Abbey |date=1 June 2006 |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref> making the rough and tumble of the handling game that was developing at other schools such as [[Rugby School|Rugby]] impossible, and necessitating a new code of rules. On 24 November 1858,<ref>{{citation |title=''[[Bell's Life in London|Bell's Life]]'' |date=12 December 1858}}</ref> Westminster played [[Dingley Dell F.C.|Dingley Dell]] at [[Vincent Square]] in the earliest known football fixture in the London area (Dingley Dell was the most active non-school team in the London area in the five years before [[the Football Association]] was established in 1863).<ref name="Curry1">{{Cite journal |last=Curry |first=Graham |date=3 April 2019 |title=Football in the capital: a local study with national consequences |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2017.1355790 |journal=Soccer & Society |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=512–527 |doi=10.1080/14660970.2017.1355790 |s2cid=148890249 |issn=1466-0970}}</ref> During the formulation of the rules of Association Football in the 1860s, representatives of Westminster School and Charterhouse also pushed for a passing game, in particular rules that allowed forward passing ("passing on"). Other schools (in particular [[Eton College]], [[Harrow School|Harrow]], and [[Shrewsbury School]]) favoured a dribbling game with a tight off-side rule. By 1867 [[the Football Association]] had chosen in favour of the Westminster and Charterhouse game and adopted an off-side rule that permitted forward passing.<ref>Morris Marples, ''A History of Football'', Secker and Warburg, London 1954, p. 50.</ref><ref>[https://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/developing/news/newsid=71590.html FIFA.com – Football Rules are brilliant!] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090405132302/http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/developing/news/newsid%3D71590.html |date=5 April 2009}}</ref> The modern forward-passing game was a direct consequence of Westminster and Charterhouse football.

==Houses==
[[File:Westminster school grants view.jpg|thumb|Rigaud's House (far right), Grant's House (right), residence of the Master of the King's Scholars (centre), College (far left, top floors) and the Houses of Wren's and Dryden's (far left, ground floor)]]

The school is split into 11 [[House System|houses]], some of which are day houses (only admitting day pupils, who go home after school), the others being boarding houses with a mix of boarders and day pupils. College is the exception to this — all [[King's Scholar (Westminster School)|King's Scholars]] must board. Each house has a Housemaster, a teacher who is responsible for the house, the pupils in it and their welfare, and a ''Head of House'', a pupil in the Remove, nominated by the Housemaster. The role of the Head of House largely consists of assisting the Housemaster in organising activities such as house competitions, for which the Head of House might draw up teams. Further to these positions, each day house has an Assistant Housemaster, and each boarding house has a Resident Tutor. The houses are named after people connected to the house or school in various ways – mainly prominent Old Westminsters, but also former Head Masters and Housemasters. Grant's is the oldest house for pupils other than scholars, not only of Westminster but of any public school.

Houses are a focus for pastoral care and social and sporting activities, as well as accommodation for boarders. All day houses are mixed-sex, and all houses admit girls; RR is the only boarding house not to admit girls as boarders (up until 2020) and PP does not admit boys as boarders.<ref>[http://www.westminster.org.uk/entrylevels/girls.asp Westminster School |Entry Levels |Entry at 7/8] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606075807/http://www.westminster.org.uk/entrylevels/girls.asp |date=6 June 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Grant's t-shirt.jpg|thumb|At inter-house sporting events, pupils wear house T-shirts, which are in house colours and feature the name of the house (except the College T-shirt which has no text).]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2"|House
! rowspan="2"|Abbr.
! rowspan="2"|Founded
! rowspan="2"|Named after
! rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Colours
! colspan="2"|Pupils
|-
! Boarding !! Day
|-
| College || CC || 1560 || n/a
| style="background:#050;"| || Dark green
| Mixed<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/PatrickDerham/status/908621585984212994 |title=A great moment in the history of @wschool. The induction of the Queen's Scholars including the first four girls.pic.twitter.com/LaixNZ7EIu |last=Derham |first=Patrick |date=15 September 2017 |website=@PatrickDerham |language=en |access-date=13 January 2018}}</ref> || None
|-
| Grant's || GG || 1750 || The "mothers" Grant – landladies who owned the property and put up boys in the days before boarding existed, when the School only accommodated Scholars; the oldest house in any of the Public Schools.
| style="background:#add; color:#a52222;"| ■ || Maroon on light blue
| Mixed || Mixed
|-
| Rigaud's || RR || pre-1896 (rebuilt) || [[Stephen Jordan Rigaud]] – former schoolmaster
| style="background:#ff7f00; color:#000;"| ■ || Black on orange (Tie uses orange on black)
| Mixed || Mixed
|-
| Busby's || BB || 1925 || [[Richard Busby]] – former headmaster
| style="background:#a03; color:#30a;"| ■ || Dark blue on maroon
| Mixed || Mixed
|-
| Liddell's || LL || 1956 || [[Henry Liddell]] – former headmaster
| style="background:#ff0; color:#00f;"| ■ || Blue on yellow (ties are yellow on black or yellow and silver on black)
| Mixed || Mixed
|-
| Purcell's{{efn|Formerly Barton Street, and originally a part of Dryden's}} || PP || 1981 || [[Henry Purcell]] – former organist of Westminster Abbey
| style="background:#90c; color:#fff;"| ■ || White on purple
| Girls || Boys
|-
| Ashburnham || AHH || 1881 || The [[Earl of Ashburnham|Earls of Ashburnham]] whose London house is now part of the School
| style="background:#006; color:#0ff;"| ■ || Light blue on dark blue
| rowspan="5"|None || rowspan="5"|Mixed
|-
| Wren's || WW || 1948 || [[Christopher Wren]]
| style="background:#000; color:#f6e;"| ■ || Pink on black (Blue and Maroon used on ties)
|-
| Dryden's || DD || 1976 || [[John Dryden]]
| style="background:#f22; color:#ddd;"| ■ || Silver on red (Tie uses separated silver and red stripes on dark blue)
|-
| Hakluyt's || HH || 1987 || [[Richard Hakluyt]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://homepages.westminster.org.uk/hakluyts/about.htm |title=Hakluyt's Online &#124; About Hakluyt's |publisher=Homepages.westminster.org.uk |access-date=30 August 2011 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002215641/https://homepages.westminster.org.uk/hakluyts/about.htm |archive-date=2 October 2011 }}</ref>
| style="background:#000ee0; color:#ff0;"| ■ || Yellow on blue
|-
| Milne's || MM || 1997 || [[A. A. Milne]]
| style="background:#f22; color:#ff0;"| ■ || Black on orange (Tie uses Red and Yellow)
|}

All King's Scholars, both boys and girls, are required to board in College (unless under exceptional circumstances). Wren's was formerly known as ''Homeboarders'' and Dryden's as ''Dale's''. Before it was rebuilt, Rigaud's was known as ''Clapham's'' and ''Best's''.

==Staff==
===Head masters===
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*Since 2020 Gary Savage
*2014–2020 [[Patrick Derham]]
*2005–2014 [[Stephen Spurr]]
*1998–2005 [[Tristram Jones-Parry]]
*1986–1998 David Summerscale
*1970–1986 [[John Rae (educator)|John Malcolm Rae]]
*1957–1970 John Dudley Carleton
*1950–1957 [[Walter Hamilton (Master of Magdalene College)|Walter Hamilton]]
*1937–1950 [[John Traill Christie]]
*1919–1936 [[Harold Costley-White]]
*1901–1919 [[James Gow (scholar)|James Gow]]
*1883–1901 [[William Gunion Rutherford]]
*1855–1883 Charles Broderick Scott
*1846–1855 [[Henry Liddell|Henry George Liddell]]
*1828–1846 Richard Williamson
*1819–1828 [[Edmund Goodenough]]
*1815–1819 William Page
*1803–1814 [[William Carey (bishop)|William Carey]]
*1802 John Wingfield
*1788–1802 [[William Vincent (priest)|William Vincent]]
*1764–1788 [[Samuel Smith (schoolmaster)|Samuel Smith]]
*1764 [[John Hinchliffe]]
*1753–1764 [[William Markham (bishop)|William Markham]]
*1733–1753 John Nicoll
*1711–1733 [[Robert Freind]]
*1695–1711 Thomas Knipe
*1639–1695 [[Richard Busby]]
*1621–1639 [[Lambert Osbaldeston]] (''jointly with Wilson until 1626'')
*1610–1626 [[John Wilson (Dean of Ripon)|John Wilson]]
*1598–1610 Richard Ireland
*1593–1597 [[William Camden]]
*1572–1592 [[Edward Grant (headmaster)|Edward Grant]]
*1570–1572 Francis Howlyn
*1564–1570 Thomas Browne
*1563 John Randall
*1562 Robert Rolle
*1557 John Passey
*1555–1556 [[Nicholas Udall]]
*1543–1555 [[Alexander Nowell]]
*1540 John Adams
}}

===Other notable staff===
<!-- Only with Wikipedia entries -->
*[[Nick Bevan]] (rowing coach, later headmaster of [[Shiplake College]])
*[[John Sargeaunt]] (English Master)
*[[David Riches (rower)|David Riches]] (rowing coach, history teacher)
*[[Keerthi Ranasinghe]] (cricket coach)
*[[Annie Hemingway]] (drama teacher)

==Controversies==

=== Fee fixing ===
Between 2001 and 2004, the school was one of fifty [[independent schools]] involved in the [[independent school fee fixing scandal]] in the United Kingdom. It was subsequently found guilty of operating a fee-fixing cartel by the [[Office of Fair Trading]]. The commission argued that until 2000, the practice had been legal and that the commission had not been aware of the change in the law.<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4420822.stm |title=Private schools fee-fixing ruling |work= BBC News |date=9 November 2005}}</ref>

=== Rape culture and racism ===
Two independent reviews were commissioned after national campaigns from [[Everyone's Invited]] and [[Black Lives Matter]] unearthed evidence of rape culture and racism at Westminster School.<ref name=bbc20220314>{{Cite news |date=14 March 2022 |title=Everyone's Invited: Westminster School apologises after sexual harassment claims |work=BBC News |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-60733528 |access-date=5 September 2022}}</ref> In March 2022, the school issued a "sincere and unreserved" apology for harm caused by racism, sexual harassment and other harmful sexual behaviour.<ref name=bbc20220314 /><ref>{{Cite news |first=Nicola |last=Woolcock |title=Westminster headmaster apologises after abuse and race reviews |work=[[The Times]] |location= London |url= https://www.thetimes.com/article/westminster-headmaster-apologises-after-abuse-and-race-reviews-xhsf2nh8d |date=12 March 2022 |access-date=5 September 2022 }}</ref>

==== Review into harmful sexual behaviours ====
In March 2021, alumni compiled a "dossier of rape culture" at the school.<ref name=metro20210321>{{Cite news |last=King |first=Jordan |date=21 March 2021 |title=Ex-pupils compile dossier of 'rape culture' at £40,000-a-year private school |url= https://metro.co.uk/2021/03/21/westminster-school-ex-pupils-compile-dossier-of-rape-culture-14277801/ |access-date=5 September 2022 |work=Metro |location= London}}</ref> A 21-page document included 76 entries on "everyday life" for female pupils and included claims of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment.<ref>{{Cite news |first1=Ben |last1=Ellery |first2=Katy |last2=Amos |first3=Nicola |last3=Woolcock |title=Former pupils compile dossier of 'rape culture' at Westminster School |url= https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/former-pupils-compile-dossier-of-rape-culture-at-westminster-school-rxp68p593 |date=20 March 2021 |access-date=5 September 2022 |work=[[The Times]] |location= London}}</ref> Allegations were levelled at both students and teachers.<ref name=metro20210321 /><ref>{{Cite news |last2=Watts |first1=Arthi |last1=Nachiappan |first2=Ryan |title=Students accuse 'groping' teachers in school sex abuse scandal |work=[[The Times]] |date=5 April 2021 |location= London |url= https://www.thetimes.com/article/students-accuse-groping-teachers-in-school-sex-abuse-scandal-wbdpbtjzl |access-date=5 September 2022 }}</ref>

In March 2022, a review into harmful sexual behaviour at the school was headed by Fiona Scolding QC. The review considered 44 Westminster-related posts submitted to [[Everyone's Invited]] alongside other evidence. The review found that 25% of pupils and 65% of girls surveyed said they experienced physical or verbal harmful sexual behaviours, sexual discrimination, and unwanted sharing of images.<ref name=bbc20220314 /> There was also "a strong sense from pupil interviewees of a social hierarchy within the school where some male pupils' status was dictated by familial wealth, academic success and charisma."<ref name=bbc20220314 /> Submissions to [[Everyone's Invited]] also recalled the ''Westminster Tree'' website that mapped sexual contact between students.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Prichard |first=Evie |title=What I went through as a pupil at Westminster School |work=[[The Times]] |location= London |url= https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/what-i-went-through-as-a-pupil-at-westminster-school-l9tdc5fh9 |date=31 March 2021 |access-date=5 September 2022 }}</ref>

A total of 44 recommendations included an overhaul of the school's relationships and sex education curriculum, "active bystander" training, and a greater emphasis on building healthy relationships. The report also recommended training for housemasters, matrons, and tutors on managing pastoral issues including mental health. Other recommendations include a behavioural code of conduct for students informed by the student body.<ref name=bbc20220314 />

==== Racism and race review ====
In 2020, more than 250 alumni signed a letter lobbying the school to combat the "toxic culture of racism within the student body." Signatories complained that Westminster did not include any black authors in their curriculum and overlooked Britain's role in the slave trade.<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 June 2020 |title=Top public school accused of 'toxic culture of racism' among pupils |url= http://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jun/14/top-public-school-accused-of-toxic-culture-of-racism-among-pupils |access-date=5 September 2022 |work=The Guardian |location= London}}</ref>

In March 2022, Challenge Consultancy published a Race Review of Westminster School that found "continued denial of the racism and the invisibility of the issue".<ref name=bbc20220314 /> Challenge Consultancy was commissioned by Westminster School to facilitate understanding of how staff and pupils perceive the culture around race, ethnicity and cultural diversity and consider how it can better engage with these issues in the future. The review's authors were led by Femi Otitoju who found evidence that international pupils including British Asian, British Black, Chinese and Jewish pupils "recounted a lack of sensitivity and delays in responding to emotions they experienced when calling out unacceptable behaviour".<ref name=bbc20220314 /> 25 recommendations included the recruitment of "diverse teaching staff," a publicised racial harassment policy, and an increased offer of counselling for victims.<ref name=bbc20220314 />

==Old Westminsters==
{{See also|List of people educated at Westminster School}}

About 900 people educated at Westminster School are in the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]''. Former pupils are known at the school as "Old Westminsters" and include the following:
*[[Richard Hakluyt]] (1553–1616), writer<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |author=Gerald Roe Crone |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/252157/Richard-Hakluyt |title=Richard Hakluyt (British geographer) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[Thomas Braddock (Anglican priest)|Thomas Braddock]] (1556–1607), clergyman and translator<ref name=DNB>Stephen Wright, "Bradock, Thomas (1555/6–1607)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3193, accessed 23 June 2017]</ref>
*[[Ben Jonson]] (1573–1637), poet and dramatist<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/306058/Ben-Jonson |title=Ben Jonson (English writer) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[Arthur Dee]] (1579–1651), alchemist and royal physician
*[[George Herbert]] (1593–1633), public orator and poet<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/262706/George-Herbert |title=George Herbert (British poet) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[John Dryden]] (1631–1700), poet and playwright<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/172371/John-Dryden |title=John Dryden (British author) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[John Locke]] (1632–1704), philosopher<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/345753/John-Locke |title=John Locke (English philosopher)|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[Christopher Wren|Sir Christopher Wren]] (1632–1723), architect and scientist, co-founder of the [[Royal Society]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wren_christopher.shtml |title=History – Historic Figures: Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723) |publisher=BBC |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref>
*[[Robert Hooke]] (1635–1703), scientist<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.roberthooke.org.uk/chronolo.htm |title=Chronology of Robert Hooke |publisher=Roberthooke.org.uk |access-date=30 August 2011 |archive-date=14 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414134458/http://www.roberthooke.org.uk/chronolo.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Henry Purcell]] (1659–1695), composer
*[[Joseph Thurston (poet)|Joseph Thurston]] (1704–1732), poet admired by [[Alexander Pope]]<ref>[https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-70938#odnb-9780198614128-e-70938-div1-d584298e173 ODNB. Retrieved 16 June 2020.]</ref>
*[[Charles Wesley]] (1707–1788), [[Methodist]] preacher and writer of over 6,000 hymns<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/639939/Charles-Wesley |title=Charles Wesley (English clergyman)|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[Sir Charles Asgill, 1st Baronet]] (1714–1788), banker and [[Lord Mayor of London]] (1757–1758)
*[[Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel]] (1725–1786), First Lord of the Admiralty
*[[Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton]] (1735–1811), Prime Minister
*[[Edward Gibbon]] (1737–1794), historian<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/233161/Edward-Gibbon |title=Edward Gibbon (British historian) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[Charles O'Hara]] (1740 – 25 February 1802), British military officer in the Seven Years' War, [[American War of Independence]], and French Revolutionary War, later Governor of [[Gibraltar]]
*[[Charles Cotesworth Pinckney]] (1746–1825), ADC to [[George Washington|Washington]] 1777, defeated by [[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]] in 1804 in contest for [[President of the United States of America|Presidency]]
*[[Jeremy Bentham]] (1748–1832), lawyer, eccentric and philosopher<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61103/Jeremy-Bentham |title=Jeremy Bentham (British philosopher and economist)|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[Thomas Pinckney]] (1750–1828), American soldier, politician, and diplomat
*[[Sir Charles Asgill, 2nd Baronet]] (1762–1823), British soldier and principal in the [[Asgill Affair]]
*[[Robert Southey]] (1774–1843), poet, historian and biographer<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/556936/Robert-Southey |title=Robert Southey (English author)|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[Matthew Lewis (writer)|Matthew Lewis]] (1775–1818), novelist and dramatist<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/338188/Matthew-Gregory-Lewis |title=Matthew Gregory Lewis (English writer) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan]] (1788–1855), lost his right arm at [[Waterloo, Belgium|Waterloo]], C-in-C in the [[Crimean War|Crimea]] who is honoured with a statue in Dean's Yard
*Rev [[George Augustus Middleton]] (c. 1791 - 1848), colonial chaplain of [[New South Wales]], Australia, and the first north of the [[Hawkesbury River]]
*[[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell]] (1792–1878), Prime Minister
*[[Augustus Short]] (11 June 1802 – 5 October 1883), the first [[Anglican]] bishop of [[Adelaide]], South Australia
* [[Harry Robert Kempe]] (1852–1935), electrical engineer, author and editor.<ref name="odnb">{{cite ODNB |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/37630|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/37630 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |year=2004 }}</ref>
*[[A. A. Milne]] (1882–1956, QS), author and journalist<ref>{{acad |id=MLN900AA |name=Milne, Alan Alexander}}</ref>
*[[Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos]] (1893–1972), Cabinet [[Political minister|Minister]] during [[World War II]], chairman of the [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre Board]]
*[[Hossein Ala']] (1882–1964), former Prime Minister of Iran
*[[Adrian Boult|Sir Adrian Boult]] (1889–1983), conductor
*[[Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian]] (1889–1977) Nobel prize winner
*[[C. W. A. Scott|Charles William Anderson Scott]] (1903–1946), pioneer aviator
*[[John Gielgud|Sir John Gielgud]] (1904–2000, GG), actor and director<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/233344/Sir-John-Gielgud |title=Sir John Gielgud (British actor and director) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[Charles Harvard Gibbs-Smith]] (1909–1981), historian<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/chambbd/gibbs_smith_charles_harvard |title=Chambers Biographical Dictionary |year=2007 |publisher=Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd |access-date=26 May 2011}} Hosted by Credo Reference.</ref>
*[[Kim Philby]] (1912–1988), high-ranking member of [[British intelligence]], one of the [[Cambridge Five]] and [[NKVD]]/[[KGB]] [[double agent]]
*[[Norman Parkinson|Sir Norman Parkinson]] (1913–1990), portrait and fashion photographer
*[[Richard Stone]] (1913–1991), winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1111/1468-0297.00511 |volume=110 |title=Life and Work of John Richard Nicholas Stone 1913-1991 |year=2000 |journal=The Economic Journal |pages=146–165 |last1=Pesaran |first1=M. H.|issue=461 }}</ref>
*[[Roger Kidner]] (1914–2007), publisher and railway photographer<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 October 2007 |title=Obituary: RW Kidner |url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/oct/06/obituaries.guardianobituaries |access-date=1 December 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Andrew Huxley|Sir Andrew Huxley]] (1917–2012), Nobel prizewinning physiologist
*[[Peter Ustinov|Sir Peter Ustinov]] (1921–2004), actor, writer, director and raconteur<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620440/Sir-Peter-Ustinov |title=Sir Peter Ustinov (British actor, author, and director)|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[John Cole (photographer)|John Cole]] (1923–1995), fashion photographer
*[[Tony Benn]] (1925–2014), politician<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1209497.stm |work= BBC News |title=Tony Benn: End of an era |date=10 March 2001 |access-date=6 April 2010}}</ref>
*[[Peter Brook]] (1925–2022, LL 1937–1938), theatre director
*[[Nigel Lawson]] (1932–2023, WW 1945–1950), former Chancellor of the Exchequer, father of [[Nigella Lawson]]
*[[Simon Gray]] (1936–2008, WW 1949–1954), playwright and diarist<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/242639/Simon-Gray |title=Simon Gray (British dramatist) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[Jonathan Fenby]] (born 1942, LL 1956–1960), journalist, author and former Editor of ''[[The Observer]]'' and ''[[South China Morning Post]]''
*[[Martyn Poliakoff|Sir Martyn Poliakoff]] (born 1947) Professor of Chemistry and narrator of ''[[The Periodic Table of Videos]]''<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CK4WHElb4Q | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/4CK4WHElb4Q| archive-date=7 November 2021 | url-status=live|title=In the footsteps of Tizard – Periodic Table of Videos |work=The Periodic Table of Videos | date=13 March 2013|publisher=[[University of Nottingham|The University of Nottingham]] |access-date=28 May 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
*[[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] (born 1948, QS 1960–1965), composer and producer<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/5760400/Shining-a-light-on-the-magic-of-the-coronation-in-Westminster-Abbey.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/5760400/Shining-a-light-on-the-magic-of-the-coronation-in-Westminster-Abbey.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |title=Shining a light on the magic of the coronation in Westminster Abbey |first=Charles |last=Moore |date=6 July 2009 |access-date=6 April 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
*[[Stephen Poliakoff]] (born 1952, WW 1966–1970), director, playwright and television dramatist<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/nov/28/stephen-poliakoff-interview-nicholas-wroe |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=A life in drama: Stephen Poliakoff |date=28 November 2009 |access-date=6 April 2010 |first=Nicholas |last=Wroe}}</ref>
*[[Chris Huhne]] (born 1954), disgraced Liberal Democrat politician
*[[Dominic Grieve]] (born 1956), former attorney-general and pro-European politician
*[[Jon Crowcroft]] (born 1957), Professor at the University of Cambridge
*[[Shane MacGowan]] (1957-2023, AHH 1972–1973), musician
*[[Adam Boulton]] (born 1959), journalist, broadcaster and author
*[[Andrew Graham-Dixon]] (born 1960), art critic and writer
*[[Edward St Aubyn]] (born 1960), author and journalist<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jan/08/fiction.edwardstaubyn |title=Interview: Edward St Aubyn |last=Cooke |first=Rachel |date=8 January 2006 |website=the Guardian |language=en |access-date=16 May 2018}}</ref>
*[[Timothy Winter]] (born 1960), Shaykh Zayed Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University
*[[David Heyman]] (born 1961), film producer<ref>{{Cite news |author=Interview by Michael White – 16 July 2009 00:00 EDT |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aMu4Nu.caxAM |title='Harry Potter' Producer Ignored First Rowling Book: Interview |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |date=16 July 2009 |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thehour.com/story/471973 |title=Making Harry Potter magic – Norwalk News – The Hour – Norwalk's Newspaper |publisher=The Hour |access-date=30 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930062542/http://www.thehour.com/story/471973 |archive-date=30 September 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/movies/bal-ae.mo.potter17jul17,0,3585263.story |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719082814/http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/movies/bal-ae.mo.potter17jul17,0,3585263.story |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 July 2012 |title=His Wizard Connection |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=17 July 2011 |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref>
*[[Alex Beard (arts manager)|Alexander Beard]] (born 1963), arts administrator
*[[Matt Frei]] (born 1963, RR 1978–1981), broadcaster<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/matt-frei-aiming-for-the-white-house-834276.html |work=The Independent |location=London |title=Matt Frei: Aiming for the White House |date=26 May 2008 |access-date=6 April 2010}}</ref>
*[[Ian Bostridge]] (born 1964), classical tenor
*[[Gavin Rossdale]] (born 1965), musician, songwriter, and lead singer with rock band Bush
*[[Michael Sherwood (banker)|Michael Sherwood]] (born 1965), banker
*[[Lucasta Miller]] (born 1966), writer and critic
*[[Helena Bonham Carter]] (born 1966, LL 1982–1984), actress<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800018966/bio |title=Helena Bonham Carter Biography – Yahoo! Movies |publisher=Yahoo! |access-date=30 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628201600/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800018966/bio |archive-date=28 June 2011 }}</ref>
*[[Jason Kouchak]] (born 1967), pianist and composer
*[[Noreena Hertz]] (born 1967, CC 1983–85), economist and campaigner
*[[Nick Clegg]] (born 1967, LL), Liberal Democrat leader, MP for Sheffield Hallam, former Deputy Prime Minister<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article4748815.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517001146/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article4748815.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 May 2009 |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |title=Nick Clegg may send sons to private school |date=14 September 2008 |access-date=6 April 2010 |first=Jonathan |last=Oliver}}</ref>
*[[James Robbins (journalist)|James Robbins]] (1968–1972, GG), broadcaster
*[[Ruth Kelly]] (born 1968, DD 1984–86), cabinet minister<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6241685.stm |work= BBC News |title= Profile: Ruth Kelly |date=24 September 2008|access-date=6 April 2010}}</ref>
*[[Afshin Rattansi]] (RR 1981–83), journalist
*[[Marcel Theroux]] (born 1968), novelist and broadcaster<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/marcel-theroux--more-than-just-a-family-affair-665759.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519012336/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/marcel-theroux--more-than-just-a-family-affair-665759.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 May 2009 |work=The Independent |location=London |title=Marcel Theroux – More than just a family affair |date=16 August 2001 |access-date=6 April 2010}}</ref>
*[[Joe Cornish (filmmaker)|Joe Cornish]] (born 1968), broadcaster, director and screenwriter
*[[Adam Buxton]] (born 1969), comedian
*[[Giles Coren]] (born 1969, RR 1982–1988), journalist
*[[Lucy Walker (director)|Lucy Walker]] (born 1970), documentary film-maker<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.westminster.org.uk/about/our-history/notable-oww/|title = Notable OWW}}</ref>
*[[Louis Theroux]] (born 1970), broadcaster
*[[Jonathan Yeo]] (born 1970), artist
*[[Dido (singer)|Dido Armstrong]] (born 1971, WW, 1987–1989), British musician under the name "Dido"
*[[Polly Arnold]] (born 1972) Director of the Chemical Sciences Division at the [[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]]
*[[Martha Lane Fox]] (born 1973), head of Digital Public Services<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/664210.stm |work= BBC News |title=Martha my very dear |date=2 March 2000 |access-date=6 April 2010}}</ref>
*[[James Reynolds (journalist)|James Reynolds]] (born 1974), BBC News presenter
*[[Conrad Shawcross]] (born 1977), artist
*[[Pinny Grylls]] (born 1978, HH 1994–1996), documentary film-maker
*[[Benjamin Yeoh]] (born 1978), playwright
*[[Christian Coulson]] (born 1978), [[Harry Potter]] actor
*[[Simon Ambrose]] (born 1979), Chairman of the [[London Contemporary Orchestra]]
*[[Alexander Shelley]] (born 1979), conductor
*[[Anna Stothard]] (born 1983), novelist
*[[Michael Penniman]] (born 1983), musician under the name "Mika"
*[[Jack Farthing]] (born 1985), actor
*[[Grace Chatto]] (born 1985), cellist in the band [[Clean Bandit]]
*[[Alfred Enoch]] (born 1988), [[Harry Potter]] actor
*[[Alexander Guttenplan]] (born 1990), captain of winning [[University Challenge]] team 2010
*[[Jack Aitken]] (born 1995),  racing driver
*[[Blondey McCoy]] (born 1997), artist and model
[[File:Westminster School Monument.jpg|thumb|upright| A monument to commemorate former pupils who died in the [[Crimean War]], situated in the Sanctuary, next to the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey]]

===Victoria Cross holders===
Six pupils of Westminster have been awarded the [[Victoria Cross]]:
*[[Edmund Henry Lenon]] (1830–1893, at Westminster June 1851 – 1855)
*[[William George Hawtry Bankes]] (1836–1858) (at Westminster April 1850 – 1856)
*Sir [[Nevill Maskelyne Smyth]] (1868–1941, at Westminster June 1882 – 1885). He served in the [[First World War]]
*[[Arthur Martin-Leake]] (1874–1953; at Westminster June 1888 – 1891), one of only three to receive twice<ref>Westminster School Development Office, (2005), ''The Elizabethan Newsletter 2004/2005'', page 4, (Westminster School)</ref>
*[[William Hew Clark-Kennedy]] (1879–1961, at Westminster June 1893 – 1896)
*[[Richard Wakeford]] (1921–1972, at Westminster June 1934 – 1940)

==See also==
*[[List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom]]
*[[List of the oldest schools in the world]]
*[[Old Westminsters F.C.]]
*[[Schools' Head of the River Race]]
*[[The Old Boys' Network]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*{{Cite book |title=The Old Boy's Network |publisher=Short Books |year=2009|author= John Rae}}
*{{Cite book |title=A Guide to the Literature of Westminster Abbey, Westminster School and St. Margaret's Church 1571–2000 |publisher=Boydell Press |year=2005 |author=Tony Trowles}}
*{{Cite book |title=Delusions of Grandeur: A Headmaster's Life |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1994|author=John Rae |author-link=John Rae (educator)}}
*{{Cite book |title=The Nonsense Club: Literature and Popular Culture, 1749–1764 |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-19-812859-5 |location=Oxford |author=Lance Bertelsen |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nonsenseclublite0000bert}}
*{{Cite book |title=The King's Nurseries: The Story of Westminster School |publisher=James & James |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-907383-01-7 |author=John Field|edition=2nd }}
*{{Cite book |title=Westminster School: A History |publisher=R. Hart-Davis |year=1965 |author=John Dudley Carleton|edition=revised }}
*{{Cite book |title=Westminster School: A History |publisher=Country Life |year=1934 |author=Lawrence Edward Tanner}}
*{{Cite book |title=Handbooks to the Great Public Schools: Westminster |publisher=George Bell & Sons |year=1902 |author=Reginald Airy}}
*{{Cite book |title=Annals of Westminster School |url=https://archive.org/details/annalswestminst03sarggoog |publisher=Methuen |year=1898 |author=John Sargeaunt}}
*{{Cite book |title=Westminster School: Past and Present |url=https://archive.org/details/westminsterschoo00fors |publisher=Wyman & Sons |year=1884 |author=Frederic Forshall}}
*[http://intranet.westminster.org.uk/almanack/index.asp ''Westminster School Almanack'']
{{div col end}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Westminster School}}
*{{Official website|https://www.westminster.org.uk/}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Schools and colleges in Westminster}}
{{Public schools in England}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Westminster School| ]]
[[Category:1170s establishments in England]]
[[Category:Boarding schools in London]]
[[Category:Church of England private schools in the Diocese of London]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in the 12th century]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Private boys' schools in London]]
[[Category:Private co-educational schools in London]]
[[Category:Private schools in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference]]
[[Category:Schools cricket]]
[[Category:Westminster Abbey]]