St Swithun's was founded as "Winchester High School" by Miss Anna Bramston, daughter of John Bramston, the then Dean of Winchester, with the ambition of educating "daughters of worthy citizens of Winchester."[1] Not having sufficient money of her own, funds were raised by subscription. The school opened on 5 May 1884 with seventeen pupils. Pupil numbers soon grew and the school began taking in boarders as well.
In 1909, the school rented ten acres on Magdalen Hill for sports. The school's name was changed to Winchester Girls' School and then, after World War I, to St Swithun's School: the recorded virtues of this saint – Caritas, Humilitas, Sinceritas – were adopted as the school's motto in 1928.[1]
St Swithun's moved to its present location on Magdalen Hill Down on the edge of Winchester in 1931. Princess Mary the Princess Royal opened the new buildings formally in 1932, but the outbreak of World War II saw the school turned into a hospital and by 1942 St Swithun's became an American casualty clearing station. The school celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1959 with the Duke of Gloucester as a special guest.[2]
Today, St Swithun's includes both junior and senior schools, meaning pupils can attend from nursery all the way to sixth form level. Boys may attend Nursery.[3] A new junior school building was opened in September 2015 with a further sports hall that opened in Easter 2016.[4]
St Swithun's retains a strong Anglican tradition through its links with Winchester Cathedral. It holds five services there every year and the girls' choir sings at the cathedral.[5]
Curriculum
St Swithun's has traditionally had a strong academic reputation. In 2011 GCSEs, it topped the results table for the city of Winchester with a 100% passing rate and all candidates achieving at least 5 A*-C grades, surpassing Winchester College.[6] The same year, it broke its records in the A Levels with 11 girls scoring 3 or more A* grades.[7] Since the year 2000 the school has had 100% pass rate in both GCSEs and A-Levels.
In 2023, the school achieved an 80% pass rate with grades 9–7 in GCSEs and a 61% rate for A*/A grades at A-levels, with 86 percent earning A*-B grades.[8]
Each girl belongs to a house. Girls are assigned to either a boarding or day house except for those in Upper Sixth (Year 13), who belong to a single house. The house system is an integral part of school life as there are inter-house competitions in many co-curricular activities such as sports, public speaking and drama.
Sports facilities include 9 lacrosse pitches, 13 tennis courts (1 indoors), 6 netball courts, a 25-meter indoor swimming pool and a multi-purpose sports hall. In 2003, the PAC (Performing Arts Centre) – now "The Harvey Hall" – was opened, and it has a large auditorium to sit over 700, and also includes a Studio Theatre, Green Rooms, Box Office and a smaller SPS (Small Performance Space).
In 2021, a new study centre, the Jill Isaac Study Centre, was opened. [12]
Sports
The school was national lacrosse champion in 2008.[13][14][15] Girls are encouraged to take up a sport and may choose from athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket, lacrosse and netball, Zumba, handball, trampolining, touch rugby, tennis, pilates and fitness.[16]
As for many other independent schools, candidates for entry to St Swithun's must sit the Common Entrance Examination. Candidates for academic scholarships are selected based on the results of the Common Entrance examinations (11+ and 13+) and are invited to attend an interview soon after completion of the examination. Sixth form scholarship candidates (16+) are selected based solely on the results of academic assessments in the subjects that they intend to take at A level.
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article and are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(August 2025)
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