The
Chronicle previously reported on the decision of Winchester College to admit girls and the headmaster has told
The Times it has been considered since the final years of the reign of Queen Victoria. Tim Hands said the school had been discussing the issue for more than 100 years, since 1899. He told the newspaper: “It took 122 years, notably speedy in our terms. “I don’t mind what your background is, I want to know what you’ve done with your personality and your opportunities. The school has produced lots of leaders in the past. We are going to produce, we hope, leaders of the future and they will be both men and women.
Old Wykehamists: Who has attended the historic private school?
The £42,000-a-year Hampshire school is the alma mater of six chancellors: Henry Addington, Robert Lowe, Stafford Cripps, Hugh Gaitskell, Geoffrey Howe and Rishi Sunak.
Other senior government figures include former culture secretary John Whittingdale and former Tory minister Nick Boles.
In the world of film and TV, its alumni include Joss Whedon, the director behind the Avengers movie and the Buffy the Vampire TV series, as well as actors Hugh Dancy and Charles Edwards.
The school also taught several successful athletes including Olympic rower George Nash MBE, India s cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and George Mallory, the pioneering Everest mountaineer.