The school is named after Wetherby Place, in turn named after a West Yorkshire town, Wetherby, and should not be confused with Wetherby High School, a local secondary school.
Wetherby School was founded in 1951 as a pre-preparatory school for boys aged 4–8. In 2004 it opened a preparatory department (known as Wetherby Prep, and intended to be a separate school) in a nearby building, allowing boys to stay on until the age of 13. The prep school has since moved to its current location in Marylebone.
The school's original building, in 1951, was in Wetherby Place in South Kensington (hence the name, Wetherby School) but in 1971 it moved to its present building in Pembridge Square, on the other side of Kensington Gardens. The school building is a white stucco double fronted Victorian house in the Italianate style typical of Notting Hill and Holland Park architecture, constructed in about 1850. It is on the south side of Pembridge Square, a private garden square with keyholder-only access which the boys use as their playground.
In 2020 the school was recognized as one of the world's 100 leading schools by The Schools Index.[1]
In 2004, Wetherby expanded to open a prep division for boys aged 7 to 13, sited in Bryanston Square, London. In September 2012, Wetherby Prep was awarded 'Prep School of the Year' at the annual Tatler School Awards at the Dorchester Hotel.[2]
Due to popular demand, Wetherby Senior School for boys aged 11 to 18 opened for its first intake in September 2015.[3][4] It is located at the former premises of DLD College London on Marylebone Lane, a ten-minute walk away from the prep school.
Wetherby School Kensington is the most recent school to join the Wetherby family, with their doors opening in September 2017. Wetherby School Kensington is situated on Wetherby Gardens in Kensington, which is the same street that the original Wetherby School was based back in 1951, and takes boys from Reception – Year 3 (4–8 years old).
Alumni
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.(October 2024)