Winchester College is a well-known boys' school. It is an example of a British public school. The school is located in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, England. Its official name is Collegium Sanctae Mariae prope Wintoniam (or Collegium Beatae Mariae Wintoniensis prope Winton), or St Mary's College near Winchester. The school is commonly just called "Winchester". Winchester has existed for over six hundred years. It has the longest unbroken history of any school in England. It is the oldest of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. 37% of students go to Cambridge or Oxford.^[1]

Winchester College was founded in 1382 by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor to Richard II. The first seventy students entered the school in 1394. It was founded with New College, Oxford. Winchester was built to get students ready to attend New College. This was the model for Eton College and King's College, Cambridge 50 years later and for Westminster School, Christ Church, Oxford and Trinity College, Cambridge in Tudor times.

The headmaster is currently Dr Timothy Hands, formerly of Magdalen College School

• Winchester College website Archived 2007-04-17 at the Wayback Machine
• http://www.astoft.co.uk/winchestercollege Pages on the architecture of the college

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