"Since I was appointed Master, a key focus has been thinking about “what next?” What purpose and strategy should shape the future of the College to ensure that we develop stronger than ever?"
James Dahl
Wellington College’s foundation was, of course, steeped in purpose: to be a living memorial to the 1st Duke; to serve our nation’s heroes by educating their orphaned children; and to offer a different kind of education to other schools. Our updated purpose of pioneering education to serve and help shape a better world therefore resonates as strongly today as it would have done in 1859.
But how to meet this purpose now? What areas of strategic focus will define the next decade of Wellington’s history?
Educational Excellence is central – it’s why parents and pupils choose Wellington in the first place: brilliant teaching, outstanding facilities & opportunities inside and outside of the classroom, superb care to support pupils on their journey to self in a safe and inclusive, yet challenging and aspirational environment; so they move on, not just with stellar results, but with the skills and character to thrive as adults.
Secondly, our commitment to Social Responsibility burns more brightly than ever, particularly in the post-Covid world: pupils and staff committed to serving others, thinking globally, and living sustainably, people who make their communities and the world a better place through service leadership, rooted in moral purpose. We must also honour the College’s foundation by continuing to broaden access and pursuing generous partnership with others.
Finally, that pioneering spirit of Educational Enterprise – to do things differently, to lead the debate, to be restless and curious – this must be woven through everything we do, from what and how we teach, to our other educational activities, such as the Festival of Education; our Independent/State School Partnerships; our Leadership and Coaching Institute; and our growing family of international schools.
These three complementary and overlapping pillars – Excellence in Education, Social Responsibility, and Educational Enterprise – provide the strategic foundations for our future.
Investing in people
Initiatives to deliver our strategy are already underway. Thanks to parental support, the gates to a Wellington education have opened to 25 Prince Albert scholars and our first Director of EDI and Social Responsibility has joined us. The Talbot has started its journey to become a girls’ House – enabling pupil gender balance to reach 50/50 by September 2025, the 50th anniversary of girls at the College.
Investing in facilities
We continue to invest significantly in our facilities to support excellence and inclusivity across all areas of College life.
As part of our commitment to girls’ and mixed sports, the Pink Pavilion was refurbished and reopened in 2024 as the Potter Pavilion – a fully inclusive space for all cricketers. The renaming honours the extraordinary contribution of Chris Potter and his family to Wellington over the past 90 years. Looking ahead, 12 new tennis and netball courts are set to be completed by the end of 2025, and a third AstroTurf pitch is scheduled for early 2026.
Our campus development plan, aligned with the College’s strategic vision and purpose, continues to transform the student experience.
We are proud to have opened the new Raglan House – a modern, central, and fit-for-purpose home for our day boys – located on the site of the former Old Laundry. Alongside it stands Elizabeth House, our pioneering 18th boarding house and first co-educational Sixth Form House, which provides a more integrated experience for Sixth Form joiners and supports our goal of achieving a 50/50 gender balance across the school.
Also now open is our brand-new Sixth Form Centre. This dynamic, three-storey facility includes a vibrant cafeteria and social space, flexible study pods for small groups and individuals, and a dedicated hub for our Careers, Universities, and Higher Education teams. Designed to bring together academic support, future planning, and wellbeing, it offers Sixth Formers a welcoming and inclusive space to meet, study, and prepare for life beyond Wellington.
Looking ahead, we are excited to announce plans to extend the Sports Centre. This ambitious development will include a second, larger dance studio and significantly enhanced gym and conditioning facilities. These upgrades will support the growing number of pupils engaged in sport, dance, and physical wellbeing, ensuring that all students have access to exceptional resources.
In 2023, the V&A dining and social space was also significantly expanded. With a larger footprint, multiple serveries, the revitalised V&A has become a vibrant and inclusive hub at the heart of the Wellington community.
Investing in Research & Development
The Bridge, Wellington’s new centre for educational research and professional learning, is now open. It exists to connect research and classroom practice; to support collaboration between novice and expert; and to act as a bridge between Wellington and our wider educational community, both in the UK and across our international family of schools.
The Bridge is our educational R&D department, designed to support staff in becoming the very best teachers they can be so that Wellingtonians become the very best learners they can be. It offers a wide range of professional development opportunities, from in-person workshops and coaching to online courses and conferences and forms a core part of our ongoing commitment to outstanding teaching and learning.
Importantly, the work of The Bridge will be shared widely and freely with our partner schools and the wider education sector. Our aim is to support improved pupil outcomes not just at Wellington, but across all schools and in all sectors.
Ben Evans, our Deputy Head Academic, has now completed a full curriculum review to ensure that what we teach in the Lower and Middle School is as intellectually rich, future-focused, and well-aligned with A-Levels and the IB as possible. As a result of this review, we have introduced the Fragments Course, a bold new interdisciplinary programme designed to challenge and connect thinking across subjects – and Courses Within Courses, which give pupils the opportunity to explore specialist topics in greater depth, broadening their academic experience and fostering curiosity from an early stage.
Investing in well-being
Wellington was, of course, the first UK school to embed the teaching of Wellbeing within the academic curriculum; for the sake of our young people today, never has it been more important to pioneer once again in this space and to place the emotional and physical health of our community at the heart of everything we do.
To this end, we intend to build a holistic Wellbeing Centre, a home for every aspect of our proactive and reactive provision in both physical and mental health, with flexible spaces for mindfulness, yoga and other exercise classes, counselling suites, conditioning facilities, classrooms for Wellbeing and Physical Education, treatment rooms for our healthcare staff – doctors and nurses, physios and psychologists. In Jenny Griggs, we have already appointed our first Head of Student Emotional Health and Wellbeing and we will grow Jenny’s team to provide appropriate support of the highest quality to all our pupils.
This centre at the bottom of Turf will therefore bring together, in one ground-breaking facility, all our staff whose work supports the Wellbeing of the Wellington Community. We will be the only school in the UK to deliver such an integrated, holistic approach. We hope this ground-breaking facility will be ready for use within the next 3 to 4 years.
Investing in our future
This masterplan, designed to support our new purpose and strategy, and built on the legacy of those who have come before, will ensure that Wellington emerges from recent challenges stronger than ever and remains the most inspiring and interesting place in the country to live, work and learn.
'Exciting times lie ahead for the brilliant Wellington College.'
Tatler
