WOW!


Widening Opportunity at Wellington

Widening opportunity and access is part of our DNA at Wellington

The College was established to educate the sons of soldiers killed in action at a minimal financial cost. While the need for this has, thankfully, diminished over the years, our ambition to ensure that children of talent and promise are able to reach their full potential is stronger than ever.

Widening Opportunity at Wellington

WOW!

We are supporting the aspirations and ambitions of young people in the UK and helping to change lives by widening opportunity at Wellington.

In 1945, 34% of all Wellington pupils received some form of fee remission

In the future we aim to provide this level of support again. We want to be able to offer over 25% of our students significant means-tested fee support over the next 10 years. Our ambition is to ensure that the make-up of our student body reflects today’s dynamic and diverse society.

If everyone in the Wellington Community gave £30 per month, then in just 2 years, over £10 million would be raised for the ‘WOW!’ campaign. This in turn could allow over 250 students to come to Wellington on a 50% means-tested bursary. Now THAT’S the WOW Factor!

We are extending our reach to allow children with real promise, but limited financial means, the opportunity to come to Wellington. Scholarships are a key part of our widening opportunities work, aimed at raising attainment of young people in our partner schools and local community, and sit alongside the work we do with the Wellington Academies in Wiltshire, the Independent State School Partnership, our Teaching Schools programme and the Global Social Leadership programme.


 

“The experiences I gained at Wellington and the memories I now cherish have shaped my future. Words simply cannot express the gratitude I feel towards receiving a bursary – the two years I spent at Wellington have changed my life.”
Maya Stock OW 2017


 

“Wellington is more than just a school – for me it is a place where lifelong friendships were born and where character-defining events in my life happened. I owe it to this College for making me the person I am today – my beliefs, values, character and aspirations were all formed within these walls – thanks to the generosity of the bursary programme and academic scholarship which enabled me to attend.”
David Kim OW 2016

 

We are now reaching out to our community and asking you to pull together to help widen opportunities at Wellington.

OUR SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS

Our scholarship students are motivated, aspirational and committed to transforming their lives by taking advantage of all the experiences that an education at Wellington can offer. All scholarship students must have the potential to be able to cope and thrive in the busy and high-achieving atmosphere of Wellington College. This promise is likely to manifest itself in terms of academic potential and character, but may also be in other areas of school life, whilst taking into consideration the lower levels of support and opportunities that each student may have been given up to the point of entry.

 

Our successfully run scholarship programme has three key elements:

FUNDING

Funding comes from very generous donations from the Wellington Community; parents, OWs and friends. Our scholarships are awarded to both day and boarding students to cover fees and additional costs when required, to cover items such as clothing, equipment, trips, laptops and stationery.

SELECTION

We consider each application on a case-by-case basis. Successful candidates show potential academic ability and preferably offer potential excellence in other areas of College life. Whilst direct contact is an acceptable route to applying for a scholarship, the College has close affiliations with partner organisations including; Springboard, Eastside Young Leaders Academy (EYLA), Into University and others. All our partners have rigorous systems of selection to ensure due diligence and selection based on our criteria.

TRANSITION PROCESS AND ONGOING PASTORAL SUPPORT

We understand that our scholarship students and their families may need additional pastoral support, both when they begin and throughout their time with us, and to this end there are a range of initiatives to support the process including: familiarisation days, parent/carer get-togethers, a ‘buddy’ system for the students as well as the parents/carers.

Latest news

Shop the new OW Merchandise Range!

05 February 2026

Over the past year, we have been working quietly behind the scenes to develop a new range of Old Wellingtonian merchandise. We are delighted to share that the collection is now available to purchase online. You can explore and shop the range here:  https://wellingtoncommunity.sycal.co.uk/ Our first collection features a silver Wellington crest pin badge, silver crest […]

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Kelly Brick (W 17): GB Sprint World Triathlon Championships

02 January 2026

We are proud to share that Kelly Brick (W 17) represented Great Britain in the Age Group Sprint World Triathlon Championships on Friday 17th October 2025 in Wollongong, Australia. Kelly   finished with a time of 1 hour 19 minutes, her best PB time in the last 10 years of triathlon racing, and ranked 26th in […]

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OW Merchandise Update

04 December 2025

With the holiday season upon us, we have had several OWs enquire about OW merchandise, and so we wanted to provide an update about this. As some of you may know, Grubbies changed supplier last summer, and they are no longer stocking OW merchandise. The Wellington Community Team has taken this on, which means we […]

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