Windlesham House School and Charterhouse are delighted to announce that their respective charities will merge, with Windlesham House joining the Charterhouse family of schools on 1 August 2025.
Martina Asmar, Chair of Governors at Windlesham House School said:
“I am absolutely delighted that Windlesham House will be joining the Charterhouse family of schools from the end of the current academic year. It became very clear early on in our discussions that joining with Charterhouse would provide a unique opportunity to further enhance the education that Windlesham House provides for our families, and to secure the long-term interests of the school. The two schools are very similar in terms of their ethos and approach, and we believe that, together, we will provide an exceptional academic, yet all-round, curriculum to prepare our pupils for life. I am incredibly excited by this opportunity, which will see Windlesham House thrive for another 200 years.”
Ben Evans, Headmaster of Windlesham House, said:
“This move will see Windlesham House join with one of the finest independent senior schools in the UK. As well as Charterhouse, our new family of schools includes Edgeborough, the outstanding co-educational prep school in Farnham, Surrey, which successfully joined Charterhouse in 2021.
It is clear to me that the ethos of our schools is similar in many ways, blending tradition and innovation in order to provide an exceptional education for our young people.
I am extremely proud of everything that Windlesham House has achieved in recent years. This exciting opportunity will provide tremendous additional impetus to support the next chapters in Windlesham’s future, whilst allowing us to remain true to our heritage. Charterhouse and its family of schools bring a vast amount of experience, and a huge breadth of expertise and educational history, all of which will significantly complement and enhance our own. Windlesham’s future, and the opportunities that lie ahead for our pupils, are very exciting indeed.”
Welcoming Windlesham House to the Charterhouse family, Dr Alex Peterken, Head at Charterhouse, said:
“Windlesham House is an incredibly impressive school, coupling outstanding academic performance and pupil care within its beautiful Sussex grounds. For our own part, growth in our family of schools both nationally and internationally during the last five years, including our very successful merger with Edgeborough, has focused on high quality and high impact partnerships. I am delighted that Windlesham House will become part of our collective ambition to provide the finest co-educational independent school offer in the UK, playing a distinctive and complementary role within our family.
We share much in terms of vision, ethos and approach and believe that our collective offer will be exceptional; rooted in an academic yet all-round curriculum, with a real breadth of choice, all of which is delivered in inspiring grounds and facilities.’’
Importantly, Windlesham House will retain its current identity, name, ethos, values, uniform policy and badge, as well as its day-to-day operational autonomy and senior leadership teams, with Ben Evans continuing to lead the school as its Headmaster. Dr Alex Peterken will have overall executive responsibility for all three schools within the group.
A single Governing Body will have responsibility for all three schools within the group and, from within that body, a new committee will be created to oversee the governance of Windlesham House specifically, comprising a mix of Charterhouse, Windlesham House and newly appointed governors. This will ensure both continuity of oversight for Windlesham House and the most appropriate level of focus and support.
Charterhouse is already well known to Windlesham House pupils, with a steady number of children moving to, and thriving at, Charterhouse each year and we look forward to this tradition continuing. Windlesham House will continue to encourage each pupil to attend the senior school that best suits their individual needs and parental preferences. Those wishing to apply to Charterhouse will participate in the usual admissions process, just like any other applicant. Similarly, Charterhouse will continue to recruit pupils from the same wide range of schools as it does today.
Windlesham House will also offer an additional way for children leaving another prep school at 11, but destined for Charterhouse at 13, to join the family of schools immediately.
The merger will formally take effect on 1 August 2025, ready for the beginning of the 2025/26 academic year, subject to the normal regulatory and final approvals. Our schools are looking forward to building on their respective success as we work together to develop the country’s stand-out family of co-educational schools, providing the very best in boarding and day education from 3 to 18, for both UK and international families.
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