Wellington College has been named Co-educational Independent School of the Year at the Independent Schools of the Year Awards 2026. The College is the founding school of Wellington College Education (WCE). Independent School Parent revealed the winners at an awards ceremony in London on 14 October. The award follows a year in which the College celebrated 50 years of co-education. In September 2025, it also reached an equal balance of girls and boys for the first time in its history.
How the Co-educational Independent School of the Year is judged
The Independent Schools of the Year Awards cover 25 categories across the UK independent sector. This year, the judges received a record number of entries. For the co-educational award, exam results are only part of the picture. The judges also look at how a school helps girls and boys learn and grow together, and how that prepares them for adult life. Wellington College was one of seven national finalists before the ceremony.
Fifty years of co-education at Wellington College
The 2025/26 school year marked 50 years since girls first joined the College. The community celebrated the anniversary with events throughout the year. These included the Pioneering Women’s Trail and the premiere of a documentary, Better Together: The Path to Co-education. There was also an arts celebration at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, attended by HRH The Duke of Kent.
Speech Day took co-education as its theme. A short film featuring pupils, Working Together, premiered on the day. It follows how pupils grow from classmates into colleagues as they learn side by side.
What co-education looks like day to day
The College believes young people gain a great deal from learning alongside one another. Working together challenges stereotypes and widens what pupils think they can do.
You can see this in subject choices. In the Sixth Form, 60% of girls study Mathematics and 73% take at least one STEM subject.
Sport has had its own firsts. Nishka and Zaara became the first girls on the College’s Cricket Honours Board. The girls’ cricket team also toured South Africa alongside the boys’ team, which was a first for the College.
On stage, productions regularly break with traditional casting, while girls and boys work together as performers, musicians, technicians and creative leaders.
Boarding has changed too. The Elizabeth, the College’s first co-educational Sixth Form boarding house, was full during the anniversary year. Girls and boys have separate wings but share the communal spaces, where friendships can form.
The College also works with Bold Voices and Words Matter. Both help pupils talk openly about relationships, gender stereotypes and the way language shapes a community. As one Sixth Form pupil put it: “Your gender doesn’t make a difference, it just makes the whole experience more enjoyable.”
What the award means for the Wellington College Education Family of Schools
WCE is the network of British international schools founded by Wellington College. It now includes 15 schools in nine countries, each sharing the DNA of the original.
So, when the Founding School is recognised at the Independent Schools of the Year Awards, we think that’s something all of our sister schools across the world can be equally proud of.
More recognition across the family of schools
The win also follows a strong summer for the network. In June, Wellington College International was named Private School Operator of the Year at the Education Investment Awards 2026.
In China, Wellington College International Shanghai came first nationally in the Forbes China International Schools Annual Selection 2026. It topped all three categories: International High School, International Middle School and International Primary School. Meanwhile, Wellington College International Hangzhou has received both the IGCSE Top in the World and Top in China awards for four consecutive years. These span core subjects such as Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, Foreign Language Mandarin Chinese, Chemistry, Double Science, Art, and Information and Communication Technology. In India, Wellington College International Pune won two awards at The Times of India’s Times Education Icons 2026. One was for Excellence in International Learning Environment and Campus Design, the other for Excellence in Global and Future-Ready Education.
On 12 October, WCE also launched Human Flourishing in the Age of AI, a national campaign built around a manifesto on the future of education. Nearly 200 educators, policymakers, employers and business leaders came to the launch at the British Library in London. The campaign draws on the OECD’s Education for Human Flourishing framework. It asks what it means to be truly educated in an age of AI, and how schools can prepare young people for it.
Paresh Thakrar, Managing Director of Wellington College International, said:
“What a brilliant start to the year. Wellington College Education is one of the most admired and innovative group of schools in the world drawing on the unique bonds between the Founding School and our global network. Our educational model continues to go from strength to strength and it’s wonderful to have this recognised by the wider sector.”
Congratulations to the pupils, staff and families at Wellington College on being named Co-educational Independent School of the Year. You can read the full story on the Wellington College website. If you are interested in learning more about our partnership model, we’d love to hear from you, find out more about the benefits of partnership.
