At a service in September, the School’s 12 new King’s Scholars formally joined the Abbey community, presenting their credentials and being admitted, in Latin, by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle.

The eight Fifth Form boys — who won their places through taking the School’s famous Challenge examinations —  and four Sixth Form, follow in a long line of academic Scholars dating back to 1542, some much noted, including John Dryden, John Locke, Robert Hooke, AA Milne and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

This year’s intake come to Westminster from a number of schools, including Westminster Under School, Papplewick School, St John’s School in Northwood, King Edward’s School in Birmingham, The Grey Coat Hospital School, City of London School for Girls, North London Collegiate School, and The Hurlingham Academy.

The new members now join College, the original School House that dates back to Queen Elizabeth I, after whom the Queen’s Scholarships were originally named. Unlike in other schools and university colleges, it is Westminster tradition to change the name of the Scholars between King and Queen to reflect the current monarch — 2022 saw the return of King’s Scholars for the first time since 1952.

Following the ceremony, the new scholars commented on the occasion and the experience.

Alisha (Sixth Form, CC) said: “It was an unforgettable experience; one which made me feel both special on an individual level, and an integral part of something bigger.

Harry (Fifth Form, CC) said: “The induction ceremony filled all of us new King’s Scholars with awe, considering the whole symbolic significance of the Abbey and the ceremony in general, and it was truly a great honour to be received by the rest of College in such a way.”

Andy (Fifth Form, CC) said: “It was an absolutely surreal experience to get inducted by the Dean of Westminster and have the privilege of being part of the School’s rich history and its lasting connection with the Abbey.”

Kabir (Fifth Form, CC) said: “I found the ceremony very special and loving, and I was grateful for such an opportunity. It was also an extraordinary thought to have been standing on the same spot where the King was crowned. This has created memories that I will always treasure.”

The College of St Peter in Westminster

Prior to the Reformation, Westminster School was a homely place. It met in one room, which is now part of Liddell’s, and never numbered more than about 25 deserving boys, all from the locality. The school was part of the almonry, the Benedictine monastery’s practical charity, which took care of the old and the needy.

In 1540, this Benedictine Abbey of Westminster, which had been in existence at least since 960, was dissolved by order of King Henry VIII and the Abbey church became, for ten years, a cathedral. But education continued. The King commanded that 40 poor scholars should be educated at the Abbey’s expense. In 1556 Queen Mary I re-founded the monastery and education continued. Three years later, Queen Elizabeth I dissolved the re-founded monastery and, in a charter of 1560 establishing the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter in Westminster, consolidated her father’s plans for two Masters and 40 Scholars. Thus she is celebrated as the School’s foundress.

For many years the Dean, the 12 Canons, the Masters and the Scholars, together with others the ‘College of Saint Peter in Westminster’, dined every day in College Hall, a visible sign of the continuing Abbey community.

Today, as in each year since 1542, newly-elected Scholars present their credentials to the Dean as head of the Collegiate Church and in his office as a Member of the Governing Body of Westminster School; they are admitted by him to membership of this community, which is modelled on the monastic society that preceded it. The King’s Scholars as a group have their own seats in Quire, and attend services as members of the collegiate family. By virtue of historical tradition and precedent, they have the privilege of attending coronations and being admitted to Parliament.

The term ‘College’, as in College Hall and College Garden, refers properly to the Abbey as a whole. The Abbey and the School became separate institutions in 1868, but this morning’s ceremony reaffirms our close links and reminds us of the School, and especially College, being integral parts of first a Catholic, and then an Anglican, religious community.