Latymer Upper School
Latymer Upper School is a selective independent school founded by Edward Latymer in 1624 and located on King Street in Hammersmith, London.
From the end of the Second World War until 1975, it was a Direct Grant grammar school, with free places paid by the local authority, and others with tuition fees paid according to parental income, and a large intake of state school pupils.
Latymer Upper School is a coeducational school with over 1,200 pupils. It has been ranked consistently in the leading schools in the country academically alongside Eton College, Westminster School, Winchester College, and St Paul's School. This is on the merit of its position in the national GCSE and A level examination performance tables combined with one of the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rates of any secondary school or college, and is one of the top schools for the arts and sport. The Sixth Form of 340 is one of the largest in London and offers forty academic courses as well as extra curricular activities. According to the Good Schools Guide, the school "aims to set new standards for co-education in west London.", the school charges fees of £21,000 a year per student.
History
Origins
Latymer Upper School was founded in 1624 by Edward Latymer, a wealthy lawyer and puritan, who left part of his wealth for the clothing and education of “eight poore boyes” from Hammersmith. For the next twenty years, local boys were educated in a school erected in Fulham's churchyard, moving in 1648 to another school built in Hammersmith. Later, in 1657, a parochial charity school was set up, which served as the Latymer legacy for the following century until it was rebuilt in 1755. A new facility was built on what is now King Street in Hammersmith in 1863, and was replaced in 1890 with a new building between King Street and the Thames. This structure persists to the present day as the core of the Upper School. The site also includes Latymer Prep, a preparatory school, which takes pupils aged 7 to 11.Recent History
In the 1950s, the school was a direct grant grammar school, which took large numbers of state school pupils, whose fees were paid by the local authority, solely on the basis of merit. At the same time, it continued to take some fee-paying pupils. The Direct Grant system was abolished from 1975, and the school became fully private.The Sixth Form has been co-educational since 1996, and in 2004 the main school started to become co-educational, with the introduction of girls into Year 7. With that year's entry moving into Year 11, the school became fully co-educational by 2008.
Each year, the school gathers in the nearby St. Paul's church for "Founder's Day", an annual reflection upon and celebration of Edward Latymer and other beneficiaries of the school.
As a member school of the HMC it is a public school.
Student body
Pupils come from a wide area of London. 176 pupils are on means-tested bursaries, 70 of whom are on 100 percent bursaries. The Good Schools Guide said "We attract a real mix from city investors, media types and academics living in leafy streets through to families on the White City estate, which is surely better than just those from a privileged bubble mixing with each other". Tatler notes that the school says it is 'fishing in a brighter gene pool,’ and that 'philanthropy is integral to the spirit of the school and Latymer is one of the leaders in providing means-tested bursaries'. In 2019, Tatler dubbed it "a truly remarkable, unpretentious, highly academic school."Finances
for 2020 was £21,000 per year, plus other mandatory and optional fees.Latymer offers a bursary programme, with 176 pupils on means-tested bursaries. For families with incomes unable to pay the fees, Latymer Upper is free. Latymer launched a campaign to have 30% of students on bursaries by 2024 - it's 400th birthday. Latymer has a substantial fund from donations ring-fenced to fund bursaries.
Academics
Latymer Upper School is one of the highest academically performing schools in the UK historically and to date. Most of the school’s own on-site prep pupils enter the school, whilst around a further 50 percent enter from local state primary schools. Tatler Schools Guide commentated that 'competition for Latymer places is hotter than ever: 1,100 applicants sat the exam last spring; 400 were interviewed for 168 places'. The examined subjects are in English and Maths and there is an interview. There were 33 Oxbridge places in 2017, and an increasing number to US universities such as Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Pennsylvania and Yale, and a range of other top international universities. A few pupils annually transfer to art, music or drama schools, with others training to become medics, economists, engineers and linguists.Activities
There are over 140 clubs and societies at Latymer, including the J. S. Mill, Literary and Latymer Societies. There are also clubs for bridge, chess, debating, philosophy and photography. The Drama Society holds several productions each year. Two students in Year 10 won the International Debating Competition in Cambridge at their age level. The final consisted of four other London-based schools that included St Paul's and Westminster.The school has links with other schools across Europe with a joint orchestra, as well as other trips, with Godolphin and Latymer School. There are trips abroad throughout the year, such as skiing trips, language exchanges, work experience in Paris, Berlin and Stockholm, Classics trips to Italy and Greece, sports tours and expeditions. Latymer Upper also participates in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.
The school is active in charity work: the annual "Charities' Week" raised £3,000 in 2006. The school branch of Amnesty International is involved in fund- and awareness-raising campaigns. A student-led environmentalist group has led to each classroom being equipped with a recycling bin.
Latymer contributes to local music, art, drama, dance and sports projects, as well as acting as venue for a Sunday School and Scuba diving for the disabled. Sixth Form students are encouraged to help in local primary schools and old people's homes as part of their general studies program, as well as with groups helping the homeless and disabled. In addition, the school offers all students a trip every year in 'Activities Week'. Destinations have included Spain, the Ardèche gorge in the south of France.
Facilities
Academic facilities
- The Main Hall is primary building upon which the rest of the campus is situated around. It is the original Victorian school building, with a main hall in which assemblies are held, followed by an extensive corridor linking off into classes.
- The Library is found in the base of the Science block, expanding across an entire floor of the building.
- The Latymer Theatre and Arts Centre opened in 2000 and includes a 300-seat galleried box theatre, music practice rooms, art galleries and studios, plus a cafe and atrium area.
- The Latymer Performing Arts Centre was completed in 2009, at a cost of £6m, providing students with drama studios, rehearsal rooms and a 150-seat recital hall
- The Science and Library building which includes science labs for the three sciences and a library with seating for over 200 pupils opened in 2010. van Heyningen and Haward Architects were responsible for the design and delivery of these four buildings during a ten-year working relationship with the school. 150 computers are provided for pupil use, networked and with e-mail and internet access, and ICT is taught in one lesson a week in Years 7 to 9. Pupils are permitted to cycle to school, with storage space provided for their bikes. Meals are self-service in the lunch hall, and there is a café in the "atrium".
- The Design block is housed at the latter end of the main hall, housing the Design & Technology labs.
- The Modern languages block is a 1960's building housing the modern and classical languages departments.
- Outbuildings house the History and Geography lessons, as well as the arts.
Athletic facilities
- The Latymer Upper School boat club faces the Thames and spans four stories.
- The Sports Centre was opened in March 2016, which includes a six-lane swimming pool, basketball hoops, badminton markings, cricket nets, a fitness suite, and a rock climbing wall whilst at the same time offering an area for all pupils to take their examinations.
- The school's playing fields are about a mile and a half away, on Wood Lane, with a £2m sports pavilion and changing rooms completed in 2004. The playing fields are used for training by the England Rugby Team
- The Sports pavilion, costing £2m and containing changing rooms was in 2004.
Other facilities
- The Chapel is housed at the top of the Geography & History building.
Sports & Athletics
Rowing
The Latymer Upper School boat club has been open for over a century to school pupils, and offers rowing to both genders. The boat house has taught two olympic rowers, including Andy Holmes, Olympic gold medal rower and the Olympic Silver medallist Jim Clark was a coach. The Boat Club has gone on to win Henley Royal Regatta, most recently with the win of the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup.Coat of arms
The school for many years used the armorial bearings of the founder, Edward Latymer. This included his motto, paulatim ergo certe, which doubled as a pun, including the word "latimer". An intermediate coat of arms was taken from one of the quarters of the original coat of arms which combined that of the Latymer Foundation and of the Latymer School. The motto was dropped in 2004 along with the coat of arms, and a new, much simpler, shield was adopted.The original arms continue to be used, with a different motto, by the sister school, The Latymer School.
Public examination results
Latymer has been ranked consistently in the leading schools in the country academically based on the merit of its position in the national GCSE and A level examination performance tables combined with one of the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rates of any secondary school or college.GCSE & A-Level summaries over five years
| GCSE summary | A level summary | - | - | - |
Old LatymeriansIn politics
Film and Theatre
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