Allocation of places in Senior Houses

Wycombe Abbey, in common with most schools, operates a House system. It is, however, the case that such House systems vary considerably between schools so an explanation of Wycombe's approach, from both a philosophical and practical point of view, may be helpful.

Every girl entering Wycombe is assigned to one of nine Senior Houses. Whilst UIII girls go into Junior House for their first year, they are still allocated a Senior House before they arrive, enabling them gradually to get to know some of the girls in their House during their first year and easing transition. Girls move from their Senior House into Clarence at the end of the lower Sixth.

Geographically the Houses are split into three areas:

Abbey Houses: Pitt and Rubens;

Outhouses: Airlie, Barry, Butler and Campbell;

Daws Hill: Cloister, Shelburne and Wendover.

There are some architectural differences between the Houses (although the pairs of Outhouses are identical in design) and inevitably some differences in character and ‘feel', although this is a subjective and indeed changing matter. It is worth noting two points in this connection: firstly, girls (and sometimes House staff) enter and leave the school, thus, whilst there is continuity as far as possible, no House is ever completely the same from year to year; secondly, Wycombe, unlike some schools, does not have a policy of allocating girls with particular interests or skills (e.g. high musical ability) to one House. On the contrary, we endeavour to ensure that, where possible, there is a good cross-section of girls with different interests and strengths, and girls from different preparatory schools, in each House.

House Allocation

The allocation of a place in a Senior House is made by the Headmistress, Director of Admissions and Senior Housemistress, who try to ensure a good balance of girls in each House. Girls and their parents are invited to visit the school on Open Houses Day, usually held soon after Easter in the year of entry, in order to meet the Housemistresses and the girls. They may, if they wish, express a preference for a particular House or area to the Director of Admissions, but it should be noted that, for both pastoral and logistical reasons, it is often not possible to accommodate stated preferences. Sisters of current pupils and daughters of Seniors always have priority if they choose to be in the family House but not necessarily if they opt for another House. Because of the reasons outlined above it is the case that girls may not get one of their preferred Houses. Having said that, it is our normal experience that most girls, having met the girls and house staff in their House, are quickly convinced that their particular House is the best, irrespective of which one it is, or even whether it was one of their original choices!