non scholae sed vitae discimus – we do not learn for school, but for life

Willington Prep is an environment where each child is supported individually in order to realise their full potential and promise. Outstanding academic and extra-curricular opportunities exist here and tolerance, compassion, courtesy, charity and friendship permeate the daily life of all our pupils.

The school was originally located in Putney at No 3 Dealtry Road, before moving to Willington House on the Upper Richmond Road in 1889.  Founded by Annie and Ada Hale, who were sisters, the school had a keen focus on the individual, which remains a strong feature of the school's identity today.  Whilst the school has moved from Putney to Wimbledon, and the proliferation of new subjects and technology would make some of Willington today a very different place to when it was first founded, the importance of care for each individual pupil, helping them to fulfil their potential would be immediately recognisable to Willington staff from those early days of Victorian London.

We maintain a tradition of sending our pupils to leading independent senior schools, both day schools in London and Surrey, as well as boarding schools across the UK.  From September 2021, Willington will become an 11+ school with all pupils leaving at the end of Year 6.  We feel that a Willingtonian is prepared for whatever the future may bring, as they do not learn simply to pass examinations, but to be ready for life beyond these walls.  As our motto says: we do not learn for school, but for life.