University College School#Foundation

{{Infobox school

| name = University College School

| logo = UCS_RGB_logo_reduced_resolution.jpg

| image = Hampstead, University College School, Frognal, NW3 - geograph.org.uk - 1708711.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption =

| coordinates = {{coord|51.5533|-0.1811|type:edu_region:GB_dim:100|format=dec|display=inline,title}}

| motto = {{langx|la|Paulatim Sed Fermiter}}
("Slowly but surely")

| established = {{start date and age|1830}}

| closed =

| type = Public school
Private day school

| religion =

| president =

| head_label = Headmaster

| head = Mark Beard

| r_head_label =

| r_head =

| chair_label = Chair of council

| chair = Stephen Warshaw

| specialist =

| address =

| city = Frognal

| county = London, NW3

| country = England

| postcode =

| local_authority = Camden

| dfeno =

| urn = 100065

| ofsted =

| staff =

| enrolment = 1180~

| gender = Boys;
coeducational sixth form

| lower_age = 3

| upper_age = 18

| colours = Maroon, black {{color box|maroon}}{{color box|black}}

| publication =

| alumni = Old Gowers

| free_label_2 =

| free_2 =

| free_label_3 =

| free_3 =

| website = {{url|ucs.org.uk}}

}}

University College School, also known as UCS, is a private day school in Frognal, Hampstead, London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The UCS Hampstead Foundation is composed of three main entities: the Pre-Prep (previously known as The Phoenix School) for ages 3 to 7 on the Finchley Road site,{{cite web|url=https://www.ucs.org.uk/assets/user/toolbox/Good_Schools_Guide_Draft_-_Pre_Prep.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119070454/https://www.ucs.org.uk/assets/user/toolbox/Good_Schools_Guide_Draft_-_Pre_Prep.pdf|archivedate=2021-11-19|title= University College School - The Good Schools Guide - Pre-Prep|via=University College School}} acquired by UCS in 2003; the Junior Branch, for boys aged 7 to 11 on the Holly Hill site in Hampstead; and the Senior School, for boys aged 11 to 16 and co-educational for ages 16 to 18 on the Frognal site, which is the largest school site. The main campus and the Great Hall are noted examples of Edwardian architecture. Inside the hall is a Walker pipe organ, used for school concerts, professional recordings and other festivities. The school also owns playing fields situated in Ranulf Road in West Hampstead, used for training, physical education and sporting fixtures.

UCS is a member of the Eton Group of twelve independent schools and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It has ties with the Equatorial College School in Uganda.

History

Image:Ucspainting.JPG

University College School was founded in 1830 as part of University College London and moved to its current location in Hampstead in 1907. Continuing the long tradition of dissenting academies, the University of London had been inspired by the work of Jeremy Bentham and others to provide opportunities for higher education regardless of religious beliefs.{{cite web |title=University of London |url=https://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/ulondon.html#:~:text=The%20University%20of%20London%20was,the%20independent%2Dminded%20John%20Snow. |website=www.ph.ucla.edu}}

At the time, only members of the established Church could study at Cambridge and Oxford (the only other two universities in England at the time) while similar religious tests were imposed at the other universities dating from the medieval and renaissance periods present in the rest of the British Isles, namely St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dublin. Furthermore, the subjects taught at these Ancient Universities during this period, especially at Cambridge and Oxford, were relatively narrow, with classical subjects and divinity dominating.

Several of the founders of the University of London are associated with the founding of the school; they include Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (who appears to be singled out as the ring leader in A tradition for Freedom), Lord Auckland (probably George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland), William Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton, Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, Henry Hallam, Leonard Horner (The Royal Society of Edinburgh has described UCS as his 'monument'{{cite web |url=http://www.edinburghacademy.org.uk/curriculum/history/enlightenment.htm |title=Edinburgh Academy |publisher=Edinburgh Academy |access-date=3 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204144048/http://www.edinburghacademy.org.uk/curriculum/history/enlightenment.htm |archive-date=4 February 2012 |url-status = dead}}), James Mill, Viscount Sandon (probably either Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby or Dudley Ryder, 2nd Earl of Harrowby), James Lock, Stephen Lushington D.C.L. M.P., John Smith M.P., and Henry Waymouth.

The first headmaster was Henry Browne, who quickly caused controversy, by publishing a prospectus for the school which appeared to include some type of communal worship.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} This was replaced with a new version which also stated that the school would not use corporal punishment. The school opened at 16 Gower Street on 1 November 1830 under the name 'The London University School'. Browne soon{{when|date=December 2022}} resigned from his position and was replaced by John Walker (an assistant master). By February 1831 it had outgrown its quarters, in October 1831, the council of UCL agreed to formally take over the school and it was brought within the walls of the college in 1832, with a joint headmastership of Professors Thomas Hewitt Key and Henry Malden.

The school was never a boarding school; it was one of the first schools to teach modern languages and sciences.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Originally, there were no compulsory subjects and no rigid form system. Most boys learnt Latin and French, and many learnt German (an unusual subject to offer at that time). Mathematics, chemistry, Classical Greek and English were also taught. There was no religious teaching. Under the University College London (Transfer) Act 1905 (5 Edw. 7. c. xci), University College London became part of the federal University of London, and the school was created as a separate corporation.

UCS moved to new purpose-built buildings in Frognal in Hampstead in 1907, which were opened by Edward VII with the Archbishop of Canterbury in attendance on 27 July.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Kikuchi Dairoku was invited to the first annual prize giving at Frognal where he represented those who had received their prizes at Gower Street. The new school buildings were designed by Arnold Mitchell and built by the Dove Brothers. The main school block has been Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England since May 1974.{{NHLE|num=1113085|desc=University College School|access-date=27 November 2017|mode=cs2}}

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, opened the Sixth Form Centre (in the Kent Building, which also houses the Lund Theatre) in 1974. Elizabeth II visited the school in 1980 to celebrate its 150th anniversary and to inaugurate the rebuilt hall, which had been destroyed by fire in 1978. In 2021, UCS opened a new, state of the art, sixth form center known as the 'AKO Sixth Form Center'.

In 2006 the Sir Roger Bannister Sports Centre was officially opened by Bannister (himself an Old Gower), which is now known as UCS Active, a gym with memberships open to the public for use of the school tennis courts, pool, gym and exercise classes.

In 2007 a new art, design technology and modern languages building came into use and was opened as the Jeremy Bentham building by Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester on 22 May 2008. In 2009, girls were admitted into the newly co-educational sixth form for the first time.

Traditions

The school motto is Paulatim Sed Firmiter ("Slowly but surely"). In 2016, the school updated its logo to incorporate its widely known name of UCS Hampstead and to include the full motto in its roundel emblem.{{cn|date=June 2025}} UCS publishes a termly online newsletter called The Frognal and a yearly printed magazine called The Gower sent to current and past pupils.

The school song, Paulatim, is sung at the end of every term and the annual speech day and prize giving ceremony. This usually involves pupils throwing their hands in the air in sets of threes, to the phrase Paulatim, Paulatim, Paulatim. This tradition originated with the throwing of printed song sheets into the air.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1xwTp2Lr5Q |title=Paulatim Virtual featuring Dark Lord of the Sith |date=2020-06-30 |last=UCS YouTube |access-date=2025-05-10 |via=YouTube}}{{better|reason=YouTube is not a reliable source|date=June 2025}}

The Senior School is divided into three sections by age, and each year has a name. Each section is led by a head of section.

Lower School – Entry (Year 7, ages 11-12) and Shell (Year 8, ages 12-13)
Middle School – Lower Remove (Year 9, ages 13-14), Remove (Year 10, ages 14-15) and Upper Remove (Year 11, ages 15-16)
Upper School – Transitus (Year 12, ages 16-17) and Sixth (Year 13, ages 17-18)

Pupils in the lower school are arranged into houses, each named after an influential figure with a connection to North London. In the lower school, there is one form per year in each house. The five houses are as follows: Bannister (black), Bonnington (silver), Kendall (blue), MacArthur (green), and Seacole (yellow).{{Cite web |last=Hart |first=Patrick |date=2022-03-25 |title=New names for Lower School Houses |url=https://www.ucs.org.uk/news/new-lower-school-house-names-announced/ |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=UCS Hampstead |language=en-GB}}

Pupils in the middle school and upper school are arranged into ‘Demes’, each named after a former prominent member of staff. This is similar to a school house. The current arrangement has been in place since 1946, shortly after a large influx of new pupils (replacing the previous eight houses), although this was in discussion in years prior to the switch.{{cn|date=June 2025}} In the middle school, the school blazer carries a logo on the breast pocket, coloured according to the pupil's Deme. There are six Demes, each with one or two corresponding colours: Baxters (blue), Black Hawkins (yellow), Evans (pink and black), Flooks (green), Olders (silver), and Underwoods (purple).{{Cite web |title=Pastoral care at the Senior School |url=https://www.ucs.org.uk/senior/pastoral-care/ |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=UCS Hampstead |language=en-GB}} As well as a Deme warden (housemaster/housemistress), each deme has deme captains (head of house) who are students in the Sixth who are chosen each year by their Deme warden.{{Cite web |last=Hart |first=Patrick |date=2023-06-15 |title=New Monitors are at your service |url=https://www.ucs.org.uk/news/new-monitors-at-your-service/ |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=UCS Hampstead |language=en-GB}} Colours are awarded through an accumulation of academic and extra-curricular achievements. In the Middle School, there are three separate ties awarded to pupils upon reaching milestones of ten, twenty, and thirty certificates. Pupils in the lower school receive similar awards, in the form of a tie followed by a school logo to be sewn onto the breast pocket of the student's blazer, awarded upon the achievement of ten and twenty-two certificates respectively.{{Cite web |title=Behaviour and Discipline Policy (including Exclusions) - Senior School.pdf |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G0OVsR1UhsFBDtFNThEq3gScjboccSy9/view?usp=embed_facebook |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=Google Docs}} There are regular inter-deme competitions in sport, music, drama, and other subjects throughout the year.{{Cite Instagram |postid=DCBqSu3Mpux |user=ucshampstead |title=The last act of the half-term was the infamous Deme Song Cup. The standard of performance and musicality across the board yet again did not disappoint! Congratulations went to Underwoods as this year’s winners 🏆 |date=6 November 2024}}{{Cite Instagram |postid=CxClTtQMtcu |user=ucsdrama |title=Our Autumn Term Season has been announced 📢 Featuring: ✅ Political theatre from the Upper Remove ✅ The Senior School Production of Machinal ✅ Deme Dance 2023 |date=11 September 2023}}{{Cite Instagram |postid=DA0bk_jM6dN |user=ucsdrama |title=Autumn Term Season 2024 🌳Into the Woods: 26th - 28th Nov, 6:30pm 🎟️ available 14th October, link in bio. 🏆 Deme Drama 2024: 11th December, 4:30pm - for pupils and staff only. |date=7 October 2024}}

Admissions

There are five main points of entry for prospective pupils:

Pre-prep, at age 4, by internal exam and assessment. As of 2019 the pre-prep no longer has a nursery section.
Junior branch, at age 7, judged by a combination of internal exam and interview. As of 2010, the junior branch no longer operates an 8+ entry point.
Lower school, at age 11, judged by a combination of internal exam and interview.
Upper school, at age 16, judged by a cognitive ability exam and interviews. All offers are conditional upon GCSE results. This point of entry is available for girls as well as boys and each year; around 60-70 new girls are accepted into the school each year.{{Cite web |title=Admissions Process |url=https://www.ucs.org.uk/admissions/admissions-process/sixth-form/ |access-date=16 November 2022 |website=UCS Hampstead |language=en-GB}}

Notable alumni

{{See also|Category:People educated at University College School}}

Former pupils are known as Old Gowers, which was derived from Gower Street where the school was founded. Notable Old Gowers include:

Thomas Ades – composer{{Cite web |date=1999-05-26 |title=Arts: A young man in a hurry |url=https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/arts-a-young-man-in-a-hurry-1096160.html |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=The Independent |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Michael White’s classical & jazz news: Thomas Adès; Holy Week Festival |url=https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/michael-whites-classical-holy-week-festival |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=Camden New Journal |language=en-gb}}
Roger Bannister – athlete, first man to run the 4-minute mile{{Cite news |date=5 March 2018 |title=Obituary for Roger Bannister |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1129677404 |url-access=subscription |access-date=19 May 2025 |work=The Herald |location=Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland |pages=18}}{{Cite news |date=7 May 1954 |title=Roger Bannister Breaks Four-Minute Mile |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1129677404 |url-access=subscription |access-date=19 May 2025 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London, England |pages=4}}
Peter Hugh Dennis – comedian and writer{{Cite web |title=Hugh Dennis hosts comedy gala in memory of Hampstead teacher |url=https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/24170378.hugh-dennis-rachel-parris-star-comedy-gala-april-foolery/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240520154116/https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/24170378.hugh-dennis-rachel-parris-star-comedy-gala-april-foolery/ |archive-date=2024-05-20 |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=Ham & High |language=en}}
Daniel Finkelstein – The Times executive editor, journalist{{Cite web |title=Daniel Finkelstein - High Profiles |url=https://highprofiles.info/interview/daniel-finkelstein/ |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=https://highprofiles.info/ |language=en-GB}}
Eylon Levy – Former Israeli government spokesman{{Cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Michelle |date=2024-01-10 |title=Top London boys' school says no to talk by former pupil, Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy |url=https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/top-london-boys-school-refuses-talk-by-former-student-israeli-government-spokesman-eylon-levy/ |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=Jewish News |language=en-US}}
Dirk Bogarde – actor{{Cite web |title=Dirk Bogarde » Biography |url=https://dirkbogarde.co.uk/bio/biography/ |access-date=2025-05-29}}
Chris Bonington – mountaineer
William Hardwick Bradbury – printer and publisher
Rob Buckman – doctor and medical writer{{Cite web |title=Robert Alexander Amiel Buckman {{!}} RCP Museum |url=https://history.rcp.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/robert-alexander-amiel-buckman |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=history.rcp.ac.uk}}
Bertie Carvel – actor and singer{{Cite web |date=2025-05-28 |title=Bertie Carvel On Stage |url=https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/ |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=New York Theatre Guide |language=en}}
Joseph ChamberlainJ. L. Garvin, Life of Joseph Chamberlain, 1935, p. 33 – Leader of the Opposition, Late Victorian and Edwardian-era politician
Gordon Corera – BBC security correspondent{{Cite web |last=Higgins |first=Interviews by Ria |date=2015-03-08 |title=Relative Values: the crime writer MJ Arlidge and his top criminal barrister father |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/relative-values-the-crime-writer-mj-arlidge-and-his-top-criminal-barrister-father-rnhctc5fx7x |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}}
Maurice Cornforth - Marxist philosopher{{Cite web |title=Maurice Campbell Cornforth |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095639955?d=%2F10.1093%2Foi%2Fauthority.20110803095639955&p=emailA0%2Fvq5FWzEDUM |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en |doi=10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095639955?p=emaila0/vq5fwzedum&d=/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095639955&print}}
Paul Dacre – editor of the Daily Mail{{Cite web |date=2013-09-20 |title=University College School pupil resurrects school magazine edited by Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre as a teenager |url=https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/education/21379581.university-college-school-pupil-resurrects-school-magazine-edited-daily-mail-editor-paul-dacre-teenager/ |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=Ham & High |language=en}}
Luke Brandon Field - actor
Horace Field – architect
James Krishna Floyd - actor and filmmaker{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2353331/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm|title=James Krishna Floyd Biography|date=2025-03-09|website=IMDb|language=en|access-date=2025-03-09}}
Ford Madox Ford – novelist
Jonathan Freedland – writer and journalist
Clive Gardiner - artist, designer and illustrator
Alex Garland – author and screenwriter
William Court Gully, 1st Viscount Selby – Speaker of the House of Commons{{cn|date= January 2025}}
Bernard Hart – psychiatrist (1945)
Tristram Hunt – historian and former Labour MP
Oliver Hart – economist, awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2016
Leonard Huxley – author and teacher
Rufus Isaacs – Viceroy of India, Lord Chief Justice of England, and Foreign Secretary
Ian Katz – BBC Newsnight editor
Joseph Kerman - musicologist
Edward Levy-Lawson – editor of the Daily Telegraph
Colin Marshall, Baron Marshall of Knightsbridge – businessman, Former CEO of British Airways
Ernest William Moir – civil engineer
David McCallum – actor, Ilya Kuryakin, Man from UNCLE
Max Minghella – actor
Jimmy Napes - British songwriter, producer and musician{{cn|date= January 2025}}
David Patrikarakos – author and journalist
Karl Pearson – mathematician, inventor of statistical methods
Sir Roger Penrose – mathematical physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2020
Joe Powell (politician) - Labour party MP
Daniel Roche – actor
Herbert Samuel – leader of the Liberal Party, Home Secretary and High Commissioner for Palestine
Philippe Sands – author and human rights lawyer
Will Self – writer and TV presenter
Joseph Horovitz – composer and conductor
Stephen Spender – poet
Mark Turin – anthropologist and linguist{{cn|date= January 2025}}
Sir Julius Vogel – former New Zealand Premier
Dan Wagner – internet entrepreneur
Julian Lloyd Webber – musician
Geoffrey Wheatcroft – journalist and writer

Notable staff

Notable former staff include:

Alexander William Williamson; according to A Tradition for Freedom he taught pupils at the school.
Augustus De Morgan, distinguished mathematician. First professor of mathematics, University College London; according to the British Society for the History of Mathematics, taught pupils when the distinctions between the school and college were somewhat blurred. Believed to have taught James Joseph Sylvester. Was the first president of the London Mathematical Society. The De Morgan Medal is named in his honour. It has been awarded to at least one Old Gower – Sir Roger Penrose.
Carey Foster, professor of physics at University College London
G. S. Carr, according to the British Society for the History of Mathematics
Henry Malden, headmaster
John Williams, taught at UCS post World War II, first Master of Music at St Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London, which was then a royal chapel. Professor at the Royal College of Music. Honorary fellow of the Royal College of Music and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
Sir William Smith, lexicographer and teacher
Henry Browne, headmaster
Thomas Archer Hirst, teacher 1860–1864. Nominated and admitted to the Royal Society whilst teaching at UCS. Later, professor of physics, University College London
Thomas Hewitt Key, headmaster
Kenneth Durham, headmaster. Chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference 2011–2012

References

External links

{{Official website|http://www.ucs.org.uk/}}
[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ University College London]
[https://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/schools/university-college-school-london Profile at the Good Schools Guide]
[http://www.beyondwords.org.uk/ Beyond Words Festival website]
[http://www.thecnj.com/camden/050307/news050307_03.html School's grief for teacher killed in train tragedy]

Category:1830 establishments in England

Category:Educational institutions established in 1830

Category:Frognal

Category:Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden

Category:Grade II listed educational buildings

Category:History of University College London

Category:Private boys' schools in London

Category:Private co-educational schools in London

Category:Private schools in the London Borough of Camden

Category:Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference

Category:Schools in Hampstead

Category:University-affiliated secondary schools