Description
Latymer Upper School is a co-educational public school in Hammersmith, London, England, between King Street and the River Thames. It derives from a charity school, part of the same Latymer Foundation, founded in 1624 by the English merchant Edward Latymer, which has existed continually since. With approximately 1,200 pupils, most students are admitted to the Upper School through examination and interview at the age of eleven, with some also entering into the Sixth Form at 16. The school's academic results place it among the top schools nationally, and it has historically accepted under 10% of applicants.
Having opened on its King Street site in 1895, the school spent a period of time in the mid-20th century as a direct grant grammar school, before becoming independent with the system's abolition in the 1970s. Remaining single-sex until 1996, when Sixth Form admissions were opened to girls, the school transitioned to full co-education in the first decade of the 21st century.
Latymer has been consistently ranked among the leading schools in the country academically. Its list of alumni include diplomats, numerous former and current members of both Houses of Parliament, the winners of several Olympic medals, and many prominent figures in the arts and sciences.
