Villiers High School is a mixed comprehensive school

Comprehensive school

A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...

 located in Southall in the London Borough of Ealing

London Borough of Ealing

The London Borough of Ealing is a borough in west London.-Location:The London Borough of Ealing borders the London Borough of Hillingdon to the west, the London Borough of Harrow and the London Borough of Brent to the north, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to the east and the London...

, West London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The school is a specialist technology college

Technology College

Technology College is a term used in the United Kingdom for a secondary specialist school that focuses on design and technology, mathematics and science. These were the first type of specialist schools, beginning in 1994. In 2008 there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also...

 and has approximately 1,200 students and around 80 teaching staff.

History

The school first opened as Southall County School in 1907,changing its name to Southall Grammar in 1945. In 1963 the school was renamed Southall Technical School, under which name it ran for 11 years, until it was named Villiers High School in 1974. As of 2009 the school has been extended by the addition of a sixth form

Sixth form

In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...

.

Since 2004, the school has taken in a small number of refugee students from around the world, some of them from war zones, and has pupils from a variety of countries. These students are often teamed up with a welcome prefect who helps them for two weeks, and are assessed by a teaching assistant; language education is tailored to each student's needs.

In 2003, the school was one of three to receive £3000 from the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund

Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund is an independent grant-giving foundation established in September 1997 after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, to continue her humanitarian work in the United Kingdom and overseas...

 for its work with refugee children.

Technology

Villiers is a technology school, whose core subject at GCSE is Design and Technology. It has gained national attention with a number of technology-related projects.

Academic achievement

In 2000, 45% of students got 5 or more GCSEs at grade A*-C; in 2004, the percentage remained at 45%

Notable faculty

• In 2008, David Onllwyn Jones, assistant head teacher, was made Member of the Order of the British Empire
  Order of the British Empire
  The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
  
  for his services to education.This year (2011) Villiers high school got the best GCSE results in the whole of Southall.