Required for: April 2026

Location: Dean's Yard - Westminster School

Contract: self-employed. Approximately 8 hours per week.

Salary: Visiting Music Teachers are self-employed and parents are invoiced directly at a recommended rate of approximately £60 per hour.

The deadline for applications is midday on Wednesday 25th February 2026. Interviews will take place in-person on Tuesday 3rd March 2026.

Westminster School seeks a trombone teacher to teach approximately 8 hours per week on a self-employed basis as a Visiting Music Teacher (VMT). We are seeking an outstanding teacher, performer, and communicator with the ability to inspire, ideally in both classical and jazz idioms, the exceptionally talented and the less advanced in equal measure. Ideally, the successful applicant will have a proven track record of teaching at other establishments. 

This is a self-employed position and hours will vary from term to term depending upon pupil numbers. Westminster is one of the UK’s leading academic institutions and is the only ancient London school to occupy its original site. Situated close to Parliament and Westminster Abbey, together with the stimulating diversity of the South Bank and West End, the School has a special atmosphere.


Music at Westminster School
Music plays an integral part of life at Westminster, where pupils are encouraged to learn and participate as fully as possible in a weekly routine of rehearsals, recitals and concerts. Many internationally renowned musicians have been educated at the school including Henry Purcell, Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Roger Norrington, Ian Bostridge, George Benjamin, Julian Anderson, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gavin Rossdale, Mika, Dido and members of the band Clean Bandit.  

Westminster musicians regularly attend the junior departments at the Royal Academy, Royal College and Guildhall, and a good number are members of the National Youth Orchestra, National Children’s Orchestra, National Youth Jazz Orchestra and National Youth Choirs of Great Britain.  Up to fifteen Music Awards are awarded each year across 13+ and 16+. 

Facilities 
The Manoukian Music Centre, an excellent facility opened in 2005, is fully equipped with Rehearsal/Performing Hall, Recording Studio, classrooms, practice rooms, rehearsal rooms and instrument storage. The Manoukian Centre and the School Hall both house Steinway concert grand pianos and, in addition, there is a Goble harpsichord. Concerts take place annually in Smith Square, and at the Royal Festival Hall or the Barbican. The School holds two services per week in Westminster Abbey. The location of the school allows unrivalled opportunities to attend musical performances on the South Bank & West End. 

Instrumental Music
There has been a long tradition of excellence in instrumental music at Westminster. Around 30 Instrumental ensembles rehearse each week, including a symphony orchestra, concert band, string groups, brass groups, and numerous wind and percussion ensembles and jazz ensembles. There is an extensive chamber music programme with regular success in national competitions. 

Staff
A team of 40 visiting teachers provides instrumental and vocal tuition. The brass department is coordinated by the Head of Brass, Mr Paul Sharp, and consists of four teachers who, between them, teach across the full spectrum of brass instruments.  

Equal Opportunities
We are an equal opportunities employer. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation.

Safeguarding and Child Protection
Westminster School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Working at Westminster

Westminster School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of around 750 pupils, 120 teaching staff and 108 support staff.

Our staff are friendly and welcoming, and all newcomers quickly become part of the rhythm of life here.

There is a real sense of community here as, being a boarding school many members of staff and pupils live on site and the School’s premises are very much treated as a home away from home. School life starts before breakfast and continues way beyond the working day; as a result, there is always a lively atmosphere in and around School and always someone to share a tea and biscuit with in the Common Room. Support staff as much as teaching staff are encouraged to embrace the School’s day-to-day activities, whether that be attending an evening concert or a morning service in the Abbey.

At Westminster we will always select the best candidate for every position. We do know, however, that we can only truly choose the best person on every occasion if a broad and diverse pool of candidates see the job advertised and are encouraged to apply.

As such, we continue to work on how our job roles are encountered, and particularly welcome applications from groups who have traditionally been underrepresented here.

Westminster School is for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. We hope you are encouraged to apply.

The School

Westminster School is an independent day and boarding school for boys aged 13-18 and girls aged 16-18, with a long history, a distinctive ethos, and a unique sense of place in the very heart of London. Pupils achieve exceptional examination results and entrance to some of the top universities in the world. It is a busy, passionate and purposeful place where independent and deep thinking is enjoyed, encouraged and respected by all, and where holistic excellence is nurtured and valued.

While the School is one of the foremost centres of academic excellence in the country, its commitment to academic life does not make it a hothouse for passing examinations. Pupils’ success at examinations and entry to leading universities is instead a result of their enjoyment of academic enquiry, debate and search for explanation, well beyond published syllabuses. Pupils are intellectually, socially, ethically and politically engaged and our aim is to ensure that their enthusiasm for learning is developed further, allowing them to take full advantage of the opportunities presented to them in the future. At Westminster, pupils have the freedom to lead on projects outside of the classroom and embrace a whole range of extra-curricular activities and interests. A host of pupil-led societies take place every week at the School, often with expert guest speakers, and pupils can choose to study an additional language, play an instrument or two, volunteer in local primary schools, row along the Thames, take part in plays and musicals, and much more. 

The School’s ethos resides in the enduring values of the liberal tradition reflected in the 1560 Charter of Westminster’s Elizabethan foundation, where it is stated that: ‘the youth which is growing to manhood, as tender shoots in the wood of our state, shall be liberally instructed in good books to the greater honour of the state’. Whilst academic and cultural attainments are highly prized at Westminster, the School is fully committed also to each pupil’s spiritual, moral, emotional and physical development and wellbeing – with a particular emphasis on drawing out individual talent wherever it lies – and to prepare young people for fulfilled private and public lives.

From September 2028, the School will welcome both girls and boys at 13+ entry, offering a Westminster education to all. By 2026, Westminster Under School will have opened its brand new pre-prep for girls and boys at 4+ and girls will have joined boys in Years 3 and 7, at the 7+ and 11+ entry points. By 2030, all year groups at Westminster School and Westminster Under School, from ages four to 18, will be fully co-educational, reflecting the School’s dedication to inclusivity and excellence.