[2][3] It was named after Henry George Willink (1851–1938), the former chairman of the Berkshire County Education Committee who lived in Burghfield.

[4] The school underwent significant expansion in the 1970s, and in the 1980s a leisure centre was built as part of the site.

[12] Admission to the sixth form is selective, with offers dependent on predicted GCSE grades as well as an entrance interview.

[11] The majority of students continue into the Willink sixth form after Year 11, although a large minority undertake Key Stage 5 education elsewhere.

[19] At its most recent full Ofsted inspection, carried out in February 2014, the Willink School was judged to be "good", with behaviour and safety described as "outstanding".

The current system of seven houses (Berlin, London, Mexico, New York, Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo) was adopted in September 2021;[25] between 2005 and 2021 the houses were Barcelona, London, Milan, New York, Paris, and Sydney.

[26] Prior to this, the school consisted of four houses named after local manors (Abbots, Bannister, Ufton, and Wokefield).