Grammar Schools in Wales
There are currently no grammar schools in Wales. The majority were converted to comprehensive schools before or after the abolition of the Tripartite System in the 1970s. Examples include:
-
Beaumaris Grammar School, Menai Bridge, Anglesey. Founded in 1603, the Beaumaris Grammar School is the predecessor of the present-day Ysgol David Hughes, the main secondary school on the island of Anglesey. In the 1950s, the grammar school merged with Beaumaris Secondary Modern School to form Beaumaris Comprehensive School. The first school building that was built in 1603 still stands but the school is housed in a building from the 1960s.
-
Cowbridge Grammar School, Cowbridge, South Glamorgan. Founded by Sir John Stradling in the early 17th century, the Cowbridge Grammar School was one of the oldest and most famous grammar schools in Wales. But like most other grammar schools in England and Wales, it too was closed after the abolition of the Tripartite System in the 1970s. It was replaced by Cowbridge Comprehensive School.
-
Friars School, Bangor, Gwynedd. Tracing its history back to 1557, Friars School (also known as Ysgol Friars) is even older than the Cowbridge Grammar School. It was established by the will of the Welsh lawyer Geoffrey Glyn on the site of an earlier Dominican monastery. It operated as a selective boys’ grammar school until 1971 when it experienced the fate of other grammar schools in Wales. It merged with Deiniol School and Bangor County School for Girls to form a new comprehensive school but retained its original name.
-
Swansea Grammar School, Swansea, West Glamorgan. Today known as the Bishop Gore School, this comprehensive school in Swansea opened in 1682 as a free grammar school for boys. It was founded by Hugh Gore, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore and operated as boys-only grammar school until 1970. One year later, it merged with Glanmor School and Townhill Secondary School to form a new co-educational comprehensive school.
-
King Henry VIII Grammar School, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. It was one of the many schools that were founded or re-founded by King Henry VIII during the Reformation. For centuries, it provided free education for boys before being merged with a local high school for girls in the 1960. In the 1970s, it was converted to the present-day comprehensive school and renamed as King Henry VIII School Abergavenny.