The Oldest Extant Grammar Schools in the UK
Many grammar schools in the UK have been providing the highest quality education for hundreds of years, while origins/predecessors of some date back thousands of years. Listed below are some of the oldest extant grammar schools in the UK, many of which are also among the oldest secondary schools in the world.
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The King’s School, Canterbury. Considered to be the oldest (continuously operating) school in the globe, The King’s School, Canterbury was founded in 597 as a cathedral school by Augustine of Canterbury. The modern grammar school dates to 1541 when it was re-founded by the Royal Charter.
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The King’s School, Rochester. It was formed in 604, less than a decade after The King’s School, Canterbury. It too was founded as a cathedral school and re-founded by the Royal Charter as The King’s School, Rochester in 1541.
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Thetford Grammar School, Thetford. Located in Thetford, Norfolk, this grammar school traces its history back to the 7th century but it first appears in written sources ‘only’ in 1114. In 1566, it was re-founded by the will of Richard Fulmerston and has been operating continuously ever since.
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Royal Grammar School Worchester, Worchester. Origins of this school date to 685 when it was open as a secular monastic school. However, it appears in written records only in 1265, while the first undisputed reference to the school dates from 1291, more than six centuries after its alleged foundation by Bishop Bosel. In 1561, it was re-founded as the Royal Grammar School Worchester by the Royal Charter.
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Beverley Grammar School, Beverley. England’s oldest state school dates back to year 700 when it was founded by St. John of Beverley concurrently with the Beverley Minster. The original school building, however, was demolished in the early 17th century. In the early 20th century, the school moved to a newly built building in Queensgate.
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Warwick School, Warwick. Claiming to be the world’s oldest boys’ grammar school and England’s fourth oldest extant school, the Warwick School is known to have been operating during the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) but it is thought to be founded at least one century earlier. In 1545, it was re-founded as The King’s New School of Warwick by King Henry VIII and moved to a new site.
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St Albans School, St Albans. The oldest school in the county of Hertfordshire and one of the oldest schools in England was founded by Abbot Wulsin within the St Albans Abbey. When opened in the mid-10th century, it was the first in the world to be open to the wider (male) public because it also accepted students who didn’t plan to become priests or monks. In 1539, St Albans Abbey was dissolved, while the school was re-founded 10 years later.