Aylesbury Grammar School

Aylesbury Grammar School is an 11–18 boys grammar school in Aylesbury, in the English county of Buckinghamshire, which educates approximately 1300 boys.^[2]

Founded in 1598 by

In the years that followed, the school moved to a new site in 1907 which is now home to the County Museum, following the school's move to its third location on its present site. In May 1907, Aylesbury Grammar School moved to its current location on Walton Road, Aylesbury and the new premises, designed by local architect Fred Taylor A.R.I.B.A, were welcomed to cope with the ever-expanding numbers of students. The guest of honour at the opening ceremony was Lord Rothschild who had offered the land for purchase to Buckinghamshire County Council to build the school. As a condition of a grant from the Council to assist in constructing the new buildings both boys and girls were admitted to the new school.^[citation needed]

For a considerable amount of years, the school was a co–educational independent school until 1952 when it became a voluntary controlled schools. Girls were removed from the school in 1959 and moved to a new site, with the girls school becoming known as Aylesbury High School. Concerts, plays and theatre visits help links to be maintained between Aylesbury Grammar School for boys, and the High School for girls. ^[7]

In December 1953 damage was caused by a fire, later attributed to faulty electrical wiring. The school fully reopened in the Easter of 1954. The damaged roof was replaced and a new hall, entrance area and classrooms were constructed.^{[citation needed]}

Recent history

The school was a boys' school from its foundation in 1598 until 1907, when the school relocated to a new site on Walton Road, where it remains to this day. A condition for receiving funding for the new premises was that the school should become co-educational. However, in the mid-1950s the school was rapidly outgrowing its site and so plans for a new school were made; the Council decided to reinstate AGS's single-sex status and in 1959 the girls of Aylesbury Grammar School moved into their new school on the opposite side of the road, now called Aylesbury High School.^[8]

The current Headmaster is Mark Sturgeon, who took over from Stephen Lehec at the start of the 2014–15 academic year.^[9]

On 9 May 2014, boys at the school dressed up as the Jamaican bobsleigh team for their school-leaving celebrations and 'blacked up' as part of their costume. This came to public attention when an image of the schoolboys was tweeted by the then headmaster Stephen Lehec and was criticised for being racist. Lehec issued a formal apology, though in his analysis 'at no time was there an undertone of any act being of a derogatory or racist nature'. The matter was widely reported in local and national media.^[10]

Background

Admissions

As a selective state school, AGS's entry requirements are dictated by the Buckinghamshire Transfer Test, formerly known as the

The school is situated east of Aylesbury town centre on the southern side of the A41, between Walton (to the west) and Victoria Park (to the east). This site was built and opened in 1907, replacing an earlier building in St. Mary's Square in the town centre, which now forms part of the Buckinghamshire Museum.^[11]

Specialist status

In September 1997 the school was awarded specialist school status in Technology, and later successfully gained Science College status as its primary specialism. In April 2006 AGS gained a second college status as a Language College and then gained a second secondary college status in Maths and Computing in January 2008. The Specialist School programme was ended by the Government in 2010.^[12]

Academy status

In July 2011 the school became an Academy.^[13]

Academic performance

In 2009, the school achieved the highest A-level results in Buckinghamshire.

Academic attainment results published by the school in 2023 found that 99.5% of boys attending the school achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grades 9 - 4, whilst 78% of boys achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grades 9 - 7. 45% of all boys who were entered for GCSE examinations were graded 9-8, above the National average which stood at 12%.[16]

Notable former pupils

This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (January 2024)

• Will Adam (b. 1969) Archdeacon of Canterbury^[17]
• Jake Arnott (b. 1961) author, left school at 16^[18]
• Tim Besley, economist and former Member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee^[19]
• Angela Billingham (b. 31 July 1939), politician^[20]
• Rutland Boughton (1878–1960), composer^[21]
• Jules Buckley (b. 1980), conductor
• Scott Davies
  , (b. 1988), professional footballer
• Tom Dyckhoff, (b. 1971), architecture critic and TV presenter
• John Edwards OBE (1904–1959), Labour MP from 1950–9 for Brighouse and Spenborough^{[citation needed}
  ]
• David Gurr (b. 1956), cricketer for Oxford University and Somerset^{[citation needed]}
• Alaric Hall (b. 1979), philologist^[22]
• Tim Harford (b. 1973), journalist and presenter^[23]
• Arthur Hughes (b. 1992), actor ^[24]
• Theo James (b. 1984), actor and producer
• Sam Jones, (b. 1991), professional rugby player for Wasps RFC^[25]
• Richard Lee (b. 1982), footballer^[26]
• David Millar (b. 1977), cyclist and commentator
• Christian Purslow (b.1963), former Managing Director of Liverpool Football Club, Chief Executive of Aston Villa Football Club
• Andy Riley, (b. 1970), author and scriptwriter^[27]
• Eddie Robson, (b. 1978), author and scriptwriter
• Peter Smith, biologist ^[28]
• Rob Stringer, chairman of Columbia/Epic Label Group, and brother of Sir Howard Stringer^[29]
• Toby Vintcent, (b.1962), writer and politician^{[citation needed]}
• Theodore Zeldin CBE, author and historian^[30]

See also

• Aylesbury High School
• Dr Challoner's Grammar School
• Royal Grammar School
• Sir William Borlase's Grammar School
• List of English and Welsh endowed schools (19th century)

External links

• Department for Education Performance Tables
• EduBase^{[permanent dead link]}
• Admissions in August 2000

References