St Albans School

Who we are

St Albans School is among the most ancient educational foundations in the world and can trace its history back to its foundation in 948AD. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the School’s activities were temporarily suspended before its re-founding in 1570. This was made possible by Queen Elizabeth I’s grant of the wine licences for the borough of St Albans to Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Verulam and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, who used the income to pay the annual salary of the Master of the School. For 300 years the School flourished in the Lady Chapel of the Abbey, until in 1870 it moved to occupy the Great Gateway of the Abbey and the beautiful adjacent site overlooking the remains of the Roman City of Verulamium. The School has not, therefore, been a Church Foundation since the Reformation, but its historical links with the Abbey have naturally helped to shape its character, and the School still meets for Assembly in the Abbey twice a week.

For much of the twentieth century the School was a Direct Grant school but is now fully independent: the current Headmaster, like his recent predecessors, is a member of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC). The present school roll is c.850 with a Sixth Form of over 300, and the teaching staff numbers some 100. 

The School has a fine reputation for academic achievement, for success in university entrance and for achievement thereafter. Distinguished Old Albanians include Professor Stephen Hawking, Professor Lord Renfrew, formerly Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, and Dr John Barber, formerly Vice Provost of King’s College, Cambridge. Academic standards are consistently very high: the proportion of A levels graded A*, A or B has been above 90% for the past seven years, and 2017 saw a record achievement with A* grades (34%). At (I)GCSE the annual expectation is of well in excess of 80% A* and A grades.

The School believes that a good education comprises so much more than just academic work and intellectual development. Significant emphasis is placed on wellbeing with pastoral care organised by year groupings: the warmth and friendliness of the School community is one of its great strengths and distinctive features. The co-curriculum plays a vital role in developing skills and qualities in preparation for adult life: there is a thriving CCF and an extensive partnership scheme with local state-maintained schools. The School has an outstanding record in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Scheme. 

There has been a great deal of investment in buildings and facilities over recent years. In 2002 the School opened extensive new sports grounds, Woollams, on a 70-acre site on the northern outskirts of the city: the School uses some 45 acres and the Old Albanian Sports Association is the tenant of the remainder. The School competes at a very high level in all the major sports and in cross country has a national reputation. The School owns a well-equipped Field Study Centre, Pen Arthur, in the Brecon Beacons.

The latest additions to the School campus include a new Sports Centre (with swimming pool, sports hall, fitness centre, dance studio and climbing wall) and the purchase of a large building (Aquis Court) on an adjoining site which has been converted into a superb Art School, Sixth Form Centre and a suite of classrooms. The Hall is currently undergoing the first phase of a major refurbishment programme, the main feature of which is the construction of a new Music School. The construction of a new £5m faculty building for Mathematics begins in April 2018. There is a rolling programme of refurbishment of academic departments: many classrooms have been revamped in recent years.

The School is heavily oversubscribed at all levels of entry. The main ages of entry are 11 and 13 for boys, and girls and boys are admitted into the Sixth Form. Scholarships are offered at all ages of entry, and the School is able to provide assistance to some families, in cases of proven need, from its own bursary fund. Entry at 11+ is by interview and competitive examination. At 13+, offers of places conditional on Common Entrance are made following a preliminary assessment in Y7. Entry into the Sixth Form is by interview and conditional upon GCSE results.

St Albans is a beautiful Cathedral city, with a lively cultural life, surrounded by countryside but only 20 minutes from London by train, with easy access to motorways and airports. It is a relatively affluent area on the edge of a densely populated conurbation with areas of affordable property within easy travelling distance.