Aylesbury Grammar School

Aylesbury Grammar School

School badge

Foundation Hall, photograph taken from the Headmasters Quad
Location
Walton Road

Aylesbury
,
Buckinghamshire
,
HP21 7RP

England

51°48′50″N 0°48′05″W / 51.8139°N 0.8014°W / 51.8139; -0.8014
Information
Type11–18 boys Academy Grammar School
MottoLatin: Schola Ailesburia, Floreat Ailesburia
Educate Aylesbury, let Aylesbury flourish
Established1598 (1598)
FounderSir Henry Lee
SpecialistsScience (Primary)
Languages (Secondary)
Maths & Computing
136884 Tables
Headmaster
Mark Sturgeon[1]
Staff150 Teaching & Support staff
GenderBoys
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1,329 boys
Houses  Denson
  Hampden
  Lee
  Paterson
  Phillips
  Ridley
Colour   
PublicationThe Aylesburian
Former pupilsOld Aylesburians
WebsiteAylesbury Grammar School

Aylesbury Grammar School is an 11–18 boys grammar school in Aylesbury, in the English county of Buckinghamshire. The school has a population of approximately 1300 boys.[2] Founded in 1598 by Sir Henry Lee, Champion of Queen Elizabeth I, Aylesbury Grammar School celebrated 100 years on its current site in Walton Road in 2007. It is commonly referred to by its students, staff, and locals by the abbreviation AGS.[3]

History

Formation

Aylesbury Grammar School was founded in 1598 following a bequest from Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley, the Champion of Queen Elizabeth I, and its first home was in St Mary's Church in Aylesbury. In 1714, Henry Phillips left a sum of £5,000 for the purchase of lands of inheritance for the enlargement and further provision for the Free School in Aylesbury.[4] The money left was to be used to admit a total of 120 boys to be taught for free, with the school building to be furnished with books, pens, ink and paper.[5] Ten trustees were appointed by the High Court in 1717, becoming the first trustees of what is now the Aylesbury Grammar School Foundation.[6] The school building opened in October 1720.[7]

The quality of education varied, and sometimes met stark criticism from the people of the town. Complaints heard at an enquiry in 1849 included boys being required to perform domestic service for the masters, including doing the headmaster’s laundry "all day", while exams were conducted with "much whispering and talking among the boys".[8]: 25–32 

By the mid-1880s, inadequacies on the school site were becoming more apparent, with a particular issue arising from the lack of games facilities. Additionally, the old buildings of the school were beginning to decay, and suggestions were made that fees of £4 to £6 might be charged with provision of scholarships for poorer boys on grounds of merit from public elementary schools of the district to assist in fundraising to deal with the inadequacies that school was facing.[6] Accordingly, 1885 saw a plan to reform AGS as "a good day school in which boys of the middle class [...] may receive such education as will best suit them for the business of life".[8]: 41 

Coeducational school

The school was a boys' school from its foundation in 1598 until 1907, when the school relocated to its present site on Walton Road. The new premises were designed by local architect Fred Taylor A.R.I.B.A. 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. A condition for receiving funding for the new premises was that the school should become co-educational. The school was thus a co-educational independent school until 1952, when it became apparent that the school was rapidly outgrowing its site.

Second World War

Ealing County Boys' School (now West London College) was evacuated to Buckinghamshire until July 1942.[9][10] The Ealing County Girls' School was evacuated to Wycombe High School.

Single sex school

Plans for a new school were made; the Council decided to reinstate AGS's single-sex status as a voluntary controlled school, 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.[11] Regular concerts, plays, and theatre visits allow links to be maintained between Aylesbury Grammar School and the High School.[12]

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 widely criticised for racism. 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.[13]

Background

Admissions

As a selective state school, AGS's entry requirements are dictated by the Buckinghamshire Transfer Test, formerly known as the '11-plus'. The school also takes students from outside the catchment area or out-of-county locations such as Thame and Milton Keynes, if spaces remain after all qualified in-catchment candidates have taken up their places. The school educates boys from the age of 11, in Year 7, through to the age of 18, in Year 13. The school has its largest intakes at Year 7 followed by Year 12.

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.[14]

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.[15]

Academy status

In July 2011 the school became an Academy.[16]

Academic performance

In 2009, the school achieved the highest A-level results in Buckinghamshire.[17] Following a report conducted by OFSTED in November 2022, the school was ranked as "outstanding" in all areas, with inspectors claiming that "pupils flourish in this outstanding school". Behaviour displayed by boys attending the school was praised, as was the manner in which the boys conduct themselves and their attitudes they apply to their learning. [18]

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%.[19]

Notable former pupils

See also

References

  1. ↑ Aylesbury Grammar School Website
  2. ↑ "History | Aylesbury Grammar School". Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  3. ↑ Website is called AGS
  4. ↑ "History". Aylesbury Grammar School. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "History". Aylesbury Grammar School. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  6. 1 2 "History". Aylesbury Grammar School. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Stone, Chris (2012). "Bucks County Museum, Aylesbury: people and buildings through 1400 years" (PDF). Buckinghamshire County Museum. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
  8. 1 2 Mead, W. R. (1997). Aylesbury Grammar School 1598–1998: A Commemorative Volume. Peterhouse Press. ISBN 0946312060.
  9. ↑ Middlesex County Times Saturday 9 December 1939, page 7
  10. ↑ Middlesex County Times Saturday 27 January 1940, page 7
  11. ↑ "History". Aylesbury Grammar School. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  12. ↑ "History". Aylesbury Grammar School. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  13. ↑ Claire Carter, "Grammar school headteacher apologises for 'blacked up' picture of pupils"", The Telegraph, 15 May 2014; "Headteacher apologises for 'blacked up' pupils", The Bucks Herald, 15 May 2014, http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/more-news/headteacher-apologises-for-blacked-up-pupils-1-6060046 Archived 17 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ "School Office | Aylesbury Grammar School". Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  15. ↑ "Specialisms | Aylesbury Grammar School". Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "Open academies map and schools submitting applications". Department for Education. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  17. ↑ "Exam Results". Aylesbury High School. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  18. ↑ "Inspection of Aylesbury Grammar School" (PDF). OFSTED. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  19. ↑ "GCSE". Aylesbury Grammar School. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  20. ↑ "Will Adam (Paterson '88)". 12 March 2021.
  21. ↑ @JamesMarriottYT (18 October 2021). "i... i went there" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ↑ Adams, Tim (22 April 2001). "Guardian.co.uk". The Guardian. London.
  23. ↑ "LSE staff biographies".
  24. ↑ "Parliamentary record".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  25. ↑ "Rutland Broughton".
  26. ↑ "Grammy award for Aylesbury Grammar School alumni Jules Buckley". Bucks Herald. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  27. ↑ "Scott Davies (Phillips '04) returns to inspire AGS Sixth Form Students". Aylesbury Grammar School. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  28. ↑ Alaric Hall, Útrásarvíkingar! The Literature of the Icelandic Financial Crisis (2008–2014) (Earth, Milky Way: punctum, 2020), pp. 19-20, ISBN 9781950192694, doi:10.21983/P3.0272.1.00.
  29. ↑ Sale, Jonathan (3 August 2006). "Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Tim Harford, writer and economist". The Independent. London. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  30. ↑ "Former Aylesbury Grammar School pupil with extremely rare disability lands first major acting role in Netflix drama". bucksherald.co.uk. 10 September 2018.
  31. ↑ "Theo James [Taptiklis] Paterson '03". Aylesbury Grammar School. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  32. ↑ "Sam Jones: 2012/2013 Biography & Statistics - London Wasps". Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  33. ↑ Jukes, Peter. "About me". Archived from the original on 28 December 2025. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  34. ↑ "Former Aylesbury Grammar School pupil and footballer Richard Lee launches new book". www.bucksherald.co.uk. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  35. ↑ Jones, M. (3 April 2020). "An Evening with David Millar". Aylesbury Grammar School. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  36. ↑ "Q & A with Christian Purslow (Phillips '83) - 'The Business of Football'". Aylesbury Grammar School. 18 November 2025. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  37. ↑ "Andy Riley blog".
  38. ↑ "BBC World Service - Discovery, The Life Scientific: Pete Smith".
  39. ↑ "Rob Stringer: One of the most powerful figures in the music business". independent.co.uk. 6 March 2006.
  40. ↑ "Shailesh Vara". GOV.UK. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  41. ↑ Carolyn Sloan (4 June 2024). "Aylesburian James Waterhouse (Paterson '04) Inspires Sixth Form Students". Aylesbury Grammar School. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  42. ↑ Who's Who 2007. A & C Black. 1912. ISBN 978-0-7136-7527-6. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
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