Robert Gordon's College - History

History

It originally opened in 1750 as the result of a bequest by Robert Gordon, an Aberdeen merchant who made his fortune from trading with Baltic ports, and was known at foundation as Robert Gordon's Hospital. This was 19 years after Gordon had died and left his estate in a 'Deed of Mortification' to fund the foundation of the Hospital. The fine William Adam-designed building was in fact completed in 1732, but lay empty until 1745 until Gordon's foundation had sufficient funds to complete the interior. During the Jacobite Rising, in 1746 the buildings were commandeered by Hanoverian troops and named Fort Cumberland.

Gordon's aim was to give the poor boys of Aberdeen a firm education, or as he put it to "found a Hospital for the Maintenance, Aliment, Entertainment and Education of young boys from the city whose parents were poor and destitute". At this point all pupils at the school were boarders, but in 1881, the Hospital became a day school known as Robert Gordon's College. In 1903, the vocational education component of the college was designated a Central Institution (which was renamed as Robert Gordon's Institute of Technology in 1965 and became the Robert Gordon University in 1992). Boarding did not return until 1937 with the establishment of Sillerton House. In 1989 RGC became a co-educational school.

The modern school is divided into a Nursery, Junior School, and Senior School, and caters for boys and girls from 4 to 18 years. RGC has long had a reputation as one of the strongest academic schools in Scotland, and follows the Scottish curriculum. In 2006, there was a 90% pass rate at higher, and 35 pupils gained 5+ passes at A grade. 98% of leavers went on to higher education, the majority at Scottish Universities such as St. Andrews, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, but also 10 pupils gaining entry to Oxford and Cambridge. Furthermore the College has a proud tradition of building strong character amongst its pupils and instilling a large sense of pride upon being part of such a thriving and eclectic community- this is true for both faculty and pupils. The College has displayed such architecture of character through its significant sporting success in array of fields, ranging from Rugby Union to Equestrianism.The Head of College, Mr Hugh Ouston, is a member of Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference