Wisbech Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire for students ages 11 to 18. Founded by the Wisbech Guild of the Holy Trinity in 1379, it is one of the oldest schools in the country. The present headmaster is N.J.G. Hammond, a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Entry to the senior school at age 11 is based on a competitive examination. Pupils are also admitted at later stages, including sixth form.
Chartered by Edward VI in 1549 as a grammar school for boys, for much of its history it offered a largely classical curriculum of Greek, Latin and arithmetic under the governance of the Wisbech Corporation. The school has moved premises several times since its foundation, being based in St Peter's Church, the old guildhall in Hill Street and on South Brink before merging with the Wisbech High School for Girls in 1970 at their present site on North Brink.
For much of the 20th century, it was a non-fee paying voluntary-aided school, but following local council plans to remove this status and merge the Grammar School with a nearby secondary modern school, the governors took the decision to become fully independent in 1983. Now a fee-paying day school, 650 pupils ages 4 to 18 attend from the three counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Following the closure of the nearby St Audrey's Convent, a significant feeder for the senior school, a new junior and infant preparatory school was opened in 1997, now known as Magdalene House.
Pupils generally take nine General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations in Year Eleven (aged 15–16), and they have a choice of three, four or five A-levels in the sixth form. The majority of students go on to higher education following the completion of their A-levels at the end of Year Thirteen (aged 17–18). The Wisbech Grammar School Foundation, which assists with bursaries, is a registered charity, number 1087799. Roughly a third of pupils receive support in this way. Former pupils are known as "Old Grammarians", and the school has produced a number of famous alumni.
Read more about Wisbech Grammar School: Admission and Fees, Curriculum, Uniform and Houses, Notable Old Grammarians, Magdalene House
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