Francis Combe Academy

Future Academies Watford is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Garston, Watford, Hertfordshire, England. History The school opened in 1954 as Francis Combe School, a secondary modern school. It was named after Francis Combe (or Combes), a Hemel Hempstead landowner who founded a charity school in Watford in 1651, with a bequest of £10 per annum. It became the first comprehensive in Watford in 1966. Previously a community school administered by Hertfordshire County Council, in February 2008, the school was given permission to explore becoming an academy, sponsored by West Herts College and the University of Hertfordshire (later the Meller Educational Trust). The school reopened in September 2009 as Francis Combe Academy, specialising in English, art and media. In 2020, the name was changed to Future Academies Watford when the school became part of the Future Academies multi-academy trust.