Loughborough Grammar School

History

Loughborough Grammar School was founded following a bequest by Thomas Burton, a prosperous wool merchant from the town, who left money for priests to pray for his soul upon his death in 1495; these priests went on to found the school.

Loughborough Grammar is one of England's oldest schools, and it is one of a small number of independent boarding schools, alongside institutions such as Harrow, Radley and Winchester in Britain that remain for boys only. Notable old boys include: Sir Thomas Abney, Lord Mayor of London and a founder of the Bank of England; Charles McCurdy, who played a central role in the reforming Liberal Party of the early 20th century; Rev. George Davys, who educated the young Queen Victoria; and the flying ace Air Vice Marshal Johnnie Johnson, who destroyed more Luftwaffe aircraft than any other British pilot. Former masters of the school include the former government minister Lord Elton and author Colin Dexter.

The school was founded in the Parish Church in the centre of Loughborough in 1495. By 1818 the Foundation encompassed three schools, all located on the same site — the Grammar School, with 20 boys, the Reading School, with 120 boys, and the Writing School, with 80 boys.

By 1844, while still located at the Churchgate site, the Grammar School had declined to just eight pupils under the ageing headmaster Stevenson, who was 72 by then. This crisis prompted the trustees of the Thomas Burton Charity to seek a new location for the school, leading to the move to Burton Walks, as it was the only significant enough piece of land owned by the charity. In 1846 the trustees of the charity applied to use the land to create a public park with a new school at its centre, and two years later 144 of the principal residents of Loughborough applied to the Attorney General for the use to include public walks.

The trustees of the Burton Charity relocated the school to its present site in 1852, after the foundation stone was laid by the Bishop of Peterborough in August 1850. A purpose-built site on Burton Walks became its permanent home, initially consisting of the main school building, lodgings, and a gatehouse at the Leicester Road entrance. These buildings were Grade II Listed in the 1980s.

Construction of the new school went about 10% over budget, and as a result the Lecture Room originally planned was not built.The school first adopted a four-house system in 1891, with houses named School, Burton, and North & South Day Boys. This changed to a two-house system (Blues and Whites) in 1907, but reverted to four houses — North, South, East, and West — in 1920. In 1961, the houses were renamed Murrey’s, Redden’s, Bowen’s, and Foxon’s, in honour of former headmasters, before finally adopting the current names - Abney, Pulteney, Davys, and Yates — in 1990.

Overview

Campus

Loughborough Grammar School is set within a multi-acre campus on the south side of the town centre; it is situated on the same site as Loughborough High School and Fairfield Preparatory School, laid out along Burton Walks. The core of the LGS campus is the quadrangle, on the eastern side of Burton Walks. Dating from 1850, Big School, consisting of the Victorian Gothic tower, original gymnasium and hall are at the head of the quadrangle, nowadays accommodating the History department, Chapel and Sixth Form common room, and are the oldest buildings on the current site. The quadrangle is completed by School House (the senior boarding house, which was built as the Headmaster's residence), the Queen's Building (1995, English and Drama), the Barrow Building (c. 1910, Classics and Modern Languages), the Cope Building (2000, Modern Languages) on the north side and the Library and old laboratory buildings (now housing Computing and Religion and Philosophy) on the south side. Big School and School House are both grade II listed, as is the gatehouse. School House was partially destroyed by a fire in 1993.

In 2025, the school’s Sixth Form Centre was named a regional winner in the Best Public or Community Building category at the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Building Excellence Awards and was shortlisted for the national finals of the same competition.

On the western side of Burton Walks are located the Ireland Building (Physics), the Norman Walter Building (Chemistry), Murray/Millward Building (Biology), Pullinger Building (Mathematics) as well as the Hodson Hall, where most school functions and assemblies are held, the Burton Hall, primarily a dining hall, and the Art and Design department, Sports Hall, The Year 6 classroom, swimming pool and the Combined Cadet Force's buildings. A number of houses on this side of the Walks are now owned by the School, including Buckland House, the administrative hub of the School, containing the Headmaster and Deputy Headmasters' offices as well as the general office. Other houses include Red House, formerly used for music lessons but now largely occupied by the Business Studies, Economics and Politics departments as well as reprographics; Friesland House containing Special Learning Support and Network Services, and one more houses the Bursary. Both the Headmaster of the Grammar School and the Headmistress of the High School traditionally reside in properties on the Walks.

The AstroTurf, tennis, and hockey pitches are not strictly part of the school, but are shared with the High School, although a new hockey pitch purely for the school's use was opened in January 2019. The Music School (2006), is also another of these shared buildings, it includes a recital hall as well as practice rooms, classrooms and recording facilities.

Academics

Candidates sit an entrance examination to gain admission to the school, in January of Year 6, so as to enter Year 7 at the age of 11. However, the middle school system that still prevails in North West Leicestershire led the School to introduce a smaller Year 6 intake for pupils leaving their primary schools after Year 5, as happens in a middle school system. There is also a 13+ exam, for those wishing to enter at Year 9, and 16+ entrance based on GCSE performance for boys wishing to enter at Sixth Form level.

In keeping with many other Independent Schools, the choice of subjects at the school tends to be more traditional. The school teaches 28 subjects at A Level. The most popular subjects at A Level are Mathematics, History, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Geography. Subjects such as Business Studies, Psychology and Physical Education have been introduced at A Level in recent years.

In 2025, 58% of entries at GCSE level were at grades 9-7 (A*-A), with 39% being at 9-8 (A*). In the same year at A-level, 45% of entries were graded at A*-A, with 18% of entries being graded at A*. 30 students had a clear sweep of AAA or higher at A-level.

At GCSE, the maximum class size is 24 pupils, although most classes typically contain between 16 and 20 students. A-level classes are generally smaller, with an average of around 12 students per class. Many subjects at A-level are taught co-educationally with girls from the High School.

Extracurricular activities

Loughborough Grammar School runs a large Combined Cadet Force (CCF), comprising Royal Navy, Army and RAF sections. About 240 pupils (including a cohort from Loughborough High School and more recently Loughborough Amherst School ) are members of the CCF. Major events include the annual Remembrance Parade in Loughborough in November, and the Annual Review in May. In 2003, Lt Col George Beazley was awarded the MBE in recognition of his work with the CCF. The CCF used to occupy a number of old Nissen-style huts, but these have been replaced with a purpose-built Cadet Force building, part sponsored by the MOD. This was opened in 2005. The Royal Naval section of the CCF is affiliated to the Type 45 Daring Class destroyer HMS Diamond, whilst the Army section is affiliated to the Royal Anglian Regiment and the RAF Section to RAF Cosford.

The school runs an active Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme, a Scout Troop and biennial adventurous expeditions, which have visited areas such as the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, the Himalayas and Greenland. A number of clubs and societies run regularly, including the Senior Debating Society and a school newspaper made by students, entitled VOX. The school engages in regular charity fund-raising events, including non-uniform days and concerts. An example of this is in February 2018, a raffle event at a concert raised money for the Symphonic Wind Band tour to Ireland in the next summer.

Sport

The major sports at the School are rugby, hockey, cricket, tennis, athletics, football, and cross country. The School competes in national competitions in these sports, and has a full structure of teams from U12 to U18 level. The senior cross-country team was victorious in February 2017 in the 46th annual relay race at King Henry VIII School, Coventry. The senior rugby, cricket and hockey teams have all toured abroad in recent years, including separate hockey and cricket tours to South Africa, as well as a recent rugby tour to Australia and The Far East. Other sports include swimming, basketball, badminton, fencing, football, golf, sailing, shooting, table tennis, karting, and bridge. Loughborough Dynamo F.C. was formed in 1955 by a group of pupils who no longer wished to play rugby.

Notable head teachers

1894–1900 Cecil William Kaye

1955–1959 Walter Lucian Garstang

1998–2015 Paul Fisher

Old Loughburians

Old boys of Loughborough Grammar School are called "Old Loughburians". They form an old boys' association, namely the Old Loughburians Association (commonly OLA).

The school has published an annual alumni magazine since 1975. Originally titled The Old Loughburian, it was renamed Beyond the Barrier in 2016.

Notable Old Loughburians include:

Sir Thomas Abney (1640–1721), merchant, Lord Mayor of London and Member of Parliament

Richard Pulteney (1730–1801), botanist

Thomas Green (1738–1788), geologist, Woodwardian Professor of Geology

Reverend George Davys (1780–1864) educator of Queen Victoria, later Dean of Chester and Bishop of Peterborough

Joseph Shaw (1786–1859), Academic and Master of Christ's College, Cambridge

William Yates (1792–1845), Baptist missionary and orientalist

Thomas Hassall (1840–1920), Australian politician

Richard Bowdler Sharpe (1847–1909), zoologist

Sir John Winfield Bonser (1847–1914), barrister and Privy Councillor

Sir Walter Howell (1854–1913), marine secretary to the Board of Trade

Edward Anthony Wharton Gill (1859–1944), author

Julius Hare (1859–1932), artist

Masters

Notable masters at the school include:

William Williams (1925–2007), former Welsh rugby league international, taught mathematics and sport at the school 1950 to 1962.

Colin Dexter (1930–2017), the novelist was a sixth form classics master at the school (1957–59).

The Hon. Rodney Elton (born 1930), later 2nd Baron, was a master at the school between 1964 and 1967 and on an ad hoc basis at later times.

Trevor Tunnicliffe (OL; born 1950), former first class cricketer, was director of cricket 1995–2013.

Martyn Gidley (OL; born 1968), former first class cricketer, is currently (2024) a sports teacher at the school.

Douglas Robb (born 1970), later headmaster of Oswestry and Gresham's

Emyr Wyn Lewis (born 1982), former Welsh rugby union footballer, is currently head of performance sport at the school.

Jamie Webb (born 1994), former athlete, is currently a Chemistry teacher.