St. Albans: 

St. Albans School

  St Albans School is one of the most ancient educational foundations in Europe. In this place, for over a thousand years, young people have been achieving academic distinction, learning civilised and humane values and developing their personality and character to allow them to play a leading role in the wider world.

St Albans is now an academic day school offering a first rate education in an environment rich in opportunities. Boys enter the School at 11, 13 and 16, girls at 16. There are approximately 720 pupils, taught by over 70 staff. This ratio allows each child to be known and valued as an individual and the School works in partnership with parents for the fulfilment of their children's potential.

The School is sited in the historic centre of St Albans, opposite the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban, with which it has had a long association. The School is not a religious foundation, however, and welcomes pupils of all faiths or none. The Abbey and School are built on a hillside which slopes down to Verulamium Park, with its fields, sports pitches, lakes and Roman remains.

The School campus is a compact site, with buildings ranging from the medieval Abbey Gateway, the School Hall which won a Royal Institute of British Architects Award in 1969, to new Science labs built in 1998.

The School is organised into three sections: the Lower School (Years 7-8), the Middle School (Years 9-11) and the Sixth Form (Years 12-13). Below the Sixth Form, boys are organised into forms of about 24 under the guidance of a tutor, who oversees the pupils’ academic and pastoral welfare. Sixth form tutor groups typically number about ten pupils. Advice is given on choices for examination subjects at GCSE, AS and A2 levels. Career and further education guidance is available through the Morrisby Aptitude test, taken by all pupils in Year 11, and extensive help with preparation for unversity entrance and UCAS for Sixth formers.