St Albans School (Hertfordshire) - The School Today

The School Today

St Albans School is predominantly a single-sex school for boys, but has accepted girls into the Sixth Form since the 1980s. It is a member of the Headmasters' Conference of leading independent schools. In its earlier days it was known as the Free School of St Albans, City of St Alban Grammar School or St Albans Grammar School. It is often (erroneously) referred to as "The Boys' School", "St Albans Boys" and "The Abbey School" (thereby causing confusion with The Abbey C of E Primary School nearby which is almost always referred to as "The Abbey School", and the adjacent but now defunct Abbey National Boys' School, a name which is still borne by a building in nearby Spicer Street). The school now has 814 pupils.

The school operates a house system. The current system, which came into use in September 1996, assigns all members of the school to one of four houses. These are named after notable former pupils and staff: Hawking, Renfrew, Hampson and Marsh. Previously the house names were Abbey, Breakespeare, Debenham, Pemberton, Shirley, Woollams and School House. School House, the last remaining boarding house, closed at the end of the Summer Term 1956 and those boys in School House were integrated into other houses.

In 1967 the School acquired what was then a derelict hill farm in the Brecon Beacons. The property, Pen Arthur, was fully restored and is now a well-equipped Field Studies Centre. Academic departments use Pen Arthur for field trips and study weekends throughout the year, and it plays a key part as a base for outdoor activities organised by the CCF and Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. During their first year at the school, all pupils go to Pen Arthur for a week, during which time they participate in many "outward-bound" activities such as caving, hiking and even visiting a Roman gold mine.