A Brief History

Queen Elizabeth's is a voluntary controlled school, which was founded in 1585. The original "Old School" is in the centre of the town but from 1909 teaching has been based on The Green Road site where the school developed as a mixed Grammar School. A full history of the school from 1585 to 1935 may be read in "The History of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Ashbourne Derbyshire 1585 – 1935" by Nicholas J Frangopulo.

In 1973, the Ashbourne County Secondary School on Old Derby Road closed and amalgamated with Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School to form a single comprehensive school operating on split sites about 2 miles apart, serving children of all abilities from Ashbourne and the surrounding area between the ages of 11 and 18.

The school remained a‘split site’ school until February 2003 when completion of new buildings saw the transfer of all Lower Site pupils to the Upper School site on The Green Road. They are now educated in a much better physical environment and benefit from a large expansion of facilities for art, music, performing arts and physical education.

The Sixth Form continues to be based in the buildings previously occupied by Boothby Meadows Special School. These have also been extended to provide a superb environment for post 16 education. Some practical lessons are still taken on The Green Road site; the ICT facilities and the library are based there.

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School has a long history of academic success. In 2002 & 2003 the school came top of the A level performance tables published by The Guardian and Independent newspapers and has featured prominently every year since. However we cater for pupils of all abilities and providing education for pupils with Special Educational Needs has long been a feature. On average there are 70 pupils aged 11 – 16 with Statements of Special Educational Need.

The school is very well equipped in the field of Information and Communication Technology. The computers are modern and placed in suites. There is a full-time Network Manager and two ICT Technicians who ensure that the system operates efficiently. Information and Communication Technology is used throughout the curriculum.

In June 2005 the school was redesignated as a Specialist Technology College. The status brought with it considerable extra funding which has enabled us to build and equip a state of the art technology block.

These are exciting times for the school. We anticipate that the new facilities will enable us to provide an even higher quality education to all of our pupils.

Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School has a proud history and a successful present operation. We look forward to our future with confidence.