Beckingham's Free School
The Royal Grammar School, Guildford, owes its existence to a merchant named Robert Beckingham, who died in 1509 and left provision in his will to ‘make a free scole at the Towne of Guldford’. A governing body was set up in 1512, and in January 1552 Edward VI issued a charter ordering that there should be ‘one Grammar School in Guildford called the Free Grammar School of King Edward VI for the education, institution and instruction of boys and youths in Grammar at all future times forever to endure’. The site on the High Street was purchased in 1555 and the construction of what is now the Grade I listed Old Building began in 1557.
That Old Building still stands. Its chained library – a rare surviving example of a Tudor collection where the books are chained to the shelves to prevent theft – is one of Guildford's most important historical artefacts. The schoolroom below, largely unaltered since the 16th century, remains in use for school events. Few schools in England can claim a working building of this age on their campus.
Academic Performance
The RGS is academically selective and consistently ranks among the top schools in England at both GCSE and A Level. Over the past decade, pupils have won more than 300 Oxbridge offers. Around 1,300 boys attend, aged 3 to 18 across the prep and senior schools. In December 2025, the school announced it would admit girls for the first time in its 500-year history, with co-education phased in from September 2027.
Notable Old Guildfordians
George Abbot, the 75th Archbishop of Canterbury, was educated here in the 1570s – one of three Abbot brothers who all attended the school and all rose to positions of significant influence. Arthur Onslow, the longest-serving Speaker of the House of Commons (33 years from 1728), is another Old Guildfordian. In the modern era, Terry Jones of Monty Python was school captain in 1960–61. Bob Willis, who took 325 Test wickets for England, and Simon Bird, star of The Inbetweeners, also passed through. The school operates from two sites in central Guildford and has international campuses in Dubai, Qatar, Nanjing, and Muscat.
