Exeter School
Encyclopedia
Exeter School is a selective independent
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...

 co-educational day school for pupils between the ages of 7 and 18 located in Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. In 2010 there were around 180 pupils in the Junior School and 670 in the Senior School. The school maintains close links with its pupils through the Old Exonian Club which meets annually around the country.

History

The School traces its origins from the opening of the Exeter Free Grammar School on 1 August 1633, attended mainly by the sons of the City freemen. Exeter’s wealthy merchants, notably Thomas Walker, provided the finance, with sufficient bequests to pay the Headmaster £50 a year and to install the school in the medieval buildings of St John’s Hospital, which had stood on the south side of the High Street since the 12th Century.

In 1878 the school opened as Exeter Grammar School at a new campus designed by noted architect William Butterfield
William Butterfield
William Butterfield was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement . He is noted for his use of polychromy-Biography:...

. The school occupies this 25 acres (101,171.5 m²) site on Victoria Park Road to this day. The cost at the time was £7,600 with a further £16,750 spent on the erection of buildings. It was decided that St John’s Hospital Trust had to pay to Exeter School the net annual income of all endowments for Exhibitions and Scholarships attached to the School, and it also had to pay a proportion of the residue of its income.

In 1920 the Governors of Exeter School decided that it was no longer possible for them to continue the School without considerable assistance. The Exeter Education Authority agreed to assist but only if the School came under its direct control so, in April 1921, control of the school was handed over to the City. It then became a "maintained" school until 1929 when it became an "aided" school, thus regaining charge of its own finances under a newly appointed Governing Body.

In March 1945 its status changed again to a direct grant grammar school
Direct grant grammar school
A direct grant grammar school was a selective secondary school in England and Wales between 1945 and 1976 funded partly by the state and partly through private fees....

 and remained as such until September 1975 when the Direct Grant System was abolished by the Government of the day. In September 1976 the first "independent" pupils were admitted.

From 1979, the School participated in the Assisted Places Scheme
Assisted Places Scheme
The Assisted Places Scheme was established in the UK by the Conservative government in 1980. Children who could not afford to go to fee-paying independent schools were provided with free or subsidised places - if they were able to score within the top 10-15% of applicants in the school's entrance...

, taking over 200 pupils at its peak, but this scheme was abolished in 1997 and the last of these pupils left in the summer of 2004.

Academic standards

In March 2002, the Independent Schools Inspectorate
Independent Schools Inspectorate
The Independent Schools Inspectorate is an organisation responsible for the inspection of independent schools in England which are affiliated to the Independent Schools Council . The Inspectorate is a separate company, owned by the Independent Schools Council and has its work monitored by the...

 assessed the school as "Exeter School provides a good rounded education for pupils of a high range of ability from a large catchment area, mainly within 30 miles (48.3 km) of Exeter. It enriches both the academic and, particularly, the cultural and personal development of its pupils. Its many facilities, set in an attractive and very well cared for campus, provide an excellent environment for the education of its pupils. The school achieves its aims and expectations well."

In summer 2007 it was rated the top independent school in the South West on points in A Level examinations, with an overall score equivalent to every candidate gaining more than 3 A grades. At GCSE, candidates scored 59% A*/A grades, with 42 pupils gaining at least 7 A*/As.

Fees

As of February 2009, the day fees are £2800 per term for the Junior School (including lunch) and £3100 per term for the senior school.

Notable alumni

  • John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon
    John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon
    John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon was an English ancient historian.After attending Exeter School, he studied at Exeter College in Oxford, where he taught Ancient History from 1927 to 1969. Since 1967, he was a member of the British Academy. His research was primarily in Roman History...

    , historian
  • John Blackall
    John Blackall
    John Blackall M.D., FRCP was a physician.John Blackall was the sixth son of the Reverend Theophilus Blackall, a prebendary of Exeter Cathedral, by his wife Elizabeth Ley, and grandson of Bishop Ofspring Blackall, was born in St. Paul's Street, Exeter on 24 December 1771...

    , physician
  • Robin Bush
    Robin Bush (historian)
    Robin James Edwin Bush was the resident historian for the first nine series of Channel 4's archaeology series Time Team, appearing in 39 episodes between 1994 to 2003. He also presented eight episodes of Time Team Extra in 1998.-Early life:Bush was born in Hayes, Middlesex...

    , Time Team
    Time Team
    Time Team is a British television series which has been aired on Channel 4 since 1994. Created by television producer Tim Taylor and presented by actor Tony Robinson, each episode features a team of specialists carrying out an archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson explaining...

    historian
  • David Collins
    David Collins (governor)
    Colonel David Collins was the first Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Van Diemens Land, founded in 1804, which in 1901 became the state of Tasmania in the Commonwealth of Australia.-Early life and military career:...

    , inaugural Governor of the Colony of Van Diemens Land (later Tasmania
    Tasmania
    Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

    )
  • General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley
    Anthony Farrar-Hockley
    General Sir Anthony Heritage Farrar-Hockley GBE, KCB, DSO & Bar, MC , affectionately known as 'Farrar the Para' , was a British soldier and a military historian who distinguished himself in a number of British conflicts...

    , soldier
  • Major General Charles Dair Farrar-Hockley
    Dair Farrar-Hockley
    Major General Charles Dair Farrar-Hockley, MC is a former British Army officer and a military arbitrator. He is the son of General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley.-Military career:...

    , soldier
  • Matthew Goode
    Matthew Goode
    Matthew William Goode is an English actor. His notable films have included Match Point, Watchmen, Brideshead Revisited, Leap Year, Imagine Me and You and A Single Man.-Early life:...

    , actor
  • Sir Ronald Hatton
    Ronald Hatton
    Sir Ronald George Hatton was a highly distinguished pomologist.-Life and career:...

    , pomologist
    Pomology
    Pomology is a branch of botany that studies and cultivates pome fruit, particularly from the genera Malus, Prunus and Pyrus belonging to the Rosaceae. The term is sometimes applied more broadly, to the cultivation of any type of fruit...

  • Fred T. Jane
    Fred T. Jane
    John Fredrick Thomas Jane was the founding editor of reference books on warships and aircraft . He also once kidnapped Victor Grayson MP in a political stunt....

    , founder of Jane's Information Group
    Jane's Information Group
    Jane's Information Group is a publishing company specializing in transportation and military topics.-History:It was founded by Fred T...

  • Tim Lewens
    Tim Lewens
    Tim Lewens is a reader in the history and philosophy of biology, medicine, and bioethics at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge...

     historian and philosopher of biology and bioethics
  • Harry Pennell
    Harry Pennell
    Harry Lewin Lee Pennell was a Royal Navy Officer, Lieutenant and Commander of the Terra Nova Expedition. He was responsible for the first sighting of Oates Coast on 22 February 1911, and named it after Captain Lawrence Oates...

    , commander of the Terra Nova Expedition
    Terra Nova Expedition
    The Terra Nova Expedition , officially the British Antarctic Expedition 1910, was led by Robert Falcon Scott with the objective of being the first to reach the geographical South Pole. Scott and four companions attained the pole on 17 January 1912, to find that a Norwegian team led by Roald...

     and of HMS Queen Mary
    HMS Queen Mary
    HMS Queen Mary was a battlecruiser built by the British Royal Navy before World War I, the sole member of her class. She was similar to the s, though she differed in details from her half-sisters. She was the last battlecruiser completed before the war and participated in the Battle of Heligoland...

  • Bob Wigley
    Bob Wigley
    Bob Wigley is the former senior vice president and chairman of Merrill Lynch EMEA .He has held a number of management positions at Merrill Lynch, serving from 2003 to 2004 as chairman of EMEA Corporate Banking, global co-head of Telecom and Media Investment Banking in 2002, co-head of U.K...

    , Chairman Merrill Lynch, Europe, Middle East and Africa
  • Ella Edmondson
    Ella Edmondson
    Eleanor Rose "Ella" Edmondson is an English singer-songwriter. Her primary instrument is the guitar though she can also play piano.-Biography:...

    , Actress/folk singer/songwriter
  • Beattie Edmondson, Actress/Comedienne
  • Freya Edmondson, Actress

External links

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