Rugby School

Rugby School is a public school, which means it is a private boarding school in England, for students aged 13 to 18. It is located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire. The school was founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for boys from the local area. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.

For many years, the school was not very well known. But things changed when Thomas Arnold became the headmaster in 1828. Under his leadership, from 1828 to 1841, the school became a model for other schools in the Victorian era. Later, it was one of the schools looked at by the Clarendon Commission in 1864 and was included in the Public Schools Act 1868. The school started accepting girls as well as boys in 1992 and became fully co-educational.

Many important people went to Rugby School. These alumni, called "Old Rugbeians", include a UK prime minister, a French prime minister, bishops, poets, scientists, writers, and soldiers. One of the most famous things from Rugby School is that rugby football was first played there.

History

See also: Grammar school § History, Latin school, and Neo-Latin § Latin in school education 1500–1700

Foundation and early growth

Rugby School was started in 1567 thanks to Lawrence Sheriff, who became rich by selling supplies to Queen Elizabeth I of England. Before he died, he wrote a will saying his money should help poor people and start a free school for boys from Rugby and nearby places. Just before dying, he changed his will to give the school land instead of money. At first, this land didn’t seem very valuable, but later it became very important because it was in a place that grew to be a busy part of London.

For many years after it started, Rugby School wasn’t very well known. There were problems with Sheriff’s family who didn’t agree with his plans, leading to many court cases. Things settled down in 1667, and after that, the school grew. By the late 1600s, boys from all over England were coming to learn there.

Originally, the school was in a wooden building near a church. But by the 1740s, the building was old and falling apart, so in 1750 the school moved to its current spot south of the town center. Today’s school buildings were mostly built in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Victorian period

Rugby School’s most famous leader was Thomas Arnold, who was headmaster from 1828 to 1841. He focused on teaching good values and religion, and many people admired his work. A book called Tom Brown's School Days from 1857 tells stories about life at the school during this time. Other important leaders followed, including Frederick Temple, who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In 1845, some Rugby School students created the first set of rules for a game called football, which later became known as rugby football.

Rugby School was one of several famous schools checked by a group in the 1860s. It became one of the schools that followed special rules made in 1868.

From the beginning, the school had two types of students: boys from Rugby who got free schooling, and boys from other places who paid to stay and study. Over time, more and more paying students came, and fewer local boys could attend for free. In 1878, a new school called Lawrence Sheriff Grammar School was created so local boys could still get free education.

The French educator Pierre de Coubertin, who started the modern Olympic Games in 1896, visited Rugby School several times and said it inspired him.

Modern history

In 1975, the school began letting girls join the top class, and soon after, the first house for girls opened. By 1992, the school had become fully mixed, with girls joining as young as age 13. In 1995, Louise Woolcock became the school’s first Head Girl and was even on the front page of a major newspaper. By 2003, all houses at the school had girls.

Today, the school has around 800 day students from ages 14 to 18.

Branches overseas

In 2017, Rugby School opened its first school outside of England in Thailand. In 2023, it opened another in Japan, and in 2025 one in Nigeria. A new branch in Dubai is planned to open soon.

Rugby football

The game of Rugby football gets its name from this school.

There is a famous story about William Webb Ellis starting the game. People say he was the first to pick up a football and run with it, creating a new sport. A plaque at the school remembers this story. However, the only person who told this story was Matthew Bloxam, a former student who knew Webb Ellis but did not see the event himself. He wrote about it many years later.

At the time Webb Ellis was a student (1816–1825), there were no fixed rules for football. Students made up their own rules, and they changed often with new students arriving. Richard Lindon, a local shoemaker, helped create the special oval-shaped ball used in the game.

Rugby fives

Main articles: Rugby fives and Fives

Rugby fives is a fun handball game, similar to squash, played in a special enclosed court. It is like other games such as Winchester fives and Eton fives.

The game is usually played by two players alone or by two teams of two players each. The goal is to hit the ball above a line on the front wall so the other team cannot return it before it bounces twice. The ball is a little bigger than a golf ball, covered in leather, and quite hard. Players wear special padded gloves on both hands to hit the ball. Rugby fives is still popular today, with many tournaments held all over the country, organized by the Rugby Fives Association.

Cricket

Rugby School has helped many players become great at cricket, some even playing in big matches called Test and first-class cricket. The school hosted two big cricket matches. The first was a Twenty20 match between Warwickshire and Glamorgan in 2013. The second was a one-day match between Warwickshire and Sussex in 2015. In that 2015 match, a player named William Porterfield scored exactly 100 runs. Warwickshire plans to return to Rugby School in 2024 for three more matches.

Houses

Rugby School has both day students and boarding students, with most being boarders. It used to only accept boys, but started allowing girls in the sixth form in 1975 and became fully co-educational in 1992. The students are grouped into different houses.

Academic life

Students at Rugby School start by studying many subjects in their first year. In their second year, they focus on nine subjects for their GCSE exams. Later, they can choose to study three or four subjects for A-levels, and they can also try an extended project. The school offers 29 different A-level subjects and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme as well.

The school helps families who cannot afford full fees by offering scholarships. With a scholarship, families can get a 10% reduction in school fees, and a student can receive more than one scholarship.

Fees

Rugby School has different costs for students who live at the school and those who come from their homes each day. For students who stay at the school, the cost for each term is £19,640. For students who travel home each day, the cost for each term is £12,450.

Notable alumni

Main article: List of Old Rugbeians

Rugby School has had many famous students over the years. One of them is said to have started the sport of rugby, named William Webb Ellis. Another student helped create a different kind of football called Australian rules football, known as Tom Wills. Some students became well-known writers and leaders, like Rupert Brooke, John Gillespie Magee, Jr., Neville Chamberlain, and Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland. Other famous students include a leader of France, a poet named Matthew Arnold, and a writer named Salman Rushdie. Even a musician from India, Adnan Sami, went to Rugby School.

There is a group called the Rugbeian Society for people who went to the school. It helps these former students stay connected with each other and with the school. In 2010, this group played in an important rugby tournament.

Buildings and architecture

The buildings of Rugby School are mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries, with some added in the early 1900s. The oldest parts, called the Old Quad Buildings and the School House, were built between 1809 and 1813. They were designed by Henry Hakewill.

Many famous buildings were made during the Victorian era by William Butterfield. The school chapel, built in 1872, has a tall tower that is 138 feet high. Another important building is the War Memorial chapel, made in 1922 by Sir Charles Nicholson, who went to the school himself. There is also a special room called the Temple Speech Room, named after a former headmaster, Frederick Temple. It was opened by King Edward VII in 1909. The Macready Theatre, located in a old Victorian building, started as classrooms in 1885 and became a theatre in 1975.

Head Masters

Rugby School has had many head masters since it began. Some of the well-known ones include Thomas Arnold, who led the school from 1828 to 1842 and made many changes to improve learning. Another head master, John Percival, hired Marie Bethell Beauclerc in 1888. She was the first female teacher at an English boys' school and also taught shorthand, which was very popular with the students.

Controversy

In September 2005, Rugby School was one of fifty schools that shared information about their fees, which broke the rules set by the government. All these schools had to stop this practice, pay a small fine, and put money into a trust to help students who went to school there during that time.

The leader of the group representing these schools said they thought they were allowed to share this information because they had always done it that way and didn’t know the rules had changed.