New College School traces its origins to November 1379 when it was founded by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, as part of the foundation of the College of St Mary of Winchester in Oxford, more commonly known as New College. Wykeham himself paid for the choirboys, chaplains and clerks to sing for services at chapel. Records from the 1620s state that choirboys were accommodated on the College site itself, using an attic as the schoolroom. Despite a brief disruption due to the English Civil War the "school" continued to thrive. By the late 17th century, the vestry and song-room were refitted to accommodate new boys, marking the moment when the school started educating both choristers and non-choristers. The school did not have a permanent home for some years, moving back and forth between the College buildings and various sites outside the College. The current site was purchased in 1903 from Merton College.[1] The school's houses (Eagles, Lions, Wolves, and Hawks) were renamed in the early twenty-first century to commemorate four famous figures from New College's past.
Although no longer exclusively educating choristers, the school maintains its ties with the College: the College's Warden is Chair of the school's governing committee and the school's pupils use the College sports facilities.[2][3]
Location and facilities
New College School is located on Savile Road in central Oxford, near New College. The school site has a sports hall which is used for multiple sports and shares New College's playing fields and cricket nets. Its most recent upgrade is the revamped sports pavilion, reopened in 2013.[4] In September 2023, a three sided Gradel quadrangle opened, shared with New College.
Extracurricular activities
Sports form a major part of the school calendar. All boys from Year 3 to 8 are required to play football (Michaelmas term), hockey (Hilary term), and Cricket or Tennis (Trinity term). The school has a partnership with Oxford United F.C. and the England U16 rugby team which allows the boys to receive external coaching sessions. There are also lunchtime and after-school activities sessions where boys can participate in various hobby and interest clubs. Lunchtime activities are run every day apart from Wednesday and the after school programme operates on Monday–Friday evenings.[5] On all days of the week other than Wednesdays, there are rehearsals and evensongs for the chorister students.
John Rogers (bap. 1678–1729): clergyman, royal chaplain, and author
Paul Spicer: organist, producer, conductor, composer, Professor of Choral Conducting at the Royal College of Music
Joseph Trapp (1679–1747): clergyman, poet, playwright, first Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford, translator of complete works of Virgil (1731)
William Tuckwell (1829–1919) [Master of NCS]: author and ‘radical parson’
