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Abbreviation | HMC |
---|---|
Formation | 1869 |
Type | Non-governmental organisation |
Purpose | Educational accreditation |
Headquarters | Market Harborough |
Location |
|
Region served | Commonwealth and Ireland |
Membership | 351 full members (including international) |
General Secretary | Simon Hyde |
Affiliations | ISC |
Website | hmc.org.uk |
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 302 members are based in the United Kingdom, Crown dependencies and Ireland. [1] There are 49 international members (mostly from the Commonwealth) and also 28 associate or affiliate members who are head teachers of state schools or other influential individuals in the world of education, who endorse and support the work of HMC.
The Conference dates from 1869 when Edward Thring, Headmaster of Uppingham School, asked sixty of his fellow headmasters [2] [3] to meet at his house to consider the formation of a "School Society and Annual Conference". [4] Fourteen accepted the invitation, [2] and twelve were present for the whole of the initial meeting: Edward Thring, George Blore (Bromsgrove School), Albert Wratislaw (Bury St Edmunds), John Mitchinson (The King's School, Canterbury), William Grignon (Felsted School), Robert Sanderson (Lancing College), George Butler (Liverpool College), Augustus Jessopp (Norwich School), William Wood (Oakham School), Steuart Pears (Repton School), T. H. Stokoe (Richmond), Daniel Harper (Sherborne School), and James Welldon (Tonbridge School). John Dyne (Highgate School) attended on the second day, and Alfred Carver (Dulwich College) did not turn up. [5] [6] From that date there have been annual meetings.
Until the 1970s, membership was confined to 200 schools.[ citation needed ] In 1996, the association changed its name from the "Headmasters' Conference" to the "Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference". [6] In 2023, the name was changed to HMC (The Heads' Conference).[ citation needed ]
Membership of the HMC is often considered to be what defines a school as a public school in England and Wales. [7] [8] Not all independent schools are in the HMC; in particular, many notable girls' schools are not members, partly because historically the HMC was for boys' schools only.[ citation needed ] In 2005, the association opened membership to heads of girls-only schools. Today HMC's membership includes boys', girls' and co-educational schools.
The following are the member schools, listed with their Head (Headmaster or Headmistress). In some schools other titles are used, such as "Head Master", "High Master", "Warden", "Rector" and "Principal". An up-to-date list of schools whose Heads are members of HMC can be found on the association's website.
HMC Projects in Central and Eastern Europe is a charity offering opportunities for students and young teachers from Central and Eastern Europe to develop themselves, by coming to HMC member schools in the UK for a year.[ citation needed ]
The following are the Chairmen of the HMC until 1996. [40]
The following are the Chairs of the HMC after 1996. [40]
<*> Change to Academic Year Chairmanship
The following were Chairmen of the HMC Committee in the early years of the Conference. [40] In these years they served alongside the Chairman of the Conference (the 'annual meeting') until, in 1921, it was agreed that the Chairman of the Annual Meeting should always also be Chairman of the HMC Committee.
Institution | Year of First Chairmanship | Total Years as Chair |
---|---|---|
Winchester College | 1873 | 15 |
Eton College | 1879 | 14 |
Charterhouse | 1886 | 12 |
Rugby School | 1876 | 11 |
Shrewsbury School | 1898 | 11 |
King Edward's School, Birmingham | 1872 | 7 |
Haileybury | 1897 | 5 |
The Manchester Grammar School | 1953 | 5 |
Wellington College | 1881 | 5 |
Sherborne School | 1870 | 4 |
St Paul's School, London | 1969 | 4 |
Westminster School | 1912 | 4 |
Dulwich College | 1874 | 3 |
Magdalen College School | 1907 | 3 |
Marlborough College | 1877 | 3 |
Merchant Taylors' School | 1892 | 3 |
University College School | 1882 | 3 |
Ampleforth College | 1975 | 2 |
Berkhamsted School (Formerly Berkhamsted Collegiate School) | 2005 | 2 |
George Watson's College | 1976 | 2 |
Harrow School | 1878 | 2 |
Leicester Grammar School | 2015–16 | 2 |
Malvern College | 1906 | 2 |
Monkton Combe School | 1963 | 2 |
Tonbridge School | 1902 | 2 |
Uppingham School | 1869 | 2 |
Ashford School | 2016–17 | 1 |
Bolton School | 1978 | 1 |
Bradfield College | 1900 | 1 |
Bradford Grammar School | 1988 | 1 |
Bristol Grammar School | 1970 | 1 |
Bryanston School | 2000 | 1 |
Canford School | 1989 | 1 |
Christ's Hospital | 1904 | 1 |
City of London School | 2010–11 | 1 |
Clifton College | 1875 | 1 |
Daniel Stewart's and Melville College | 1998 | 1 |
Dean Close School | 2008-9 | 1 |
Forest School | 2006 | 1 |
Guildford High School | 2019-20 | 1 |
Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School | 1985 | 1 |
Highgate School | 1871 | 1 |
King's College School, Wimbledon | 1972 | 1 |
Lancing College | 1980 | 1 |
The Leys School | 1909 | 1 |
Norwich School | 2001 | 1 |
The Perse School | 2007 | 1 |
Portsmouth Grammar School | 1996 | 1 |
Reading Blue Coat School | 1913 | 1 |
Reigate Grammar School | 2018-19 | 1 |
St Albans School | 2009–10 | 1 |
Trinity School of John Whitgift | 1993 | 1 |
Wolverhampton Grammar School | 2007-8 | 1 |