Stanborough School, Welwyn Garden City

Stanborough School
Address
Lemsford Lane Welwyn Garden City , Hertfordshire , AL8 6YR England
Coordinates	51°47′28″N0°13′10″W / 51.79099°N 0.21947°W / 51.79099; -0.21947
Information
Type	Grammar (1939–1968) Comprehensive (1968–2012) Academy (2012–)
Motto	High Expectations -Mutual Respect - Quality Learning - Success For All
Religious affiliation(s)	None
Established	1939
Founder	Richard Dickington
Specialist	Maths and Computing
Department for Education URN	137847 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Headteacher	Merry John
Staff	141
Gender	Mixed
Age	11to 18
Enrolment	1412
Houses	Brocket, Hatfield, Knebworth, Sopwell
Colour(s)	Green, white
Former name	Welwyn Grammar School
Website	http://www.stanborough.herts.sch.uk

Stanborough School is a secondary academy school located in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated off Stanborough Road (A6129), near the A1(M), and across the road from the headquarters of Hertfordshire Constabulary, a golf driving range and the Gosling Sports Park. The East Coast Main Line is about 1 km away.

It was founded by Richard Dickington during WW2 for evacuated children to get an education. It was originally a grammar school (1939-1968), then a comprehensive school (1968-2012), and in 2012 it became an academy.

History

Grammar school

Stanborough School was founded as a selective grammar school in 1939. It had around 550 girls and boys in the 1960s.

Comprehensive

It became an all-ability comprehensive school in 1968. In the early 1980s it had around 900 boys and girls.

Merger with Sir John Newsom School

In September 1998, nearby Sir John Newsom School was merged with Stanborough School and its pupils transferred across to the Stanborough site. ^[1]

Academy status

The school gained academy status in February 2012 with a specialism in maths and computing. ^[2] The school is independent of local authority control and is legally a private company limited by guarantee registered at Companies House with registration number 07900439. ^[3]

Sixth Form Consortium

Stanborough Sixth form is part of a wider consortium of many secondary schools in the area. Stanborough offers a range of subjects at A level on site. English, History, Mathematics, Science, Computer Science, Psychology are just a few examples. Other schools aligned with the sixth form consortium include:

• Monk's Walk School
• Ridgeway Academy
• Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School
• Onslow St Audrey's School

Academic performance

Stanborough School often achieves GCSE results above the national average, with 51% of pupils achieving the equivalent of five or more GCSEs grade C or above including English and Maths in 2012. Their A Level results are consistently one of the highest of maintained schools in Hertfordshire.

Notable former pupils

Welwyn Garden City Stanborough Grammar School

• Prof Roger Heath-Brown, Professor of Pure Mathematics since 1999 at the University of Oxford
• Alex Larke, musician and UK Eurovision Song Contest representative in 2015
• Michael Peacock OBE, television executive, Controller of BBC1 from 1965–7, and chairman from 1989 to 1995 of UBC Media Group
• Prof Michael Talbot, James and Constance Alsop Professor of Music from 1986 to 2003 at the University of Liverpool
• Glyn Maxwell, poet
• Prof. Jonathan Gregory, Professor of Climate Change and Modelling at the University of Reading and the Met Office.
• Klaus Hasselmann, 2021 Nobel Laureate in Physics ^[4]

References

1. "Sir John Newsom School, Welwyn Garden City: Schools in Welwyn Garden City". Blocl.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
2. "Academy Status". Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
3. "Failure Page". Wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
4. "Former Student wins Nobel Prize for Physics" (PDF). The Stanborough Times. 15 June 2021. p. 4. Retrieved 29 November 2021.

External links

• Official website