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Our history

1351 Ancient chapel/chantry established at Farnham Castle – unfortunately no documentation of this exists

1560 Application for a licence to build a school at ‘Farnham, in the County of Surrey, England’

1578 Robert Horne, Bishop of Winchester, set up a scheme for the erection of a school in Farnham – possibly a revival of the fourteenth-century chantry school as mentioned before

1585 Richard Searle donates 20 shillings ‘to the maintenance of the school of Farnham’ – proof that it had been built

1611 Dr. Harding of Frensham – President of Magdalen College, Oxford – left rent of £10 annually to the school

1650 Henry Massingberd endowed the School in or around this period

1657 First actual mention of the school is as a result of a court held in the Manor of Farnham – John and Nicholas Brown had to sell land they acquired dishonestly and the monies paid ‘the schoolmaster of the town of Farnham....teaching the Latin tongue in the school house adjoining the church of Farnham’

 

1673 School is mentioned in John Aubrey’s ‘Perambulations of Surrey’

1680 George Morley, Bishop of Winchester, left the Schoolmaster a dwelling in West Street, a garden and several tenements in Farnham

1758 School dismantled and materials sold – it had been decided to enlarge the church yard. No mention of what happens to the school itself; that could well have been when it moved to West Street

1788 Things were dire – just eight boys at the school

1800 Rev. S. Locke arrived from London and brought 12 private pupils with him; he would only teach these boys and not any of the other school pupils

1823 Rev. H. A. Austen is Headmaster, brother of Jane Austen

1849 School reorganised as a grammar school in line with the Grammar Schools Act of 1840

1872 A new schoolroom and dormitory were added to the school

1893 School partly rebuilt by several old boys; Paxton Watson was the architect and Tompsett and Kingsham the builder

1897 Farnham Council granted Mrs. G. Swayne a licence to start a school at 74 Castle Street. Named The Modern Commercial School for Daughters of Tradesmen, it was very small but was set to grow

1901 Rev. T. Gardiner set up a committee to found a secondary school for girls in Farnham. On 23rd September, 1901 the new Grammar School for Girls, Farnham opened at 74 Castle Street. Later generations would celebrate this date as Foundation Day

1903 Charity Commissioners asked to sell the buildings in West Street (FGS) to Surrey County Council for use as the girls’ grammar school. In November, the Morley Road site was purchased for the boys’ school

1904 Farnham Grammar School for Girls in East Street officially taken over by the county, the first grammar school in the county to be integrated into the new state system

1906 Farnham Grammar School is established and opened under a charitable trust – Farnham Grammar School Foundation Trust. The girls also moved into their new accommodation in West Street

1908 The name of the girls’ grammar school was changed from Farnham Grammar School for Girls to Farnham Girls’ Grammar School - the Headmaster at FGS (boys) thought that the name of the girls’ school was too similar and people might think that the schools were linked, which was not the case

1938 February – permission given for new girls’ grammar school to be built in Farnham. Work starts in April; architects are Jarvis and Richards, who were commissioned to build the new technical college in Guildford

1939 Farnham Girls’ Grammar School relocated to Menin Way – opened by Duchess of Gloucester on 20th July. Accommodates 330 girls and cost £50,000 to build

1940 Greycoat Hospital School from Westminster evacuated to FGGS via Brighton

1943 Greycoat girls return to their school in Westminster

1944 Common entrance examinations (11+) meant that the school no longer offered scholarships or took fees – entrance to the school was through academic prowess

1973 Farnham Grammar School merged with Farnham Grammar School for Girls to create the first sixth form college in Farnham. The new college retains its voluntary controlled status and reforms as the Farnham College Foundation

1985 Farnhamians’ 400 Trust charity formed to celebrate 400th anniversary

2007 Farnham College merges with Guildford College. The Trust was re-designated as Farnham Educational Foundation

2010 Planned maintenance of the old school building reveals that the Bell Tower is in a dangerous state; a large crane removed it to safety pending repairs

2011 An innovative multi-touch surface computer made from recycled components showcased the talent of Farnham Sixth Form College ICT students to the world when the UK hosted WorldSkills in London.

2012 Science students from Farnham Sixth Form College enjoyed an amazing expedition to Indonesia.

2013 Farnham Sixth Form College celebrated 40 years as a Sixth Form College with a special event. Current and previous students and staff, together with the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey Dame Sarah Goad, Mayor of Waverley Councillor Patricia Ellis, Deputy Mayor of Farnham Councillor Jeremy Ricketts and members of the Old Farnhamians’ Association and Farnham Educational Foundation, gathered together for the occasion. A time capsule filled with specially chosen artefacts was buried and a red oak tree was planted in the grounds.

2014 Photography student Rachel Benton, became a runner up at the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards, one of the world's leading photography competitions.

Student Jessica Keene was awarded the prestigious John Verney Award for her endeavours and achievements on the Applied Art and Design course at Farnham Sixth Form College.

The University of Cambridge awaits two students from Farnham Sixth Form College who achieved exceptional results in their A Level exams.

2015 A Level Biology students visited the Royal Holloway University of London to find out about rare diseases, what causes them and their treatment, as part of Rare Disease Day 2015.

A Level Chemistry students from Farnham Sixth Form College participated in Round One of the 47th International Chemistry Olympiad where they competed against thousands of students from across the country to win silver.

Students from Farnham Sixth Form College's Media and Film department visited the Sky headquarters to take part in their Sky's Careers Lab day.

Students from Farnham Sixth Form College performed their first ever Variety Show.

Oxford University awaits outstanding student Phoebe Hobbs, who achieved exceptional results in her A Level exams. Phoebe, 18, from Farnham will be studying Biochemistry at Oxford after gaining A*A*A*A in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics.

Farnham Sixth Form College was honoured to welcome twenty teachers from China who visited the College to engage with students and staff alike, in order to give them an insight in to the schooling system in Britain.

2016 Creative Media Production (Games Development) student, Alex Johnson, partook in four days work experience at the Neurotherapeutics group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL to help design an app for stroke patients.

36 Media and Film Studies students attended 'Media Live! An Educational Film Studies and Media Conference' designed for students aged 16-18 in Paris.

Students at Farnham Sixth Form College were given the valuable opportunity to put questions to the Right Honourable Jeremy Hunt MP ahead of the UK's European Union Referendum.

A Level Chemistry students from Farnham Sixth Form College recently participated in Round One of the 48th International Chemistry Olympiad where they competed against thousands of students from across the country to win gold.

Holly Mayes, a Media BTEC student, was nominated for the ‘Outstanding BTEC Media Student of the Year Award’ for her hard work in Media. Holly made it through to the final judging stage, along with 33 other students from across the country.

A Level student Jeffrey Wing Hon Chan was awarded this year's prestigious John Verney Award for his endeavours and achievements on the Art and Design course at Farnham Sixth Form College.

Farnham Sixth Form College hosted a Garden Party to celebrate the Queen's 90th Birthday, and to raise money for Challengers.

Cambridge University beckons for outstanding student Natalie Rees, who achieved exceptional results in her A Level exams.

2017 The National Centre for Diversity (NCFD) recently announced that the Guildford College Group has not only achieved the Investors in Diversity Standard at Stage 2, but also features at number 22 in the UK Further Education Top 50 Organisations and at number 57 in the Top 100 Index.

THE Rotary Club of Farnham has volunteered its business acumen to students at Farnham Sixth Form College, as a proud supporter of the college's Young Enterprise team.

2018 Oliver Penny, 16 from Fleet, recently gained a Silver Medal in the under 81 kg category at the Cadets British Judo Championships. This achievement automatically gained Oliver a position in the 2018 England National Judo Squad