Eggar's School is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

secondary school with academy status, located in the town of

Alton, Hampshire Alton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England, near the source of the River Wey. It had a population of 17,816 at the 2011 census. Alton was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ''Aoltone' ...

, England.

Founding and history

In 1640 John Eggar of Moungomeries founded the Free Grammar School, Alton which subsequently became known as Eggars Grammar School. The School Badge displays the date 1642. The Eggar family have been associated with the area for many centuries. They were great hop growers and Richard Eggar was credited, in 1890, with the invention of the "rolling floor" to ease the drying process in the kilns.

Grammar school

Between 1640 - 1975 entrance to the Grammar School was largely based on the results of the eleven-plus examination. Pupils from other schools were able to transfer to the Sixth Form at the Grammar School after their O-levels (GCSE) though many chose to go to the Technical Colleges in

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

, Winchester, Farnborough and Guildford. This school occupied a site at ''Anstey Road'', Alton until 1969, when it moved to a new site on ''London Road'', Holybourne, Alton.

Comprehensive school

In 1975 the school became a comprehensive school, accessible to all children from the area.

Academy

The school converted to academy status on 1 September 2012.

Current site

The current site for Eggar's School has been used since 1969. The earlier, partly 18th century, building is still standing and was retained for use by Eggars in the 1970s and then Amery Hill in the 1980s and has now been converted into flats. There are approximately 900 students currently on roll.

Academic performance

In 2010, the cohort achieved a 93% 5 A*-C pass rate in GCSEs, with 73% gaining 5 A*-C including English and Mathematics. These results are up 9% and 15% from 2009 respectively. The performance rate remains close to this figure year on year.

Notable former pupils

Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Home Secretary since 2021, and previously from 2011 to 2015. She served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2008 to 2009 and Work and Pen ...

, Labour MP since 1997 for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford; a former cabinet minister and current Shadow Home Secretary; and wife of Labour former MP

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British broadcaster, writer, economist, professor and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Ex ...

* Chris Wright currently plays for Leicestershire County cricket team. Attended Eggar’s School from 1990. A pace bowler who made his name with Warwickshire.

Eggar's Grammar School

Sandra Gidley Sandra Julia Gidley MRPharmS (''née'' Rawson; born 26 March 1957) is a British pharmacist and politician who served as the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for Romsey in Hampshire from 2000 to 2010, when she lost her seat to Conserva ...

, Liberal Democrat MP for Romsey (2000-2010), former Shadow Health spokesperson * David Hughes (novelist) *

Paddy Kingsland Paddy Kingsland (born 30 January 1947) is a composer of electronic music best known for his incidental music for science fiction series on BBC radio and television whilst working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Educated at Eggar's Grammar Sch ...

, musician, composer of many BBC TV programme themes * Rt Rev

Geoffrey Rowell Douglas Geoffrey Rowell (; 13 February 1943 – 11 June 2017) was an Anglican bishop, who served as Bishop of Basingstoke and then as the third Bishop in Europe until his retirement on 8 November 2013. Following his retirement he ministered as ...

Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe The Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe, commonly known as the Bishop in Europe, is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese in Europe in the Province of Canterbury. Overview The diocese provides the ministry of Anglican chaplains, not only ...

since 2001 * Godfrey Smith (journalist), editor from 1965-72 of the ''Sunday Times'' magazine

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Hampshire Educational institutions established in the 1640s Alton, Hampshire Academies in Hampshire 1642 establishments in England