The John of Gaunt School is a mixed

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

located in

Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) southe ...

in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. The school is named after

John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was an English royal prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the fourth son (third to survive infancy as William of Hatfield died shortly after birth) of King Edward ...

, as the school is built upon land that he once owned.

History

Grammar schools

The school's predecessors were Trowbridge Girls' High School and Trowbridge Boys' High School, both single-sex

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

s. These formed a co-educational grammar school, the Combined High Schools, on 14 April 1969.

Comprehensive

In 1974 the school became a coeducational

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

and was renamed The John of Gaunt School. Previously a community school administered by

Wiltshire Council Wiltshire Council is a council for the unitary authority of Wiltshire (excluding the separate unitary authority of Swindon) in South West England, created in 2009. It is the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council (1889–2009) and the ...

, The John of Gaunt School converted to academy status on 1 April 2012. However, the school continues to coordinate with Wiltshire Council for admissions. The John of Gaunt School offers

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils, as well as some vocational courses offered in conjunction with

Wiltshire College Wiltshire College & University Centre is a tertiary college of education founded in 2002 by the merger of Chippenham Technical College, Lackham College and Trowbridge College. Consolidation was completed with the merger of Salisbury College, whi ...

. Students in the sixth form have the option to study from a range of

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

s and further BTECs.

Notable former pupils

Nick Blackwell Nick Blackwell (born 27 October 1990) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2016. He won the English middleweight title in 2010, at the age of twenty, becoming the youngest boxer to do so. In 2011 and 2012 he challen ...

, boxer * Rob Chapman, musician and guitar company owner *

Keri Davies Keri Davies is a radio drama writer and producer. He has been professionally associated with the BBC Radio 4 drama ''The Archers'' since 1991. He has worked directly on the programme since 1992 as a producer, senior producer and web producer. S ...

, radio producer and playwright *

Jordan Daykin Jordan Daykin (born 6 July 1995), is a British businessman and entrepreneur. He is best known for his 2014 appearance on the BBC Two business programme ''Dragons' Den'', where he became the youngest and most successful entrepreneur to win inves ...

, entrepreneur * Tom Gale, Olympic high jumper *

Gemma Hunt Gemma Hunt (born 1 April 1982) is a British presenter who also used to be on the CBBC TV series ''Xchange''. CBBC Hunt joined the CBBC continuity team in 2002, since then she has presented on the CBBC Channel and also on BBC One and BBC Two. In ...

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

and

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

presenter * Chris Stokes, footballer

Trowbridge Boys' High School

John Atyeo Peter John Walter Atyeo (7 February 1932 – 8 June 1993) was an English footballer who played as a striker. He spent the majority of his career at Bristol City. He won six England caps between 1955 and 1957, scoring five goals. Atyeo made 645 a ...

(1932–1993), prolific goal-scorer for Bristol City who also scored for England *Prof

Harry Coles Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

, former Professor of Photonics of Molecular Materials at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and Professor from 1991 to 2002 at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

's Liquid Crystal Institute, recipient of a medal from the

British Liquid Crystal Society The British Liquid Crystal Society (BLCS) is a charitable trust established to promote education and research on liquid crystals in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United ...

* Sir

William Richard Joseph Cook Sir William Richard Joseph Cook, (10 April 1905 – 16 September 1987) was a British civil servant and mathematician. A graduate of Bristol University, he joined the staff of the Woolwich Arsenal in 1928, working on the 6-inch naval gun ...

FRS, mathematician, who largely led the

British hydrogen bomb programme The British hydrogen bomb programme was the ultimately successful British effort to develop hydrogen bombs between 1952 and 1958. During the early part of the Second World War, Britain had a nuclear weapons project, codenamed Tube Alloys. At th ...

in the 1950s * Kenneth Harris CBE, former chief interviewer for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' newspaper *

Tony Lane Anthony Samuel Lane (May 2, 1944 – January 1, 2016) began his career as an assistant to Alexey Brodovitch at Harper's Bazaar, and became an early art director for Rolling Stone magazine. He was the designer of iconic album covers for Simon & Garf ...

FRS, nuclear physicistTony Lane
/ref> *

John Henry Pyle Pafford John Henry Pyle Pafford (6 March 1900 – 11 March 1996) was an English librarian of the University of London Library from 1945 to 1967 and – as Major J H Pafford, the Wiltshire Regiment ‒ joint Instigator and team L ...

, librarian and editor *

James Rodway James Rodway (February 27, 1848 – November 19, 1926) was a British-born historian, Botany, botanist and novelist of British Guiana. Considered British Guiana's premier historian, Rodway helped to establish national institutions such as the The ...

(1848–1926), botanist and historian of Guyana * Alan Smith,

Bishop of St Albans The Bishop of St Albans is the Ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans in the Province of Canterbury. The bishop is supported in his work by two suffragan bishops, the Bishop of Hertford and the Bishop of Bedford, and three arc ...

since 2009, and Member of the House of Lords

Trowbridge Girls' High School

Janet Anderson Janet Anderson (born 6 December 1949) is a former Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rossendale and Darwen from 1992 until 2010, when she lost her seat. Her time as MP is remembered for her role as Minister for ...

(briefly), Labour MP from 1992 to 2010 for

Rossendale and Darwen Rossendale and Darwen is a constituency in Lancashire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Sir Jake Berry, the former Chairman of the Conservative Party. Boundaries 1983 to 1997: The Borough of Rossendal ...

Maureen Duffy Maureen Patricia Duffy (born 21 October 1933) is an English poet, playwright, novelist and non-fiction author. Long an activist covering such issues as gay rights and animal rights, she campaigns especially on behalf of authors. She has receive ...

, author * Prof

Joan M. Hussey Joan Mervyn Hussey (5 June 1907 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire – 20 February 2006 in Virginia Water, Surrey) was a British Byzantine scholar and historian. Education Hussey was educated privately at home, at Trowbridge High School for Girls (no ...

, Professor of History from 1950 to 1974 at the University of London *

Deborah Meaden Deborah Sonia Meaden (born 11 February 1959) is a British businesswoman and TV personality who ran a multimillion-pound family holiday business, before completing a management buyout. She is best known for her appearances as a 'Dragon' on the B ...

, businesswoman and television personality on ''

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is k ...

'' *

Bel Mooney Beryl Ann "Bel" Mooney (born 8 October 1946) is an English journalist and broadcaster. She currently writes a column for the ''Daily Mail'', having previously written – mainly as a columnist – for other publications including the ''Daily Mirro ...

, journalist and broadcaster *

Marjorie Reeves Marjorie Ethel Reeves, (17 July 1905 – 27 November 2003) was a British historian and educationalist. She served on several national committees and was a major contributor to the education of history in Britain. She helped create St Anne's Col ...

CBE, historian

References

External links

* Secondary schools in Wiltshire Trowbridge Academies in Wiltshire {{Wiltshire-school-stub