Elizabeth College, Guernsey
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The Royal College of Elizabeth, better known as Elizabeth College, 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 ...
independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...
in
Saint Peter Port St. Peter Port () is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958. St. Peter Port is a small tow ...
, Guernsey. A member of the HMC (The Heads' Conference), it is a public school in the British sense of the term. Founded on 25 May 1563 by
royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
from
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
, it is one of the oldest schools in the British Isles and the oldest public school in the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
. The school endured a turbulent two and a half centuries after its foundation, with several principals being dismissed or resigning following disputes with the
local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
. In 1824, it was re-chartered with new staff and an improved curriculum to attract fee-paying pupils from
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. During the
German occupation of the Channel Islands The military occupation of the Channel Islands by Nazi Germany lasted for most of the Second World War, from 30 June 1940 until liberation on 9 May 1945. The Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey are British Crown dependencies in the ...
, the school was evacuated to Great Hucklow,
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
. Having been a
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
since its foundation, the decline in the number of pupils admitted as boarders following the world war period meant the school became a
day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...
in 1996. The school became co-educational in 2021. The school teaches around 570 pupils aged 11 to 18. As a selective school, prospective pupils must pass an entrance exam to be offered a place, although the school accepts pupils from a wide ability range. The school charges £5,216 per term, with three terms per academic year, (or £15,648 per annum) as of 2024/2025. There is an associated
junior school A junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at an infant school, which covers the age range 5–7. Since both infant and junior schools provide pri ...
for ages 2½ to 11 on adjoining sites at the nearby Acorn House (
pre-school A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space Learning space or learning setting refers to a physical s ...
), in King's Road, and Beechwood (
primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
), in Queen's Road. Alumni of the school are known as Old Elizabethans. Since 1824, pupils have been allocated a unique, sequential school number. Among these alumni are multiple Olympians, several Bailiffs of Guernsey and other notable persons. Noted in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries for producing students who later joined military colleges in the UK, the school's alumni includes four
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
recipients.


History


Foundation

In the mid-sixteenth century, the Queen's Commissioners raised concern over the civil, political and religious administration of Guernsey. In the year the school was founded, three people were burned for
witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...
. The Privy Council thought, therefore, that the island required
secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
in the hope that students might go on to preach as clergymen on the island in line with principles of the
Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
. They recommended the establishment of a school by royal charter, whereby a free grammar school would be founded by the States of Guernsey with a master appointed by the island's
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
. The school was founded on 25 May 1563 as Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School by a
patent roll The patent rolls (Latin: ''Rotuli litterarum patentium'') are a series of administrative records compiled in the English, British and United Kingdom Chancery, running from 1201 to the present day. Description The patent rolls comprise a registe ...
from
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
which read:
Also since there is no grammar school in the isle, to erect a free grammar school there called Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School under the seal of the isle; the schoolmaster thereof to be appointed and removable by the Captain (except the Queen shall otherwise order); the school to be endowed with wheat rentes of 80 quarters a year found to belong to the Queen by the late Commissioners.
It was the fourth school to be established on the island. To create a site for the school,
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
friars were moved from land at La Rue Des Frères. The first schoolmaster was Belgian scholar, Adrian Saravia. Saravia left the island by 1571, describing the local population as an "uncivilised race" which "hates all learning". Over the next two and a half centuries the school struggled to survive, in large part due to shortcomings with the statutes on which the school was founded: the raising of funds was a near-constant issue, with buildings being abandoned and land alienated; principals (then known as masters) came and went; the pupil roll never exceeded 29 and, for several periods, there were no students at the school at all.


Reform and reconstruction

In 1824, due to increased demand for a higher standard of local education, including at the school, the island's
Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
,
John Colborne Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, (16 February 1778 – 17 April 1863) was a British Army officer and colonial governor. After taking part as a junior officer in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Hollan ...
, established a committee to review the school. It was re-chartered that year, and on 19 October 1826 the foundation stone of a new school building to be designed John Wilson was laid by Colborne and the school was renamed the Royal College of Elizabeth. The reform introduced a register of pupils, whereby pupils are allocated a unique, sequential school number.Elizabeth College Register 1824–1873 published by Frederick Clarke 1898 After the re-chartering, Charles Stocker was appointed principal and developed a reputation for
flogging Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed ...
. He set out to raise the academic standing of the school and oversee the construction of the new main building. In the school's first year after the re-chartering, there were more than 100 boys on the school roll. However, over the next couple of years, the number of new entrants decreased to as low as 17 in 1827. In 1829, three years after the laying of the foundation stone, the new building was ready for use. The school expanded its teaching and extra-curricular facilities in the latter half of the nineteenth century, building a gymnasium on the main site and purchasing fields in Kings Road for a cricket ground which was completed in 1888. The original school building was converted into a science laboratory. Some of the biggest developments came under principal William Penney, appointed in 1888, who identified faults with the quality of teaching and attended to the school's main building which was badly in need of repair. Penney revised the syllabus, introduced masters' meetings to be held twice a term and had reports sent to parents every half term. He revised the punishment system too, only allowing himself and the vice-principal to use the
cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick, or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking * Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance * White cane, a mobility or safety device used by blind or visually i ...
, oversaw the reincarnation of ''The Elizabethan'' magazine, and formed the Old Elizabethan Association, which set about wiping the school's debts by 1898 through a variety of money-raising ventures.


World war period

In the nineteenth century, the school gained a reputation for catering for the sons of British government officials employed across the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
, many of whom followed distinguished colonial careers. In this era, the school was noted for producing students who would later join military colleges in the United Kingdom. 662 alumni served in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, 105 of which were known to have been killed and many more died of injuries sustained in battle, meaning approximately one in five of all the boys who had joined the school since the re-chartering had served in the Great War. A roll of honour is displayed in the main hall to commemorate those who fought and died in the war. Four alumni have been awarded the
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
:
Duncan Home Duncan Charles Home Victoria Cross, VC (10 June 18281 October 1857) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth of Nations, C ...
in 1857, John McCrea in 1881, Lewis Halliday in 1900 and Wallace Le Patourel in 1943. In 1939, the school remained largely unaffected by the transition from peace to the
Phoney War The Phoney War (; ; ) was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II during which there were virtually no Allied military land operations on the Western Front from roughly September 1939 to May 1940. World War II began on 3 Septembe ...
, with many believing the Channel Islands to be the safest place in the British Isles. Precautionary measures were taken nonetheless: air-raid shelters were dug in front of the school's main building and black-out regulations required some school activities and societies to be curtailed. The air-raid shelter was later converted by German forces into a secure holding area for weapons and ammunition. Following developments in the war in May 1940, senior boys were required to join the
Local Defence Volunteers The Home Guard (initially Local Defence Volunteers or LDV) was an unpaid armed citizen militia supporting the 'Home Forces' of the British Army during the Second World War. Operational from 1940 to 1944, the Home Guard comprised more than 1.5 ...
and came to school with rifles slung across their shoulders. Many school activities continued uninterrupted at this point, with cricket and swimming continuing in the unusually fine weather. In June however, the extent of the dangers of war were realised. French resistance collapsed, after which the island's army and RAF units left the island. Fearing imminent occupation by German forces, an evacuation scheme was quickly assembled by the school governors with Jersey and the Home Office. On the evening of Thursday, 20 June the school was evacuated to Great Hucklow,
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
, where it would spend five years during which pupils had little or no contact with their parents. At the start of the occupation, the school buildings were home to the States Controlling Committee, but in 1941 the German authorities demanded the use of the school buildings as its headquarters. A strongroom bunker was built inside what is now the 'AJ Perrot' room, which remains to this day, albeit without the door. Despite the shortages in staff, facilities and money, eight pupils receiving scholarships to the University of Oxford in this period. The official liberation announcement by Brigadier Alfred Ernest Snow was made from the steps of the school in 1945 to a crowd of cheering locals. However, it was not until August that boys were able to return home and continue their education on island. German prisoners of war were tasked with cleaning up and repairing the damage to the building, which was not as bad as feared initially.


Modern period

The school's uptake increased at such a rate after the war that, for the first time since 1829, the main building was too small to accommodate the students. Rapid development followed, including the purchase of Beechwood, a former nursing home, in 1948 which was converted into a boarding house. A squash court was added, the nearby Grange Club was purchased in 1950 and converted into a library, land was acquired at Footes Lane for a cricket field and a new science block was built. The 1990s saw the refurbishment of the science laboratories, improved facilities for sport and physical education and the development of a purpose-built art department. In 1992, the school accepted a group of girls into the sixth form from the relocating Blanchelande College. They were the first girls to be officially registered and receive college numbers, and provoked the first discussions about the possibility for a mixed-sex sixth form run in co-operation with the Ladies' College sixth form. Having been a boarding school since its re-chartering in 1824, the end of the 20th century saw a gradual decline in the number of children being sent to the island to board, not helped by the increasingly high fares on air and sea routes from the mainland. There was also a growing requirement for independent infant schooling in Guernsey, and so the King's Road boarding house was reopened in October 1996 as Acorn House pre-school and pre-prep. David Toze's appointment as principal in 1998 saw a large number of changes implemented at the school. He appointed the first-ever female headteacher of Beechwood in 2000, oversaw the merging of Acorn House and Beechwood into the Elizabeth College Junior School and drove forward the link between the Ladies' and Elizabeth College sixth forms. Having appointed its first-ever female principal, Jenny Palmer, in 2017, in January 2020 the school announced that "in recognition of the needs of contemporary society", girls would be admitted to the upper school into year seven and into the sixth form from September 2021 as part of plans for the school to be entirely coeducational by 2025.


School structure

The school operates a
house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. The school is divided into units called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...
with four houses—Country, North, South and Town—referring loosely to the four parts of the island. Previously, pupils were assigned to a house based on where they and their families lived, but are now assigned arbitrarily. Year groups are divided into four roughly equal-sized tutor groups divided by house, each overseen by a dedicated tutor. Teaching at the school is delivered over thirty-five periods per week, divided into 45-minute lessons in years seven and eleven and between 45 and 55 minutes in the sixth form, with a typical school day starting at 8:25 am and finishing at 4 pm. Lower down the school, students are divided into class groups by house, except for creative subjects which are taught in smaller mixed-ability groups. Further up the school, however, class groups combine students from all four houses and are determined by ability and/or subject choice.


Governance

Governance is delivered by a board of between nine and twelve directors who serve for a six-year term, with the exception of the Dean of Guernsey, who acts as chairman. In addition to the Dean, two directors are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and six are elected by the States of Guernsey. Several of the school's directors are former pupils of the school and parents of current pupils. These directors are required to meet both UK and Guernsey safeguarding standards. The school's permanent
visitor A visitor, in English and Welsh law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution, often a charitable institution set up for the perpetual distribution of the founder's alms and bounty, who can interve ...
is the
Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...
. The school is located on the island of
Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...
, which forms the major part of the
Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, comprising several of the Channel Islands. It has a total land area of ...
, a self-governing dependency of the British Crown which does not form part of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. The school is therefore not subject to the jurisdiction of the UK's
Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...
nor UK regulations regarding independent schools. Instead, it is accredited as a British school overseas under a voluntary accreditation scheme run by the Department for Education with standards which follow the framework and guidance for English independent schools. One of the earliest members of the HMC (The Heads' Conference), it is a public school in the British sense of the term. It is one of the oldest schools in the British Isles and the oldest public school in the Channel Islands. The school has charitable status in both the UK and Guernsey. In 2007 the school established The Elizabeth College Foundation (Guernsey registered charity CH91) and The Elizabeth College UK Foundation (a UK registered charity 1120954).


Admissions

The school admits pupils between ages 11 and 18. It is selective, meaning prospective pupils must pass an entrance exam to be offered a place. Candidates for entry at age 11 sit an entrance assessment in November prior to entry in the following September which tests English, mathematics and verbal reasoning, while entry into the sixth form at 16 is based upon GCSE results. As of 2021, enrolment was 420 between years seven and eleven, and 147 in the sixth form, totalling 567. The school accepts pupils with a wide ability range, though the results of standardised tests indicated that the average ability of pupils at the senior school was well above the national average of pupils in secondary schools in the UK, and the average ability of sixth-form pupils is also above the national average of the UK. Pupils come from a broad range of social and cultural backgrounds. As of 2024/2025, the school charges £5,216 per term with three terms per academic year.


Curriculum


Structure

The school designs its own curriculum based on the
English National Curriculum The National Curriculum for England is the statutory standard of school subjects, lesson content, and attainment levels for primary and secondary schools in England. It is compulsory for local authority-maintained schools, but also often followed b ...
. The school's curriculum was described by an
Independent Schools Inspectorate The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is approved by the Secretary of State for Education – under section 106 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 – to inspect private schools in England. These schools are members of associations, whi ...
(ISI) report in October 2015 as providing "an excellent range of options" and a "flexible pattern of pupil grouping ... so that the specific needs of subjects are strongly met". PSHE lessons are timetabled for all years below the sixth form, and specialist themed days are hosted further up the school. Approximately 40% of pupils at the school learn how to play a musical instrument, and the ISI noted in October 2015 that "many pupils achieve distinctions and merits in their instrumental music examinations". Assessing the quality of educational provision, in October 2015 the ISI awarded the school the highest rating of excellent in eight aspects and good in the other two. The inspection stated that " many academic ... activities pupils demonstrate high levels of knowledge and understanding as well as being both highly literate and articulate". The report praised the school for delivering the curriculum with "good teaching throughout". The breadth of the curriculum was described as "a significant strength" of the school, furthered by the co-educational sixth form partnership with the Ladies' College. The strength of the curriculum for informing the pupils' cultural awareness, in particular with appreciating Guernsey's own customs and culture in addition to other cultures, was also observed, with the cultural development of pupils being described as excellent. A subsequent report by the ISI in 2021 found that " pils of all ages and abilities develop comprehensive subject knowledge, skills and understanding across all areas of learning, appropriately challenged by teaching that addresses linguistic, mathematical, scientific, technological, human and social, physical and aesthetic and creative aspects of learning."


Examinations

As of 2015, students typically sit ten or more GCSEs and three or four A-levels. Most pupils who leave the school after A-level study proceed to university or other further education and nine out of ten leavers secure places at their first choice UK universities. Between 2013 and 2017, the school's GCSE pass rates (of 5 grades 9–4/A*–C including English and Maths) were between 91% and 99%; the national average of the
Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, comprising several of the Channel Islands. It has a total land area of ...
over the same period ranged from 57% to 67%. In 2009, "value-added" statistics, which compare results at GCSE and A-level against expectations for pupils based on assessment when they joined the school, placed Elizabeth College in the top 17% of British schools. Analysing examination results between 2012 and 2014, the 2015 ISI inspection found that "around half of CSEgrades achieved were A* and A grades", that "GCSE performance has been above the UK average for boys in maintained schools" and that "
IGCSE The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based secondary qualification similar to the GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising ...
results in history and maths have been higher than ... worldwide norms". That inspection also found that "A-level results have been above the UK average for boys in maintained schools" and that over that period "just under three-quarters of the grades were in the range A* to B".


Extracurricular activities

The school focuses on
hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...
,
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
in each school term, respectively, although other sports and outdoor activities are offered. The school participates in
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and ...
scheme. ''
The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county, club and schools cricket. Overview The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cric ...
'' magazine named Elizabeth College as one of the top 100 cricketing secondary schools for 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Founded in 1902, the school's
Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, sub divided into Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to ...
(CCF) performs traditional military and ceremonial duties in the island, including the
Liberation Day Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day, but differing from it because it does not involve the original creation of statehood. It commemorates the end of an occupation ...
, Queen's Birthday and Remembrance Day parades. Since 1951, it has been the only uniformed military body in the island and provides guards of honour for visiting members of the
British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...
. The school has achieved considerable success in rifle shooting and has attended the schools' meeting at Bisley since 1906. Several students have represented the British Cadet Rifle Team and the Great Britain Under-19 Rifle Team.


Buildings and sites

The school's main site overlooks the town of Saint Peter Port. It includes an indoor sports hall, a hardcourt, a pool and an indoor 25 yard .22 rifle range. Adjacent to the main site, the school owns property in Upland Road. In 2020, the school purchased property to the north of the main site, formerly occupied by the
Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...
, which was named Perrot Court in honour of major donor and alumnus, Roger Perrot. The design of the main building has polarised critics across generations: Henry Inglis, writing in 1835, thought it "an attractive object" and "decidedly handsome"; Ansted and Latham, in their 1862 publication ''The Channel Islands'', describe it as "unfortunately harmonising in its utter tastelessness", being "erected at great cost" and presenting "a bald, plastered, unmeaning face, too prominent to be overlooked"; whilst Sir Charles Brett, in 1972, described it as "a formidable
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...
composition in a sort of Tudor style ... a less distinguished exercise than many of the same period to be found in mainland Britain; but ... an imposing piece of scenery nonetheless, and important to the townscape". In 1846,
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
, writing in her diary whilst aboard the
royal yacht A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often c ...
anchored in the
Little Roussel The Little Roussel, also known as the Petit Ruau or Little Russel, is a channel running between the isle of Herm and Guernsey in the Channel Islands. The main harbours of Guernsey and Herm face into the Little Roussel. There are many small roc ...
, noted the "predominance" of the college in a " St Pierre, so very picturesque." Away from the main site, the school owns playing fields and sports facilities in St Peter Port – namely the College Field and the Memorial Field – both of which are used throughout the year for the school's three main sports. The weekly whole-school assembly is held at the nearby St James concert hall.


Notable alumni

The school's alumni are referred to as Old Elizabethans. Notable alumni of the school in the military include four Victoria Cross holders,
Duncan Home Duncan Charles Home Victoria Cross, VC (10 June 18281 October 1857) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth of Nations, C ...
(1841–1843), John McCrea (1864–1872), Lewis Halliday (1880–1888) and Wallace Le Patourel (1926–1934). Other alumni in the military include British Army officers Terence O'Brien (1843–1844), Herbert Abbott (1867–1872) and Donald Banks (1899–1909), RAF officer and heir to the
Seigneur of Sark The Seigneur of Sark is the lord of the manor of Sark in the Channel Islands. A female seigneur of Sark is called Dame of Sark, of which there have been three. The husband of a female ruler of Sark is not a Prince consort, consort but is ''jure ...
, Francis William Beaumont (1917–1919), Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Le Cheminant (1929–1938),
Indian army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...
officer Horace Searle Anderson (1844–1849), and Chief Commissioner of Police in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
, William John Peterswald (1844–1846). The school has educated many Bailiffs of Guernsey, including Thomas Godfrey Carey (1842–1849), William Carey (1863–1872), Havilland Walter de Sausmarez (1869–1873), Victor Gosselin Carey (1880–1883), Ambrose Sherwill (1903–1904), Sir Geoffrey Rowland (1959–1965) and Sir Richard Collas (1960–1971). British Members of Parliament educated at the school include Conservative politician Edward Arthur Somerset (1829–1831), Liberal party politician Walter Wren (1848–1850) and Labour politician
Malcolm Wicks Malcolm Hunt Wicks (1 July 1947 – 29 September 2012) was a British Labour Party politician and academic specialising in social policy. He was a member of parliament (MP) from 1992, first for Croydon North West and then for Croydon North, unt ...
(1961–1964).
Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Just ...
for
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
,
Adrian Fulford Sir Adrian Bruce Fulford (born 8 January 1953) is a retired Lord Justice of Appeal. From 2017 to 2019, he was the first Investigatory Powers Commissioner, and was the Vice-President of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) in 2019, succeed ...
was educated at the school (1966–1971). Alumni in the arts include actors Barry Jones (1902–1909) and
Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, often in ...
(1921–); authors William Adolf Baillie Grohman (1867–1869) and
P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...
(1890–1892); artist and great-grandson of
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
,
Jean Hugo Jean Hugo (; 19 November 1894 – 21 June 1984) was a painter, illustrator, theatre designer and author. He was born in Paris and died in his home at the Mas de Fourques, near Lunel, France. Brought up in a lively artistic environment, he beg ...
(1907–1910); journalist and novelist
Robert Sherard Robert Harborough Sherard (3 December 1861 – 30 January 1943) was an English writer and journalist. He was a friend, and the first biographer, of Oscar Wilde, as well as being Wilde's most prolific biographer in the first half of the twentiet ...
(1875–1878) and engineer, socialist and author Hugh Pembroke Vowles (1898–1900). Other alumni include explorer Edmund Kennedy (1830–1834). clergyman, historian and social activist, James Parkes (1905–1915); Bishop of Blackburn, Nicholas Reade (1960–1965); academics John Richard Magrath (1848–1856) and James Jérémie (1916–1921); historian, theologian and mountaineer W. A. B. Coolidge (1866–1869); television presenters Bruce Parker (1948–1960) and Murray Dron (1988–1993); and media magnate Ashley Highfield (1977–1982). Alumni in the sciences includes physician and academic author Dr Norman Hay Forbes (1875–1880); anthropologist Arthur Maurice Hocart (1899–1902); egyptologist Sir
Peter le Page Renouf Sir Peter le Page Renouf (23 August 1822 – 14 October 1897) was a British professor, Egyptologist, and museum director, best known for his translation of '' The Book of the Dead''. Personal life Renouf was born in Guernsey on the Channel Is ...
(1831–1840); geologist Nick McCave (1949–1960); plastic surgeon Simon Kay (1959–1965); and nuclear physicist Ian Chapman (1993–2000). Notable school alumni in sport include footballers Craig Allen (1985–1992) and
Chris Tardif Christopher Luke Tardif (born 19 September 1979) is an English former professional footballer, who is currently the first team coach of the Guernsey Rangers Priaulx side. He has represented Northern Ireland at youth level, through a now closed l ...
(1991–1996); multiple world champion racing driver
Andy Priaulx Andrew Graham Priaulx, Order of the British Empire, MBE ( born 7 August 1974) is a British people, British racing driver from Guernsey. In 2019 he raced for Chip Ganassi Racing, Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK in the FIA World Endurance Championship, ...
(1984–1989); athletes
Dale Garland Dale Mark Paul Garland (born 13 October 1980) is a Guernsey born British athlete, educated at Elizabeth College (Guernsey), Elizabeth College, Guernsey. He competed in the 400 m hurdles at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, 2007 World At ...
(1992–1999), Cameron Chalmers (2001–2015) and Alastair Chalmers (2004–2018); cricketers George Bailey (1866–1870) and Tim Ravenscroft (1996–2010);
dressage Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...
rider and multiple Olympic gold-medallist
Carl Hester Carl Hester (born 29 June 1967 in Cambridgeshire, England) is a British dressage rider competing at Olympic level. As of 8 August 2012, the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) rank him 12th in the world riding Uthopia. In 2012, Hest ...
(1978–1983); squash player Chris Simpson (1994–2003); cyclist Tobyn Horton (1994–2003); and target-rifle shooters Charles Trotter (1936–1941) and Peter Jory (1981–1992).


Principals

The school's first principal (then known as the master) was Adrian Saravia. From Saravia's departure up to the 1824 re-chartering, the record of principals is uncertain. Charles Stocker was the first principal appointed after the re-chartering. Since his appointment, portraits have been made of every principal except for George Proctor. These portraits are displayed in the Le Marchant library. In 2017, Jenny Palmer became the first female principal in the school's history.


See also

* Education in Guernsey *
Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an independent day and boarding school for boys in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as Canada's most prestigious preparatory school, and ha ...
, founded 1829 and modelled after Elizabeth College


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* ''Elizabeth College Register'', volumes I–IV * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* Contains the story of the pupils' para-military activities in Derbyshire during the Second World War.


External links

* * {{authority control Independent schools in Guernsey Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Buildings and structures in Saint Peter Port Secondary schools in the Channel Islands Educational institutions established in the 1560s