The Perse School is a

private 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 ...

(English fee-charging

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

and, in the case of the Perse, a former

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 ...

) in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England. Founded in 1615 by Stephen Perse, its motto is ''Qui facit per alium facit per se'', taken to mean 'He who does things for others does them for himself'. The Perse School took girls for Sixth form only from 1994, began accepting girls at 11 and 13+ in September 2010 and was fully co-educational by September 2012. 'Perse' is a member of the

Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools ...

, an association of UK independent schools. The organisation now comprises three schools, which together provide for children aged 3 through to 18. The Pelican is the Perse's nursery and pre-preparatory school, and accommodates pupils from 3–7. It is situated on Glebe Road, close to the main school site. Preparatory education for students aged 7 to 11 years old is provided by the Perse Prep, which is located close to the Upper School, just north of the junction of Long Road and Trumpington Road. In Year 7 pupils usually progress to the Upper School, where they sit

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

examinations and

A-Levels 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 ...

History

The school was founded in 1615 at its original site in

Free School Lane Free School Lane is a historic street in central Cambridge, England which includes important buildings of University of Cambridge. It is the location of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, the Department of History and Philosophy of ...

, Cambridge. Its former buildings now house the

Whipple Museum of the History of Science The Whipple Museum of the History of Science is a museum attached to the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, which houses an extensive collection of scientific instruments, apparatus, models, pictures, prints, photographs, books and other m ...

. In 1890 it moved to a site on the corner of Gonville Place and Hills Road, in 1960 moving to the site it now occupies as its 'Upper' school on Hills Road. There have been multiple phases of expansion, particularly in the 21st century. Among notable developments is the Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre, a 400-seat theatre, exhibition and rehearsal space designed by architects Haworth Tompkins, which opened in 2018. An old prospectus lists the fees as £3 per term in 1890. From 1945 to 1976 it was a

direct grant grammar school A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...

, offering free places to 40% of pupils. Following the abolition of the

Assisted Places Scheme The Assisted Places Scheme was established in the UK by the Conservative government in 1980. Children who were eligible were provided with free or subsidised places to fee-charging independent schools - based on the child's results in the schoo ...

, The Perse no longer received any state funding and became independent. The school was ranked 13th in the ''Sunday Times'' Parent Power league table in 2019 and 6th in the ''Daily Telegraph'' national table of A Level, Pre-U and IB results with 83% A* and A grades from 175 candidates. In 2021, The ''Sunday Times'' also named The Perse School as the top independent secondary school in East Anglia, as the school had the best performance in the GCE A Level Examinations in the region. In 2015, two boys from the school were convicted of stealing items found at Auschwitz while on a school trip.

Motto

The school motto is ''Qui facit per alium facit per se'', usually taken to mean "He who does things for others does them for himself". This is an example of a

rebus A rebus ( ) is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+ ...

motto, the Latin sentence ending in a word play on the founder's name "per se" and his benefaction. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

dedicated to the school's founder, Dr Stephen Perse, was installed in

, Cambridge.

Competitions, Olympiads and scholarships

Pupils have competed and scored highly in academic competitions and Olympiads, in addition to winning awards including Arkwright Engineering Scholarships and Nuffield Research Placements (previously Nuffield Science Bursaries). Students have won scholarships for summer placements at the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and research institutes in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. British competition results include: *First place in the Pi Wars robot competition *First place in the

Schools' Challenge Schools' Challenge is the primary national general knowledge competition for schools in the United Kingdom, founded by Colin Galloway in 1977 and currently overseen by Robert and Allison Grant. Intentionally based on University Challenge, it has ...

general knowledge competition *First place (winning the Trinity College prize) in the National Cipher Challenge *First place in the Bank of England ''Target Two Point Zero'' interest rate challenge *Invitation to the British Physics Olympiad presentation afternoon (top 4 in the country in the AS Challenge) *Qualifying for the UKMT Team Maths Challenge final (winning the poster competition) *Qualifying for the

British Informatics Olympiad The British Informatics Olympiad (BIO) is an annual computer-programming competition for secondary and sixth-form students. Any student under 19 who is in full-time pre-university education and resident in mainland Britain is eligible to compet ...

final (top 15 in the country) *Qualifying for Round 2 (top 20 to 25 in the country) of the UK Chemistry Olympiad *Scoring Gold in Round 1 of United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad Students have also competed in international competitions including the

International Mathematical Olympiad The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious mathematical competition in the wor ...

, the

Balkan Mathematical Olympiad The Balkan Mathematical Olympiad (BMO) is an international contest of winners of high-school national competitions from European countries. Participants (incomplete) * Albania ** BMO 1991: 1.Julian Mulla 2.Erion Dasho 3.Elton Bojaxhi 4.Enkel ...

, the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, the Romanian Master of Mathematics competition, the International Biology Olympiad, the

International Olympiad in Informatics The International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) is an annual competitive programming competition and one of the International Science Olympiads Student competition, for secondary school students. The first IOI was held in 1989 in Pravetz, Bulgar ...

, the International Linguistics Olympiad, the

International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics The International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) is an annual astronomy and astrophysics competition for high school students. It is one of the international science olympiads. The Olympiad was founded from a dissidence inside ...

, the International Rocketry Challenge, the European Union Contest for Young Scientists and the

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is an annual science fair in the United States. It is owned and administered by the Society for Science, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. Each May, more ...

Innovation

In 2018, The Perse School partnered with a Cambridge-based education technology entrepreneur, Rob Percival, to support the creation of an online

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

maths teaching platform. Blutick in association with The Perse School, exhibited at the BETT Show in London, 2019 to launch a free beta version.

Developments

Since 2020, The Perse School Cambridge International (TPSCI) has liaised with partners to open up The Perse international schools outside of England. Currently, one international school has been set up in Singapore, namely The Perse School Singapore (officially opened in January 2025).

Headmaster's blog

On his blog the headmaster, Ed Elliott, described his 'ten second challenge' in which he would give students who "commit occasional minor misdemeanours (such as forgetting a book) the opportunity to talk their way out of a punishment". The story was quickly picked up by the mainstream media who reported that pupils were "let off punishment for clever excuses".

Notable alumni

Academia

Maurice Bloch Maurice Émile Félix Bloch (born 21 October 1939) is a British anthropologist. He is famous for his fieldwork on the shift of agriculturalists in Madagascar, Japan and other parts of the world, and has also contributed important neo-Marxian w ...

, anthropologist * Harold James, professor of history and international relations * W. E. Johnson, logician *

F. R. Leavis Frank Raymond "F. R." Leavis ( ; 14 July 1895 – 14 April 1978) was an English literary critic of the early-to-mid-twentieth century. He taught for much of his career at Downing College, Cambridge, and later at the University of York. Leav ...

, literary critic *

Michael Loewe Michael Arthur Nathan Loewe (2 November 1922 – 1 January 2025) was a British historian, Sinologist, and writer who authored dozens of books, articles, and other publications in the fields of Classical Chinese as well as the history of ancien ...

, sinologist *

Edward Henry Palmer Edward Henry Palmer (7 August 184010 August 1882), known as E. H. Palmer, was an England, English oriental studies, orientalist and explorer. Biography Youth and education Palmer was born in Green Street, Cambridge, the son of a private scho ...

, orientalist *

G. L. S. Shackle George Lennox Sharman Shackle (14 July 1903 – 3 March 1992) was an English economist. He made a practical attempt to challenge classical rational choice theory and has been characterised as a " post-Keynesian", though he is influenced as well ...

, economist * E. H. Warmington, classicist

Art

* Thomas P. Campbell, director of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Business

David Tang Sir David Wing-cheung Tang, (; 2 August 1954 – 29 August 2017), was a Hong Kong businessman, philanthropist and socialite. He was best known for founding the Shanghai Tang fashion chain in 1994, which he sold in 1998 to Richemont. Early lif ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

-based entrepreneur

Engineering

* Arthur Marshall, aviation engineer *

Anthony Michell Anthony George Maldon Michell FRS (21 June 1870 – 17 February 1959) was an Australian mechanical engineer of the early 20th century. Early life Michell was born in London while his parents were on a visit to England from Australia to which th ...

, hydraulic engineer

Film and theatre

Ranjit Bolt Ranjit Bolt OBE (born 1959) is a British playwright and translator. He was born in Manchester of Anglo-Indian parents and is the nephew of playwright and screenwriter Robert Bolt.Programme notes for ''The Grouch'', West Yorkshire Playhouse Febr ...

, translator and playwright *

Marius Goring Marius Re Goring (23 May 191230 September 1998) was an English stage and screen actor. He is best remembered for the four films he made with Powell and Pressburger, Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in ''A Matter of Life and D ...

, actor * Peter Hall, founder of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

Humphrey Jennings Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings (19 August 1907 – 24 September 1950) was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organisation. Jennings was described by film critic and director Lindsay Anderson in 1 ...

, film director *

Colin McFarlane Colin Andrew Ignatius Peter McFarlane (born 15 September 1961) is a British actor, narrator and voice actor. He is known for his roles in film and television including Gillian B. Loeb in two films of Christopher Nolan's '' The Dark Knight Tril ...

, actor *

Jeremy Silberston Jeremy Silberston (1 April 1950 – 9 March 2006), was an English film director. Early life His father was economist Aubrey Silberston, and his mother, Dorothy, was a founder member of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship. He attended The Per ...

, film director

Law

* Mark Potter, Appeal Court judge and

President of the Family Division The President of the Family Division is the head of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice in England and Wales and head of Family Justice. The Family Division was created in 1971 when Admiralty and contentious probate cases were remove ...

Media

Simon Akam Simon Akam is a British journalist and historian of the British Army. Early life Akam was born in Cambridge and educated at The Perse School, the University of Oxford, and Columbia University. During his gap year in 2003, he served a short serv ...

, author, writing on military history and the British Army since 9/11 *

Mel Calman Melville Calman (19 May 1931 – 10 February 1994) was a British cartoonist best known for his "little man" cartoons published in British newspapers including the '' Daily Express'' (1957–63), '' The Sunday Telegraph'' (1964–65), '' The ...

, cartoonist *

Rodney Dale Rodney A.M. Dale (28 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was an English author, editor, publisher, and a co-founder and former member of Cambridge Consultants Ltd. He wrote principally on non-fiction topics (biography, technology, computing, jazz ...

, writer and publisher *

John Gross John Gross FRSL (12 March 1935 – 10 January 2011) was an English man of letters. A leading intellectual, writer, anthologist, and critic. ''The Guardian'' (in a tribute titled "My Hero") and ''The Spectator'' were among several publication ...

, critic and editor *

Tom Harwood Thomas Hedley Fairfax Harwood (born 26 August 1996) is a British journalist, political commentator and television show host. He became the deputy political editor of GB News in March 2023. Harwood previously worked as a reporter for the right-win ...

, journalist for ''

Guido Fawkes ''Guido Fawkes'' is a right-wing political website published by British-Irish political blogger Paul Staines. History In September 2004, Staines began writing an anonymous blog about British politics under the name of ''Guido Fawkes'', an alt ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' and

GB News GB News is a British free-to-air, editorial, opinion-orientated television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview (UK), Freeview, Freesat, Sky UK, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet on Samsung TV Plus, LG web ...

* Tom Rosenthal (publisher) (1935–2014), publisher and art critic * Mark Saggers,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

sports broadcaster

Military

*Group Captain

William Neil McKechnie Group Captain William Neil McKechnie, GC (27 August 1907 – 30 August 1944) was a pilot and senior commander in the Royal Air Force. He was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal in 1929, which was exchanged for the George Cross in 1940. He was kil ...

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

recipient *

Ralph Lilley Turner Sir Ralph Lilley Turner (5 October 1888 – 22 April 1983) was a British philologist of Indian languages and a university administrator. He is notable for composing an Indo-Aryan comparative dictionary. He is also the author of some publicati ...

MC, 2nd/3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles

Music

Pete Atkin Pete Atkin (born 22 August 1945) is a British singer-songwriter and radio producer, notable for his 1970s musical collaborations with Clive James and for producing the BBC Radio 4 series, '' This Sceptred Isle''. Early life Born in Cambridge, ...

, singer/songwriter *

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

, singer/songwriter and guitarist of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

Spike Hughes Patrick Cairns "Spike" Hughes (19 October 1908 – 2 February 1987) was a British musician, composer and arranger involved in the worlds of classical music and jazz. He has been called Britain's earliest jazz composer, and was a pioneer of te ...

, jazz musician and journalist *

Jack Monck Adam John Monck known as Jack (born 14 March 1950, London, England) is a British bass guitarist, songwriter and teacher. Jack Monck started playing bass guitar in 1968 with the blues band Delivery with Steve Miller, Phil Miller and Pip Pyle, late ...

, bassist, session player *

Ronnie Ross Albert Ronald Ross (2 October 1933 – 12 December 1991) was a British jazz baritone saxophonist. Life Born in Calcutta, India, to Scottish parents, Ross moved to England in 1946 and was educated at the Perse School in Cambridge. He began ...

, jazz musician * John Woolford, first boyfriend of

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

Politics

* Anthony Browne,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP for

South Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district of Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 162,119 at the 2021 census. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambri ...

Rajani Palme Dutt Rajani may refer to: * Rajani (name), people named Rajani * Rajani (actress) (born 1965), Indian film actress * Rajanikanth (born 1950), Indian actor * ''Rajani'' (TV series), a 1980s Indian TV series * ''Rajani'' (film), a 2009 Indian Kannada rom ...

, leading figure in the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

* Julian Huppert,

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

MP for

2010-2015 *

Roz Savage Rosalind Elizabeth Adriana Savage (born 23 December 1967), known as Roz Savage, is an English ocean rower, environmental advocate, writer, speaker and politician. She was elected as a Liberal Democrat MP for the new South Cotswolds constituen ...

MP for

South Cotswolds South Cotswolds is a newly created constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election, when it was won by Roz Sa ...

2024- * David Steiner,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

State

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of Education *

Donald Tebbit Sir Donald Claude Tebbit (4 May 1920 – 25 September 2010) was a British diplomat. He attended The Perse School, Cambridge, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was president of the Trinity Hall alumni association, the Trinity Hall Association, 1984 ...

, diplomat,

British High Commissioner to Australia The High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Australia is an officer of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative to the Commonwealth of Australia. Despite Britain's close re ...

Quentin Thomas Sir Quentin Jeremy Thomas (born 1 August 1944) is a retired British civil servant, and former president of the British Board of Film Classification. He attended the Perse School in Cambridge and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He was a c ...

, civil servant, head of the

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organization, non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited ...

Religion

John Polkinghorne John Charlton Polkinghorne (16 October 1930 – 9 March 2021) was an English theoretical physicist, theologian, and Anglican priest. A prominent and leading voice explaining the relationship between science and religion, he was professor of ma ...

, physicist and theologian *

Jeremy Taylor Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) was a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression, and he is fr ...

, Bishop of Down and Connor

Science

Gustav Victor Rudolf Born Gustav Victor Rudolf Born FRCP, HonFRCS, FRS (29 July 1921 – 16 April 2018) was a German-British professor of Pharmacology at King's College London and Research Professor at the William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London Schoo ...

, pharmacologist *

Anthony Peter Lowe Anthony Peter Lowe Associate professor, AP (born 16 March 1962) is a British-Australian mathematical physicist and actuary. He previously served as chief executive officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, and is a frequent media co ...

, mathematical physicist and

actuary An actuary is a professional with advanced mathematical skills who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require investment management, asset management, ...

* Brian G. Marsden, astronomer * Ronald G. W. Norrish,

Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

in 1967

Sport

* Zaman Akhter, cricketer * Charles Clayton, cricketer * Owen Giles,

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

rugby union player * Alex Coles, Northamption Saints rugby union player * Imogen Grant, Olympic Gold Medal Rower *

Horace Gray Horace Gray (March 24, 1828 – September 15, 1902) was an American jurist who served on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and then on the United States Supreme Court, where he frequently interpreted the Constitution in ways that increa ...

, cricketer * Richard Hesketh, cricketer * Tess Howard, field hockey player * Reimell Ragnauth, cricketer

Staff

Headmasters

* George Griffith, MA - died 1686 * Frederick Heppenstall, MA - 1864 to 1874 * Dr W. H. D. Rouse, MA, LittD (Cantab) - 1902 to 1928. Formerly a fellow of

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

* H. A. Wootton - 1928 to 1945 * Stanley Stubbs, MA - 1945 to 1969. Formerly a housemaster at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Baccalaureate schools in England. The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a f ...

* Anthony E. Melville - 1969 to 1987. He was the last of the Perse Headmasters to cane students. * Dr

Martin Stephen George Martin Stephen (born 1949) is the former High Master of St Paul's School in London until 1 January 2011. He is an author and has been described as "one of Britain's highest profile heads". Education Stephen was educated at Uppingham Sc ...

- 1987 to 1994. Subsequently, High Master of

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...

from 1994 to 2004 and then St Paul's School from 2004 to 2011. Director of Education for

GEMS Education GEMS Education, founded as Global Education Management Systems (GEMS), is an international education company. It is one of the world's largest private school operators, and as of late 2022 it operates more than 60 schools across the Middle East ...

UK. Non-Executive Chairman of the Clarendon Academies Group * Dr Nigel P. V. Richardson - 1994 to 2008. Headmaster of The Dragon School from 1989 to 1992. Chairman of the

in 2007. Governor of Magdalen College School and Haileybury. AGBIS board member. Author of the biography ''Thring of Uppingham: Victorian Educator'' * Mr Edward C. Elliott, MA - 2008 onwards. Joined the school in 1997 as head of sixth form and was senior deputy head before being appointed headmaster

Notable staff

Henry Caldwell Cook Henry Caldwell Cook (1886–1939) was a British educator known for his book ''The Play Way'', which contended that doing was a better learning method than reading and listening, and that youth study through play. Early life and career Henry ...

, (1886–1939) educationalist * Frederick Crossfield Happold DSO ( Cantab.) *

Lilly Frazer Lilly Frazer previously Lilly Grove became Lilly, Lady Frazer born Elisabeth Johanna de Boys Adelsdorfer (1854 or 1855 – 8 May 1941) was a French born British writer and translator. Life Lilly Grove was born in Alsace on 24 November in either 1 ...

(1854/5 – 1941) French teacher and writer *

Glenn Kirkham Glenn Charles W. Kirkham (born 8 October 1982) is an English field hockey player who played for the English and British national team. He competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics. Biography Kirkham born in Grimsby, Linc ...

, captain of the England national field hockey team and Perse's Director of Sport from September 2017 to June 2023. * Helen Richardson Walsh, hockey gold medalist

References

External links

*
School Roll of Honour for the World Wars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perse School 1615 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 1610s Private schools in Cambridgeshire Schools in Cambridge Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference