Queen Mary's Grammar School 4.01

Queen Mary's Grammar School is a selective boys' grammar school with academy status located in Sutton Road, Walsall, England, about a mile from the town centre and one of the oldest schools in the country. The sixth form is coeducational.AdmissionsAdmittance to the school is by entrance exam taken at the age of 10/11; 120 pupils enter the school in September each year. This will soon change to 150 pupils in September 2016. There are 96 to 120 pupils in each of the other, older year groups. In sixth form there are currently (as of 2014) 162 pupils in Year 12 and 143 in Year 13 attending schools around the borough. At this stage of the school, girls are also admitted. The school has grown from 718 in 2011 to 826 in 2014.HistoryFoundationIt was founded in 1554 by George and Nicolas Hawe, two leading townsmen, with Queen Mary I as its royal patron and benefactor. At this time it had about sixty pupils, all boys, and taught Classics almost exclusively.New sitesIt has grown significantly since its foundation and moved three times. Originally housed in an old town guild-hall near St Matthew's Parish church, it moved to Park Street in 1811, into new buildings in Lichfield Street in 1850 (a site now used by Queen Mary's High School for Girls) and finally to a purpose-built school on the Mayfield site in 1965.Academic performanceQueen Mary's performs very well in exams across the board, with consistent success in the sixth form. In recent years, the school has become a specialist Language College. The extra funds from this have, amongst other things, facilitated the building of a new wing of the school buildings. The school recently completed work on a new sports hall to support the current gym and swimming facilities. The Science Block was also updated, with new Biology labs being built. A new sixth form block has been constructed and it opened late September 2012. The School is rated by Ofsted 'Outstanding'.