Farnham College is a coeducational

sixth form college A sixth form college (pre-university college in Malaysia) is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 study typically for advanced post-school level qualifications such as GCE Advanced Level, A Levels, Business and Technology Edu ...

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

in the

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Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. It has a single campus in a residential area just to the south of Farnham town centre, and is now a foundation college. The majority of its land is leased from the Farnham College Foundation, which is governed by a board of trustees, four of whom are college governors. The college offers a wide 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 ...

and vocational qualifications and also caters for students with physical disabilities and special learning needs.

History

Farnham College is the successor to Farnham Grammar School for boys, which was created some time before 1585 (the date of a donation being made by a Richard Searle "to the maintenance of the school in Farnham"). It is possible that this ancient school dated back as far as 1351 when a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

was created at

Farnham Castle Farnham Castle is a 12th-century castle in Farnham, Surrey, England. It was formerly the residence of the Bishop of Winchester, Bishops of Winchester. History Built in 1138 by Henri de Blois, Bishop of Winchester, grandson of William I of En ...

, but there is no documentary evidence of this. The school benefited over the years from various bequests as well as the generosity of

Bishops 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 ...

, who occupied

over the centuries. In 1905, the town centre assets of the school were sold in order to purchase and build a new school in fields to the south of the town. In 1973, under Government education reforms, the school gave way to the present Farnham College. Farnham College was created from the amalgamation of Farnham Girls' Grammar School with Farnham Grammar School and opened in September 1973 as Farnham's first sixth form college. At the same time the local secondary schools became 13 to 16 comprehensive schools. The college was established on the site of Farnham Grammar School, initially using the existing buildings. The Girls' Grammar School building in Menin Way is now home to South Farnham School. In 2007 a merger took place between the college and

Guildford College Guildford College of Further and Higher Education (GCFHE) in Guildford, Surrey was a Surrey County Council-funded educational establishment for students of age 16+ undertaking full-time and part-time studies, established in 1939. It became pa ...

Campus

Morley Court is the original school building of the former grammar school and was first opened in 1906. When built it was surrounded by extensive playing fields and these continue to form part of the site; with pitches for football (soccer), rugby, cricket, and tennis courts. The main building on the campus is now Surrey Court, a three-storey facility equipped with laboratories, teaching rooms, a performing arts area, a restaurant, and the Learning Resource Centre. College Court is a new teaching block with well-equipped classrooms for Social Sciences, Business, Mathematics, IT, Geography, and Art and Design. In addition, a separate wing is employed for musical activities. The Music Centre played host to the music department, but the music courses have now been abandoned. It now runs as a creche facility.

Students

Most of the students are from the 16-19 age group on full-time courses, along with a smaller

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...

provision of daytime and evening courses. The college currently enrolls around 500 full-time students aged 16 to 18 annually, with a further 500 adult part-time students within its adult education and community programme. In 2002/03, adults constituted only around 5% of the college's full-time equivalent students. The college works closely with local partner schools, from three of which it recruits most of its students. It also draws students from further afield, recruiting from around 40 schools in total. Over 80% of full-time students take advanced level (level 3) courses. The majority of adult students are enrolled on English as a foreign language (EFL), childcare, general interest and basic skills courses. Most adults are on short courses.

Notable alumni

* Michael Ball, actor, singer, radio and TV presenterRichard Hoyes
"Those were the dames my friend"
''TES'', 26 December 1997. *

Jeremy Hardy Jeremy James Hardy (17 July 1961 – 1 February 2019) was an English comedian. Born and raised in Hampshire, Hardy studied at the University of Southampton and began his stand-up career in the 1980s, going on to win the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, ...

, comedian * James Mates, journalist with ITV News * Carl R May, sociologist * Martin Millett, archaeologist * Claire Wright, World Cup champion and Olympic trampolinist. *

Graham Thorpe Graham Paul Thorpe (1 August 1969 – 4 August 2024) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Surrey, and represented England in 100 Test matches. He also played 82 One Day Internationals (ODIs) including appearances at the ...

England and Surrey Cricketer

References

External links

*
The latest OFSTED report on Farnham College

Old Farnhamians Association
{{authority control Sixth form colleges in Surrey Farnham Buildings and structures in Farnham