The Perse School
A Cambridge grammar school founded in 1615, now a co-educational day school for ages 3 to 18.
The Perse takes its start from 1615, when Dr Stephen Perse left funds in his will for a free grammar school in Cambridge. Four centuries later it is an independent day school that runs from nursery through to sixth form and admits both boys and girls.
How the school is organised
The school's own website divides it into four parts: the Pelican School for ages 3 to 7, the Prep School for 7 to 11, the Upper School for 11 to 16 and the Sixth Form for 16 to 18. The Upper School stands on Hills Road, where the school moved in 1960 after spending decades on a corner site at Gonville Place. Girls were first admitted to the sixth form in 1994, entry at 11 and 13 opened to them in 2010, and the school was fully co-educational from 2012.
The old schoolroom
The original school building was on Free School Lane, and it is now home to the Whipple Museum. A blue plaque to the founder marks the lane. His surname also gave the school its Latin motto, a pun built on the phrase "per se".
The founder's bequest also lies behind the Stephen Perse Foundation, but the two are separate organisations today.
Practical notes
Admissions, open events and fees are handled through the school's website, which lists the dates of upcoming open mornings for each section.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
