Haileybury and Imperial Service College

Terrace, Haileybury

The previous institution at Haileybury was the East India College (EIC), the training establishment founded in 1806 for administrators of the Honourable East India Company. The EIC was initially based at Hertford Castle, but substantial grounds in Hertford Heath were acquired for future development. William Wilkins, the architect of Downing College, Cambridge, and the National Gallery in London, was appointed principal architect. The buildings compose four ranges which enclose an area known as Quad, the second-largest academic quadrangle in Britain after Christ Church, Oxford.[1] In the wake of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the East India Company was nationalised, and its College closed in January 1858. In 1862, a public school opened on the site that retained many connections with the EIC, with Royal Charter being received in 1864. Many of the houses were named after Old Boys or Principals of the EIC, and Haileybury's primary purpose during the second half of the 19th century was to provide soldiers and administrators for the British Empire, in particular, British India.

The Chapel dome was added by Sir Arthur Blomfield and completed in 1877. Further Victorian additions were designed by Sir John William Simpson. The Memorial Hall, the school's dining hall, was opened by the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and acts as a monument to former pupils who gave their lives in the First World War. During the past 40  years, its use has been extended to commemorate deaths of OHs in all military conflicts.

The dining hall contains one of the largest unsupported domes in Europe. Until the 1990s, the entire school of over 700 pupils dined there at a single sitting, all brought to silence for grace by the beating of a massive brass howitzer shell, captured from a German gun emplacement during the First World War and then converted into a gong. A gilded plaster boss in the centre of this dome represents an oak tree being struck by lightning. Known as Little Lightning Oak, this decoration represents the massive oak tree that stands on the lawn in front of Terrace, the promenade visible in this photograph. This tree was struck by lightning and, all but destroyed, re-sprouted.

As well as the wooden tablets surrounding the exterior of the dining hall, there are other memorials to the school's 1,436 war casualties. In memory of Haileyburians who died in the Boer War, a war memorial obelisk, of Portland stone with bronze decorations, was erected on the main axis of the school's entrance front in 1903; it was designed by former pupil, Sir Reginald Blomfield. Also designed by Sir Reginald is the memorial on Terrace, originally built to commemorate those lost in the First World War; it was unveiled by General Sir Alexander Godley KCB KCMG on 7 July 1923. Known as the Cross of Sacrifice, this simple stone structure serves as a prototype for war memorials found in every Commonwealth War Cemetery and other war memorials around the world.

Seventeen former pupils of Haileybury and its antecedents have received the Victoria Cross, and three the George Cross. Amongst public schools whose pupils have been awarded the Victoria Cross, Haileybury is in the top three, alongside Eton and Harrow.

In 1942, Haileybury and the Imperial Service College (which had itself subsumed the United Services College) merged to become Haileybury and Imperial Service College, now often referred to simply as Haileybury.[2]

In the late 20th century, reforming headmaster David Jewell took charge of Haileybury, bringing it out of its post-Cold War austerity. Stuart Westley, Master of Haileybury until July 2009, was responsible for making the school fully co-educational.[3]

In 2019, 38% of Haileybury pupils scored A*/A for their A Levels examination. 65% of students scored A*/A for their GCSE examination while IB students scored an average of 36.4 points.[4]

Haileybury serves as a co-educational school for 11- to 18-year-olds. The seven boys' houses consist of Bartle Frere, Batten, Edmonstone, Kipling, Lawrence, Thomason, and Trevelyan. These former boys' houses have been converted into girls' houses: Colvin, Melvill, Allenby, Alban's and Hailey. There is also a boarding house for the Lower School (Years 7 and 8) called Highfield. The Ayckbourn Theatre functions as a modern auditorium with a fully equipped stage and back-stage. In 1997, the college chapel organ was re-built by the German organ builder Klais.

Haileybury hosts its own Model United Nations Conference every year,[5] for over a thousand pupils, making it largest MUN conference in the UK.[6] The conference is typically held the weekend before the Easter holiday.

Past pupils are known as Old Haileyburians.

For details of notable alumni, see List of people educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College.

• List of Victoria Crosses by school

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Haileybury and Imperial Service College.

• Haileybury web site