St Aloysius College, Highgate


St Aloysius' College is a Roman Catholic, boys only state school in the London Borough of Islington, North London. Each year around 180 pupils are admitted to Year 7 on the basis of examination, however the local education authority also assigns students without a school to this school. It is the oldest surviving foundation of its kind in the Archdiocese of Westminster.

History

St Aloysius' College was founded in 1879 by the Brothers of Mercy as a Roman Catholic independent boarding and day school and then a grammar school. The control of the college was passed to the De La Salle Brothers in 1960. It turned comprehensive in 1971 with the reorganisation of the English education system and merged with another local boys comprehensive in the 1980s.
The school went through a turbulent period during the 1990s with declining academic standards and the subsequent loss of its sixth form. It reopened the sixth form in September 2010 and admitted a small number of girls. It was awarded the Sportsmark and Artsmark awards. It also featured in a Dispatches special on Channel 4 documentary Undercover Teacher.
The school is used by the National Youth Theatre for many of its auditions and courses.

Academics

Pupils generally take 10 or 11 GCSE subjects.
The sixth form is part of a collaboration of local schools in the area known as the Islington Sixth Form Consortium. Fourteen AS Level and four A2 subjects and a number of BTEC courses are available.

Most recent Ofsted inspection

The school underwent its most recent Office for Standards in Education inspection in November 2018, receiving a Grade 3 ("Requires Improvement". Effectiveness of leadership and management and Personal development, behaviour and welfare were graded as good.

Notable former pupils