Urmston Grammar

Urmston Grammar (known as Urmston Grammar School until September 2010), also known as UG is a co-educational grammar school in Urmston, Greater Manchester, England. It is an academy located within the Trafford Local Authority area, though not controlled by it.

History

Founded in 1929 ,Urmston Grammar was once two separate school; a Urmston Grammar School for Boys and Urmston Grammar School for Girls until they joined together and became one. Since then the school has developed various new buildings and facilities. These include the Reading Room, the Theatre and the Fitness Suite as well as a state of the art Music Room which was opened by George Fenton. The school offers a secure environment with access to the very latest facilities, including cloud access and campus wide WiFi. Urmston Grammar was awarded specialist Science College status in 2004 and later, in 2007 it was awarded High Performing Specialist College status, and as from April 2008 Language College status as a second specialism. Urmston Grammar School converted to academy status as of September 2010, where it was 1 of the first 32 schools to convert, since then it has been known as Urmston Grammar. In the English Baccalaureate the school appeared 55th in the list of state schools in England.

Academic performance

The majority of the school's pupils go on to higher education; in the 2005 academic year, 90% went on to university.^[1] Urmston Grammar's most recent Ofsted report (2008) graded the school as "outstanding".

In GCSE, 60% of all examinations sat were awarded either A/A* grade in 2010 which increased to 63% in 2014 and has been roughly at this level since. 2013 Urmston Grammar achieved 80% in the Baccalaureate, whilst at A-level the school was placed 86th in The Independent 'The Top 100 Selective Schools at A-level'^[2] with 2016 Urmston Grammar students recording their highest number of A*-A grades.

Outside students' academic life, there is a wide range of extra-curricular activities which include sport, music, drama and many science-related clubs and activities such as debating. Students enjoy gathering in the Caf‚é Scientifique to listen to talks and hold discussions. They also benefit from frequent residential visits both at home and abroad.

Notable former pupils

• Air Vice-Marshal Steven Chisnall CB, Station Commander of RAF Halton 1998–99
• Kenneth Entwistle, Professor of Metallurgy and Materials Science at UMIST 1962–90
• William Hall, Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Manchester 1959–86 and pioneer of the British nuclear power industry^[3]
• Stephen Hesford, MP
• Paul Honeyford, biographer and linguist
• Keith Hopwood, guitarist with Herman's Hermits
• Judy Loe, actress & mother of Kate Beckinsale
• Ray Lowry, cartoonist, illustrator and satirist^[4]
• Sir Patrick Russell, high court judge and Lord Justice
• Dominic John Brookes, British Taekwondo Champion
• Adam Brown, presenter at Capital FM Manchester
• Dr. John Holder, Head of Department of Chemistry (1991 - 98) and Dean of Science (1994 - 95) University of Central Lancashire.
• Matthew Kelly, TV personality and host of Stars in their Eyes.
• Paul Stenning, biographer and ghostwriter
• Thomas Brady, professional rugby union player for Leicester Tigers, formerly with Sale Sharks
• Patrick Larley, Composer and Keyboard Player

References