Hymers College

Hymers College was founded when the mathematician John Hymers left some of his property to the mayor and corporation of Hull in his will of 24 August 1885. The property was to provide for the founding of a grammar school, "for the training of intelligence in whatever social rank of life it may be found among the vast and varied population of the Town."[3] Although an infelicity in the wording of the will rendered the bequest invalid, his brother and heir, Robert Hymers, voluntarily granted the sum of £50,000 to establish the school.[4]

Hymers opened in 1893, on the site of the old Botanic Gardens of Hull, as a school for boys.[2] The school quickly established itself, and the first headmaster, Charles Gore, was soon admitted into the HMC, with all subsequent headmasters also being members. Hymers was a fee-paying school for most of its history, and many scholarships and bursaries were given to pupils whose parents' could not afford the fees, in accordance with John Hymers' will for the training of intelligence, regardless of social rank. In 1946 Hymers became a "direct grant" school, with many pupils being paid for by the local authority, in a similar system to today's academies. However, this scheme ended in 1971, and the school governors chose to become a fully independent school, rather than joining into the new comprehensive system, and re-established the bursaries system after the Government-funded Assisted Places scheme ended in 1997.[2]

From 1972, girls (initially just two) were admitted to the sixth form, and in 1989 the decision was made to become fully co-educational. With the opening of the Humber bridge in 1981, the school's catchment area increased to cover the south bank of the River Humber, resulting in the school's numbers extending to their current figure of just under one thousand pupils in the 1990s.[2]

The College has a Junior School which accepts pupils into Years 4, 5 and 6 via an entrance exam, or through the "Associate Schools" program. Hymers currently has two associate schools: Hessle Mount School and Froebel House School, both of which provide education from reception. There is a system of academic tracking with Associate Schools, so that pupils attending these schools do not need to take the entrance exam for entry to the Junior School. Usually, there are just over 200 pupils in all three years of the Junior School (228 in the 2008 ISI report).[5]

In 2003, construction of a new Junior School building was completed, to replace an older building that has since been demolished.

All children are sorted into one of the following four houses at the beginning of Year 3: Brandesburton, Gore, Holderness, and Trinity.

There has been a steady development of buildings and facilities, including design and technology workshops, art studios, language resource rooms, and IT suites. In recent years additional land has been purchased, a theatre (opened by and named after Dame Judi Dench), a music centre, science laboratories, an all-weather sports pitch, and other sports facilities have been constructed. A swimming pool was added in 2005.

The school library was closed in 2001, with the majority of books being redistributed to decentralised resource rooms. This was upon the advice of government inspectors, who argued that the library in its previous form was underused.

A new "Learning Resource Centre" was opened in 2016, in response to an Independent Schools Inspectorate report from 2008, in which it was stated that "[Pupils] are limited in the amount of independent study and research they can undertake while in school... by the absence of a central library resource."[6]

Hymers College is the best performing school in the East Riding in terms of examination results and league-table position, consistently producing an A2 Level pass rate of 99% (updated 2014 figure). In 2018, The Sunday Times' Parent Power publication ranked Hymers College as the 94th best independent school in the country and as one of the top 10 schools in the north of England.[7]

The Masonic lodge Old Hymerian Lodge is linked to the school.[8]

The school is supported by a non-profit association, primarily run by parents and Old Hymerians, which host events and provide some funding for new facilities.

• Charles H. Gore, 1893–1927
• William V. Cavill, 1927–1951
• Harry R. Roach, 1951–1971
• John Ashurst, 1971–1983
• Bryan G. Bass, 1983–1990
• John C. Morris, 1990–2006 [10]
• David C. Elstone, 2006–2019 [11]

The original building opened in 1893 for anyone to be educated

Former pupils are known as Old Hymerians and the Old Hymerians Association exists for their benefit. Some notable old Hymerians are:

• Conrad Voss Bark, writer and correspondent
• Tom Biggs, professional rugby player
• Michael Bilton, actor
• Major General Graham Binns
• Kevin Boyd, Olympic swimmer
• John Burgan, Film maker
• Paul Callis, British swimmer
• Peter Cowley, Tech entrepreneur, angel investor and author
• Jon Driver, neuroscientist[12]
• John Fancy, famed for his many escapes from PoW camps during the Second World War[13]
• Peter Fryer Communist journalist
• Simon Hoggart, journalist
• Ralph Hooper Aeronautical engineer - famous for his work on Harrier and Hawk aircraft
• Damian Johnson, British sports broadcaster
• John Kittmer, former British ambassador to Greece
• Stuart Matthewman[14]
• Jemma McKenzie-Brown, professional actress
• Edward Arthur Milne, physicist
• Alfred Morris, first vice-chancellor of UWE
• Peter M. Neumann, Mathematician
• Katie O'Brien, professional tennis player
• Anant Parekh, Professor of Physiology at the University of Oxford
• David Prutton, professional footballer
• John Townend, politician
• Rob Vickerman, professional rugby player
• Tom Whittaker, professional rugby player
• Sir Peter Williams, physicist

• Website of Hymers College, Hull
• Old Hymerians Association website