Hampton School was founded in 1557 by Robert Hammond, who left a sum of money in his will to set up a school for local boys in the parish of Hampton. Our other early benefactors included Nicholas Pigeon, his grandson Edmund Pigeon, and the Reverend FitzRoy Fitzwygram, who all used their wealth to support the education of local underprivileged children. Many generations on, Hampton remains committed to playing a full and active role within the local community.
Free Places at Hampton
In the 1930s and 1940s, the much-loved Hampton Headmaster, Arthur Mason, awarded Free Places to boys whose families needed help with fees. Following national education reforms in 1944, places at Hampton Grammar School were free for all pupils, irrespective of a family’s financial means. From 1980, the government’s Assisted Places Scheme provided means-tested places for pupils joining at 11+ or in the Sixth Form. Since the cessation of this scheme in 1998, the School itself has offered reduced-fee and Free Places to young people, and will continue to do so.
Establishment of the Fitzwygram Foundation
As a former grammar school, Hampton has no historic endowment fund on which to draw, which has limited the number of pupils the School could support. There are many talented boys within the local community, who are unable to benefit from a Hampton education due to lack of funding. In order to address this, the Fitzwygram Foundation was established in 2016 as a separate, but linked, charity for the sole purpose of increasing the number of free places offered at Hampton School. There are currently 107 boys attending Hampton on completely free places and many more receive financial help with fees in the form of top up bursaries.
Today, the Hampton School community make a difference by making single or regular gifts, by leaving a legacy or through giving time and expertise to current Hamptonians.
