- King Edward VI School is known as “Shakespeare’s School” — it is thought that the playwright attended between the ages of 7 and 14, and the room where he would have been taught is open to the public. Each year on the Bard’s birthday, pupils and teachers lead a procession through the town to the Holy Trinity church, where they lay flowers on his grave.
- The main school remains boys-only; the sixth form has been mixed since 2013.
- In 1776, an outbreak of smallpox reduced the school roll to just three. Today there are about 800 pupils.
- In the class of 2025, 86 per cent of A-level results were graded A*-B, with 82 students obtaining three A*-A grades, including 18 gaining places to study at Oxford or Cambridge.
- Music, drama and sports are particular strengths in a list of more than 80 extracurricular activities, ranging from Japanese to Ultimate Frisbee. As well as its theatrical links, the school has a strong sporting tradition.
- Old Edwardians include the actor Tim Pigott-Smith, the Paralympic gold medal-winning rower James Roe and the keyboard player with the rock band Suede, Neil Codling.
- King Edward VI School, Stratford was awarded State Secondary School of the Decade 2021
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