Manchester Grammar School

The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly selective private day school for boys aged 7–18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). It is the largest private day school for boys in the United Kingdom and has been described as "one of Britain's most prestigious independent day schools", known for its strong academic focus; having educated politicians, leading journalists, diplomats, Nobel laureates, poets, as well as Academy Award and BAFTA award-winning actors and directors.

Originally named 'The Manchester Free Grammar School for Lancashire Boys', The Manchester Grammar School was founded by Hugh Oldham in 1515 adjacent to Manchester Parish Church as a free grammar school and as the first school in Manchester. The school grounds slowly expanded for over 400 years until 1931, when the school successfully raised a sum to move its premises from a now over-crowded site in the centre of Manchester to its much larger present site at Rusholme. In accordance with its founder's wishes, MGS remains a predominantly academic school and belongs to the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

In the post-war period, MGS was a direct-grant grammar school. It chose to become an independent school in 1976 after the Labour government abolished the Direct Grant System. Fees for 2023–2024 were £15,180 per annum.

The founder, Hugh Oldham, a Manchester-born man, attended Exeter College, Oxford and Queens' College, Cambridge, after having been tutored in the house of Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby. Historical accounts suggest that he was not a particularly learned man, but was in Royal service, being a favoured protégé of Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, mother of Henry VII, and became recognised for his administrative abilities. He was appointed Bishop of Exeter in 1505. His great wealth came from his water-powered corn mills on the River Irk near Manchester, which were subsequently used to fund the school's endowment.

On 2 July 1515 he signed an endowment trust deed establishing the Manchester Free Grammar School for Lancashire Boys. A site was purchased in September 1516 and construction took place between April 1517 and August 1518. The combined cost was £218.13s.5d, largely given by Oldham, but with the help of his and the Bexwyke (Beswick) family who had provided an earlier endowment for a school within the parish church. A more elaborate deed in 1525 set the detailed rules for the school until the late 19th century.

The original deed promoted "Godliness and good learning" and established that any boy showing sufficient academic ability, regardless of background, might attend, free of charge. The school was situated between Manchester Cathedral, then a collegiate church, and the church's domestic quarters, subsequently Chetham's School of Music.

Later, Oldham's great friend Richard Foxe, the Bishop of Winchester, wished to found a monastery. Oldham, however, convinced him instead to found Corpus Christi College in Oxford and contributed 6,000 marks of silver (£4,000). Oldham also had a hand in the founding of Brasenose College, Oxford.

The original foundation provided a school house in the curtilage of Manchester's Parish Church and two graduates (the 'High Master' and the 'Usher') to teach Latin and later Greek, to any children who presented themselves. The school was intended to prepare pupils for university and eventually the Church or the legal profession. Typically, pupils would have stayed for 8 to 10 years before leaving for university. There was often enough money to fund bursaries or exhibitions for pupils.