Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe

The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, is a selective boys' grammar school situated in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. As a state school, it does not charge fees for pupils to attend, but they must pass the 11 plus, an exam that some primary schools administer. In February 2011, the school became an Academy.

Established by Royal Charter in 1562 (originally established as a school in 1551), it is situated on Amersham Hill to the north of the town and has a capacity of about 1,370 boys aged between 11 and 19, open Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 3:30pm and later for co-curricular activities. The school has boarding facilities and was a DfES-designated Language College until 2010. From 2007-2010, it was also a Mathematics and ICT College. OFSTED gave it a Good ranking in its 2019 inspection.

Originally established by the mayor and burgesses of the town in 1551, in the ecclesiastical premises previously acquired by Sir Edmund Peckham (c. 1495 – 1564) during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the school received its Royal charter in 1562 (which still survives today at the school's current location).^{[citation needed]} It was based in the buildings of the former Hospital of St John the Baptist in the town centre until 1883. After the old hospital was demolished, the school was moved to new buildings nearby for a short time, and was moved to its current location in 1915.

The school expanded greatly under the headmastership of Edmund Tucker from 1933 to 1964, celebrating the 400th anniversary of its Royal Charter in 1962 with a visit from Queen Elizabeth II. To commemorate the visit, the school's main hall became Queen's Hall and bore an engraving to mark the occasion. In 1997 a new building was erected (the Language Block) entirely dedicated to the teaching of languages, which was opened by the Duchess of Gloucester.

There are several Royal Grammar School sites in the UK, of which High Wycombe, Colchester, Clitheroe and Lancaster have maintained their grammar school status, whilst Guildford, Newcastle upon Tyne and Worcester are now privately funded, private schools.

In 2006, tabloid accusations against then-headmaster Timothy Dingle led to an independent investigation. The school's governors concluded that he should be dismissed for "gross misconduct", but he had already resigned to take the position of head at a private school in Argentina. Dingle did not take up the position.

In 2016, the school made headlines after a question set in a practice maths test by a volunteer (a retired teacher) was deemed homophobic after it stated "marriage is between one man and one woman, as God intended when he made humans male and female". The school immediately withdrew the practice test when informed of the question by students. Headmaster Philip Wayne apologised "on behalf of the whole school community of governors, staff and boys" and said the volunteer who set the question would not be returning.

The current headmaster is Philip Wayne, who was Headmaster of Chesham Grammar School for eight years before joining RGSHW. He succeeded Roy Page in September 2015. Previous notable headmasters include Rowland Brown OBE (1975 - 1993).