Mary Ward, a nun from York, initiated a mission in to educate girls in the Catholic faith, with the aim of preserving Catholicism for future generations.

With the assistance of Thomas Gascoigne, a Yorkshire businessman who desired his daughters to receive a local Catholic education, the Bar Convent Girls School was founded.

Renovations in the 21st century also revealed a priest hole, designed due to the death penalty Catholic Mass carried with it.

[3] The school played a significant role in the war effort, notably establishing a military hospital in September 1914.

[18][17] Bar Convent school, as it was then known, also accommodated nun and refugees from Belgium during this time, in the dormitories traditionally used by pupils.

The nuns invested £102,000 to adapt the existing Bar Convent site for use as the senior section of the new comprehensive school.

This plan faced criticism for logistical inefficiencies and limited space for expansion at the Bar Convent site.

Critics argued that consolidating the school on a single site would have been more practical and sustainable in the long term.

Nonetheless, supporters emphasized the historical significance and superior facilities of the Bar Convent, including its well-equipped science laboratories, as key assets.

This exclusion contrasted with the recommendations of the Taylor Report, which advocated broader representation in school governance.

While some critics pushed for greater lay involvement, the Middlesbrough Diocese maintained that the proposals adhered to existing regulations for voluntary schools and were not bound by the Taylor recommendations.

The transition to comprehensive education in York unfolded against a backdrop of conservatism among Catholic parents, many of whom preferred traditional grammar schools and threatened to pull their children out and send them to Archbishop Holgate's Grammar School or Nunthorpe, both however would change into comprehensives ithin the decade.

[19] A settlement was reached in the early 1980s whereby the Bar Convent Grammar School was transferred from the IBVM Sisterhood to the Diocese of Middlesbrough.

[20] The school was established in 1920 and was initially administered by the City of York Education Committee until 1974 when it was taken over by North Yorkshire County Council.

The original Manor building and stables (still used on the upper site), which was built in 1850 for Charles Heneage Elsley Esq., J.P. and Recorder of York, was purchased and adapted by the municipal authority for use as a school.

During the period of 1927–1932, St George's School on Margaret Street underwent a reorganisation, resulting in three separate departments for Senior Boys, Mixed, and Infants.

In 1939, construction of a new building for the Senior Boys department began, and was completed in 1948, adjacent to the Primary school.

Previously a voluntary aided school administered by York City Council,[24] the school attempted to join the Saint Margaret Clitherow Catholic Academy Trust (SMCCAT) which was established by the Diocese of Middlesbrough for the central vicariate, however following a change in structure, SMCCAT[25] was dissolved and in May 2023, All Saints Roman Catholic School converted to academy status[26] sponsored by the Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust[27] which had originally been formed for the northern vicariate.

It was built in 1769 by Thomas Atkinson, secretly as Roman Catholic activity was still punishable by death, it has a unique pitched roof to disguise the domed ceiling of the chapel.

[31] In response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces in 2022, All Saints organised a prayer chain along the streets of the city in solidarity with Ukrainians.

Since its establishment in its current form, All Saints has operated a split-site school, which as (then Headteacher) William (Bill) Scriven described in 2013:"Running a split-site school costs us about £300,000 extra a year, and we get a £137,000 split site allowance from the council with the rest of the money coming from our budget.

This posed a challenge as the site would need to be in close proximity to the rail station and other transport connections to facilitate the Catholic community from outside the York area attending the school.

I have had the tour with the estates team at the school; it is taking ever more of their time just to try to keep the site safe, which is a major challenge.

The school runs an alumni service to keep in contact with students who have left, this is majoritively carried out by the Sixth Form.

[52][53] The Film4 production Extra Geography, an adaptation of Rose Tremain's short story was partially filmed at All Saints.