Titus Oates, son of the rector of All Saints, Samuel Oates, and later infamous for fabricating the notorious Popish Plot, started his career by bringing false charges against both William Parkers in an attempt to create a vacancy for the post of master.

The master was to teach reading, writing, Latin, accounting, mathematics and navigation to any poor child in Hastings "from the Seagate next the Fish Market", at a salary of £40 per year, subject to a maximum of 70 pupils.

Thomas Breeds, another prominent local man, applied to the High Court of Chancery arguing that the funds were being improperly administered, with the result that he himself rented them for £210, no higher bid being received at a public auction.

The expenses of the case were paid by the funds, with the result that the Saunders school had to close for five years, but afterwards two separate masters were appointed.

The two were permanently re-merged in 1878, together with part of the Magdalen trust, to form the Hastings Grammar School Foundation.

A Victorian Gothic Revival building was constructed by John Howell & Son to the design of Jeffery & Skiller on a slope overlooking Hastings,[3][4] at Standen's High Field which became Nelson road, and occupied in July 1883.

From now on, admission to the school was solely via the eleven-plus examination, and education was free (previously there had been fees of five guineas a year).

The charitable funds remained under the control of the foundation governors, but responsibility for providing buildings now fell to the education authority.

A new modern building was constructed further from the town centre, on 42 acres (170,000 m2) of land which had long been used as the school's playing fields.

As a result, the Secretary of State issued an academy order in accordance with Section 44 of the Education Act 2005.

In 2017, Ofsted praised the 'School leaders, governors and members of the academy trust' for 'focusing on the right things' leading to 'already encouraging signs of improvement.'

While the final results of Ark William Parker moved in line with the national average (2018–19), the school had continually performed below the government's floor standards.

The classrooms here are: Mathematics, DT, Graphics, ICT, Business, Economics, Politics, Drama, PE and SEN (Special Educational Needs).

The lessons taught in the Lower block are: Apart from football and cricket, many other sports are played like Rugby, Badminton and Basketball.

William Parker was divided into three houses for sporting events and for students to wear during PE lessons.