Demand for secondary education in the Carlton Urban District was prevalent from about 1904, though proposals were consistently rejected by the superior Nottinghamshire County Council.

[5] By 1949, focus switched to endorsing an accessible grammar school,[6] encouraged by a post-war population increase connected to the developing coal and light engineering sector in western Nottinghamshire.

[7][8] As discontent surfaced once more upon the attainment of scholarships by 71 local schoolchildren to remote institutions, it was clarified that County authorities had finally agreed to the foundation of a secondary school.

[8][7] Architectural historian Elain Harwood demonstrates that Roberts repeated the same design at other schools both before Carlton le Willows' foundation and until his retirement in December 1954, describing its "strong proportions and blonde brickwork" as "impressive".

[7] In-line with Roberts' formula, generous acreage, permitting a large playing field, was secured for Carlton le Willows that year with the County Council's acquisition of War Department land once allotted to the adjacent Gedling House, which was built for the Smith banking family in the late 18th to early 19th–century.

[8] Managing a contingent of just over 500 by 1967,[18] it had three headmasters in all; Stephen Marshall (1953–57),[8] Leonard Thomas Draycott (1958–67)[18][19] and T. E. Dowman (1968–73),[20][9] who also led the grammar school's comprehensive successor up to his retirement in 1988.

[22][23] Contracted in January 1961 for £202,310 under the supervision of County Architect W. D. Lacey, the technical school promised compartmentalised accommodation for 510 pupils, including 60 sixth formers.

[24][22] The technical grammar initially admitted 209 pupils, whom were taught by 15 members of staff at the time of the school's official opening on 22 November 1963 by Willoughby Norman, then-Chairman of the Boots Pure Drug Company.

[22][8] Despite differing uniforms, the school shared a similar curriculum with its neighbour, with the exception of instruction in Latin and Ancient Greek;[22] such measures were implemented by W. B. Brigham, who served as its only Headmaster.

[26][a] The building of one of these secondary moderns, located on Station Road,[30] was annexed by its successor until 1988, when £200,000 of funding from the European Communities (EC) re-purposed the site as a business centre from 1989.

[32][33] Earlier, in 1975, £33,000 was designated as part of an A612 road safety improvement scheme for Carlton le Willows pupils and residents of the adjoining Stoke Lane.

[39] Recent campus developments include the completion of a Learning Resource Centre (LRC) in 2005, a performing arts block in 2007, a dedicated Sixth Form building in 2009 and a table tennis facility in 2016.

[45] An Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspection in April 2013 found Carlton le Willows to be a "good" school overall with "outstanding" features, namely in the "behaviour and safety of pupils".

[44] Despite a capacity of 1,445 individuals,[2] the co-educational school operates on a single, 32-acre campus on Wood Lane, Gedling,[2][46] which 1,513 pupils attended during the 2016–17 academic year: 794 boys and 719 girls.

[51][52] Each is administrated by members of the teaching staff and appointed house captains, providing pastoral care and encouraging their contingent in an array of inter-house competitions.

[60][61] Carlton le Willows Grammar School was originally established to reflect a curriculum comprising Ancient Greek, art, crafts, English, French, geography, history, Latin, mathematics, music, physical education (PE) and religious knowledge.

[66][69] In addition, pupils choose four other course options, including at least one humanity (geography or history) and, preferably to the school, a foreign language (French or German).

[70] Depending on both standard and subject-specific GCSE, or equivalent, entry requirements, as well as an interview in the autumn term, students are initially enrolled on up to four courses, be they A Levels, vocational qualifications, or a combination.

[73][72] With 40% of this contingent going up to Russell Group or Sutton Trust 30 universities,[72] Carlton le Willows' results were ranked twelfth best in Nottinghamshire, complementing the lower school's eighth place for overall performance.

[78] Catch-up classes are available for pupils in art, biology, construction, drama, general science, German, history, mathematics, music, photography, physics and textiles, with library access made available on a weekly basis for private study.

[84] Presently, sporting activities at the school include training for basketball, association football, rugby, netball, table tennis and cross country running.

[96] Carlton le Willows is represented in public affairs by Wilfrid Eggleston (1901–1986), Chief Censor for Canada during World War II,[97] British Army officer and engineer Stephen Tetlow (b.