Former pupils, known as Old Citizens, who have attained eminence in various fields are former UK Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, First World War hero Theodore Bayley Hardy, Nobel Prize–winning scientists Frederick Gowland Hopkins and Peter Higgs, Justice of the Supreme Court Lawrence Collins, Historian John Robert Seeley, England cricket captain Mike Brearley, chemist and entrepreneur William Henry Perkin, Booker Prize-winning authors Kingsley Amis and Julian Barnes, film director Michael Apted, and actor Daniel Radcliffe.

Admissions are based on an entrance examination and an interview, with the exception of pupils educated at the City Junior School, who are given an automatic place at 11+.

Despite the fact that this continued for over 70 years, the earliest certain evidence of the existence of Carpenter's Children can only be traced back to 1536, and thus it is not clear who these boys were, what they were taught and where they lived.

[6] In 1823, a report published by the Charity Commission revealed that over the centuries, the income from the bequest vastly exceeded the expenses of the boys' education.

The City Lands Committee suggested in a report that the bequest should be spent on educating a larger number of boys and this approach was adopted in 1826.

In 1832, Warren Stormes Hale, who believed that the workhouse proposal was not the best use of Carpenter's legacy, was appointed to the City Lands Committee.

On 1 September 1939[clarification needed] following the German invasion of Poland and the start of the Second World War, the majority of the school were sent to Marlborough College by train.

By 1944, with the war settling down,[clarification needed] the City of London School returned to its home on the Victoria Embankment, which had suffered no structural damage during the Blitz.

After Marlborough College refused them permission to take the exams there, it was decided that boys would take the Higher Certificate papers in the Guildhall Crypt.

Today, there is a memorial in the school's courtyard (transplanted from the main staircase of the old Blackfriars site) to remember those Old Citizens who had lost their lives in both World Wars.

An annual remembrance service, involving members of the Combined Cadet Force, is held on the Friday closest to Armistice Day in November.

Headmaster Boyes, believed that a new, modern building was needed for the school, and his efforts managed to secure a site on the banks of the River Thames for a new facility.

School activity transferred to the new premises over the 1986 summer holidays, in time for the 1986–1987 academic year, and a ceremony for the official opening of the building, by the Princess Anne, was held in 1987.

"[12] On the front of the building are statues of Shakespeare, Milton, Bacon, Newton and Sir Thomas More with "the first four emphasising the school's literary and scientific traditions [and] the last being a religious martyr, a famous lawyer and the author of Utopia.

[20] This building still stands and is protected by a preservation order; as of 2017[update] it was occupied by the investment bank JPMorgan, and it appeared on the left of the famous Thames Television ident from 1968 to 1989.

The present building on Queen Victoria Street was designed by City of London architect Thomas Meddings, an Old Citizen of the school as well as a former Temple Church chorister.

[25] The front view of the building beside the River Thames with St Paul's Cathedral in the background and the Millennium Bridge on the right is occasionally seen in popular media such as in the BBC News 60-second countdown as well as in an early scene of the 2005 movie, The Constant Gardener and in the 2009 film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

There are inter-house events (e.g. sports, literature, maths) which contribute points to an overall Interhouse Competition that is decided at the end of the year, of which the reigning 2023-24 champions are Mortimer House.

Subjects on offer include Geography, History and Politics, Economics, Mathematics, Language and Literature, Music, Modern Languages, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Drama and Theatre, Classical Civilization, Latin & Greek, Design and Visual Arts, Religious Education, Information Technology and Physical Education.

[32] The school also gives boys the opportunity to receive instrumental tuition as well as join music groups including orchestras and choirs.

The school also offers sports including football, cricket, basketball, water polo, swimming, sailing, fencing, squash, badminton, fives, athletics, cross-country, judo, karate and indoor rowing.

[36] Other facilities include the Great Hall, a sixth form common room, a bookshop, a library, an archive room, three ICT labs, facilities for the Combined Cadet Force (including a rifle range), a drama studio, two playgrounds and a drama theatre.

In 2015 this attracted police attention when plans to bring in paint for "raucous" celebrations led to concerns about disruption to the city's financial district.

The headmistress did not hesitate to bar the year group from school grounds "for their own safety", and told them that any such behaviour would result in their UCAS forms being 'ripped up'.

After the withdrawal of the Government Assisted Places scheme in 1998, the school has offered full-fee bursaries (or Sponsored Awards) to pupils from families on lower incomes with the help of contributions from parties including private companies, the John Carpenter Club, the City of London Corporation, and parents of current pupils.

Each year's Charity Appeal is managed by a student committee, who plans school events, fund-raisers, partnerships, and sponsors.

(Very Important Plastic) between 1997 and 1999 and a pirate radio DJ on London Underground FM, alongside the likes of the Dreem Teem.

[55] Over 140 people listed in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography were educated at the City of London School, and that includes only those who were already deceased at the time of writing.

[58] Giles was however, "temperamentally unsuited" to be headmaster of the school, and was replaced by George Ferris Whidborne Mortimer,[59] a liberal who had written an anti-slavery pamphlet.

Abbott oversaw the education of future prime minister H. H. Asquith, before retiring in 1889 to devote himself to literary and theological pursuits.