Coleraine Academical Institution occupied a 70-acre (28 ha) site on the Castlerock Road, where it was founded in 1860.

It was one of eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).

The school was generally regarded for its high academic standards[citation needed][2][full citation needed] and extensive sporting facilities, including 33-acre (13 ha) playing fields, indoor swimming pool, boathouse, rugby pavilion, sports pavilion and gymnasium.

The school has an extensive past pupil organisation, "The Coleraine Old Boys' Association", which has several branches across the world.

Coleraine Inst was nine times winner of the Ulster Schools Cup, the world's second-oldest rugby competition, in which it competed every year since 1876.