In 2020, it was named Regional State School of the Decade[5] for the South East of England by The Sunday Times.

[6][7][c] Owen decided to found a school to thank God for saving her when she was a child after she narrowly avoided being struck by an arrow, which passed through her hat, in the fields in Islington;[10] the exact nature of this event is disputed.

On 6 June 1608, she acquired a licence to purchase 11 acres (4.5 hectares) of ground in Islington and Clerkenwell, on which to build a hospital for 10 poor widows, and to confer power over that land (and some other land; in total, it was worth £40 a year) to the Worshipful Company of Brewers (her first husband, Henry Robinson, had been a member of the company).

[9] After founding the almshouses in 1608 on the site, which was on the east side of St John Street, in 1610 Owen obtained the right to build a school and chapel in the same location.

[14][16] The rules also stated that the school's headmaster was to be paid five pounds every three months and be given a house to live in for free; he was to teach writing, mathematics and bookkeeping.

[14][16] Her will (which was dated 10 June 1613), directed the yearly purchase of land worth £20 in order to pay the headmaster's salary.

[18] Samuel Lewis Jnr writes that according to John Stow's Survey of London, building the school and almshouses, as well as purchasing the land, cost £1776.

[14] To provide her charity with an income, the executor of Owen's will, Sir Thomas Rich, bought a 41-acre (17-hectare) farm in Orsett in Essex for £22.

[14][15] The school has maintained many traditions from the time of its founding, such as the giving of a small amount of "beer money" to every pupil.

[20] In 1818, the Charity Commission found that there were 55 boys at the school – the 30 specified by Owen, and 25 private pupils (several of whom boarded with Alexander Balfour, who served as headmaster from 1791 to 1824).

[30] During Robert Chomeley's time as headmaster (1909–27), the boys' school obtained playing fields in Oakleigh Park and he built several huts there, which were used for lessons.

[33][34][35] (A memorial to the people who died in the bombing was unveiled in 2005 at City and Islington College, at the former site of Dame Alice Owen's School's playground).

[37] In 1951, Dame Alice Owen's took voluntary aided status, while retaining its separation into two single-sex schools.

[39] The first official history of the school, by Reg Dare, was also published that year;[40] there was also a Thanksgiving Service at St Paul's Cathedral on 30 April.

Pupils stayed there for periods of several days and learned there; the centre, which was located outside London, was called Harrock House.

[1] As it transpired, none of the plans was ultimately implemented, and The Angel road junction remains substantially unchanged to date (2024) [36] The new school was opened on 8 June 1976 by Princess Anne.

[44] On 25 November[citation needed] 1997, Princess Anne opened a building for the sixth form and modern languages called the Bernard Ryan Centre.

[47] In January 2019, the school received a grant of £50 000 from Hertsmere Borough Council to refurbish an astroturf sports pitch.

[51] Kemp is an Old Owenian (former student) who met most of the future members of his band (with the exception of his brother, Martin) Spandau Ballet at the school.

[53] The film director and producer Sir Alan Parker (also an Old Owenian)[2] directed a Celebration Concert at the Royal Albert Hall[54] in April 2013,[55] (it was planned to take place on 23 April 2013)[56] featuring performances by various groups of students, as well as members of Spandau Ballet (including Kemp).

[66] As of 2016[update], fewer than a quarter of applications succeed; ten people apply for every place offered to external candidates to the sixth form.

[64] The Office of the Schools Adjudicator, which works with the Department for Education, did not uphold the objection;[70] it ruled that the arrangements did not affect a particular racial or social group and that they were fair.

[71] In 2013, Davison criticised Hertfordshire County Council and the British government for their alleged lack of response to fraudulent applications for the places at the school available based on residence (it was claimed that in order to qualify, people were renting or buying houses near the school without living in them).

[2] In 2014, Alice Rose, writing for Tatler magazine, praised its "excellent facilities" and "smart campus";[50] in 2016, the journalist Sue Leonard, writing in The Times, said that the school "offers...facilities many other secondary schools can only envy", and described its sports grounds as "enormous".

[54] A 2002 Ofsted report remarked that "the governors and senior management team have not included ‘racial equality as an integral part of all formal and informal training’".

It further noted that "in a Sixth Form English literature lesson examining unseen poems, all those studied were written by white poets" and that "The National Curriculum refers to ‘using materials which reflect cultural diversity and provide positive images of race, sex and disability’.

"[87] In 2021, 800 students participated in a mass walkout to protest what they viewed as a failure by the school to take action against racial abuse and bullying .

[90] Those for careers in the entertainment industry include Fiona Wade, an actress in the soap opera Emmerdale;[91] Dame Beryl Grey, a ballerina;[92] Jessica Tandy, an Academy Award-winning actress;[92] Both Tony Hadley, lead singer and Gary Kemp, the lead guitarist and songwriter for the band Spandau Ballet, Sir Alan Parker, a film director, and Ambika Mod, an actress, comedian and writer, known for her role in the Netflix miniseries One Day.

[93] Sportsperson alumni include the gymnast Gabrielle Jupp; Jodie Williams, a sprinter; Paul Robinson, a professional footballer, and Dame Mary Glen-Haig, a gold-medal-winning fencer at the Commonwealth Games.