It was founded in 1853 as a benevolent institution which provided a boarding school education for sons of poor or deceased members of the medical profession and also accommodation for pensioned doctors.

[9] Discussions were chaired by Sir John Forbes, Physician to Prince Albert and the Royal Household, and followed similar plans establishing schools for the Clergy and the Royal Navy in desiring to raise money to found "schools for the sons of medical men", providing an education which would otherwise be "beyond the means of many parents".

[11] The new campaign's fund-raising activities included dinners, which numerous doctors and Members of Parliament attended, and concerts, for example at one such event, on 4 July 1855, composer Hector Berlioz conducted the UK premiere of his symphonic suite Harold in Italy.

Almost two years later, on 25 June 1855, the college was formally opened by Prince Albert and his son, the future King Edward VII, in front of an unexpectedly large crowd of around 6,000.

Funding for such a bold undertaking proved inadequate, resulting in a reduced number of buildings and insufficient space to support 100 pensioners and 100 boys.

Its buildings date from 1853 and are mostly influenced by the Gothic revival architecture, described by Prince Albert as the "pointed style of the 14th Century".

Students are also offered a wide variety of recreational and competitive sporting opportunities, such as badminton, squash, hockey, tennis, and swimming.

She wrote to John Vickers, the OFT director-general, saying, "They are not a group of businessmen meeting behind closed doors to fix the price of their products to the disadvantage of the consumer.

[28] In 2021, a regulatory compliance inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate found that the college was not meeting its statutory requirements in respect of safeguarding, safeguarding of boarders, behaviour and measures to prevent bullying, and that the standards relating to leadership and management of the school were not met.

A short visit the following year after the appointment of a new head (Emma Pattison) focusing on these issues found that they had been rectified and the standards were now met.

[29][30] On 5 February 2023, headteacher Emma Pattison, her husband George, and their seven-year-old daughter Lettie were found dead in their residence, the Head's House, on the school's grounds.

[32] Surrey Police suspect that George Pattison had killed his wife and daughter with a firearm, before committing suicide.

[34] From September 2024, he was succeeded by Mark Lascelles,[35] House colours are seen in the stripes in the ties worn by the majority of boys (those not wearing colours or prefects' ties); on a rectangular brooch occasionally worn by the girls; and at the neck of girls' school pullovers.

In 2001, the Epsom College U15 team won their age group in Daily Mail Cup, beating The John Fisher School by 17–12 at Twickenham in the Final.

The school lent its name to the thirty-eighth steam locomotive (Engine 937) in the Southern Railway's Class V, of which there were 40.