[6] In 1513, the "Free School" was founded by Dame Agnes Mellers, after the death of her husband Richard, partly in his memory, but also as atonement for wrongdoings against the people of Nottingham.
The foundation deed also provides for distributing (out of a total sum of 20 shillings) certain monies to the lord mayor of Nottingham, vicar and others.
In 2007 the school unofficially introduced a new logo for more general use, a modified version of the shield that omits the lozenge and ermine field.
[12] Since 1868 the school has stood high on Waverley Mount to the north of the city centre,[13] looking down towards its foundation site in St Mary's Church and later building in Stoney Street.
An example of Gothic Revival architecture, the first school building on the present site, built between 1866 and 1867, was designed by Thomas Simpson.
Housed in Middle Corridor are the learning support department, two ICT centres, two language laboratories, religious studies classrooms, two multi-purpose lecture theatres, the school library, and staff offices.
East Wing contains the old gymnasium, the Player assembly hall and classrooms for modern languages, history, and classics.
[17] In 1989 a sports hall was built on land to the north-east of the site formerly occupied by fives court and a shooting range.
The school's games field is not on the main site but at Valley Road, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) to the north.
[21] It features a number of rugby pitches and posts during winter, which are converted for athletics in the spring, with a running track and areas for shot put, javelin, discus, pole vault, hurdles and high jump.
[23] The junior school's four houses are named after former pupils or staff who served with distinction in the First World War and were killed in action or died of their wounds.
These cover athletics, chess, hockey, cross country, rugby, bridge, shooting, swimming, cricket, general knowledge, verse recitation, singing, and individual music.
Nottingham High School offers a wide range of GCSE, Advanced Subsidiary-Level (AS-level) and General Certificate of Education Advanced-Level (GCE A-level) subjects.
[25][26] Sixth-form subjects include Ancient Greek, art, biology, chemistry, classical civilization, computer science, design and technology, drama, economics, English language, English literature, Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), French, further mathematics, geography, government and politics, German, history, Latin, mathematics, music, music technology, physical education, physics, psychology, religious studies, statistics, and Spanish.
About a tenth of pupils are supported by bursaries or scholarships giving a reduction of between 10 and 100 per cent, depending on family income.
[28] Some of a 1990 episode of the TV series "Boon", starring Michael Elphick, was filmed at the school, with some pupils as extras.
[4][30] For more than a century, the Old Nottinghamians' Society has existed continuously, with its origins dating back to 1897, at which time it was called the NHS Dinner Committee.