The college is recognised as the largest sixth form in England and is noted for the high number of its students which progress to Oxbridge.

Joan had served as a silkwoman in Anne Boleyn's household, and was close friends with leading Protestant reformers, most notably the Oxford Martyrs: Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, and Hugh Latimer.

When the reformers were imprisoned for their beliefs during the early years of the reign of Queen Mary I, Joan Wilkinson acted as their advocate and supplied them with necessities.

After Bishops Ridley and Latimer were executed, Joan became a religious exile in Frankfurt, where she died in December 1556 at the house of her cousin, Cuthbert Warcop, a London mercer, and his wife, Anne.

[10] By his death, sometime between 24 April 1586 and 29 July 1587, he had accumulated a large amount of land in the South East of England.

In his will, he left land and property in Chadwell and West Ham in Essex, and a farm at East Shalford in Surrey, to his wife.

In addition, he left annual payments for a number of charitable purposes, including the poor of All Saint, Lombard Street and Chadwell in Essex.

He was replaced by Dr. Percy Tom Freeman, who had worked at King Edward VI School, Southampton as head of Science.

It was decided to make Peter Symonds a sixth form college during this time and other schools in the Winchester area would be feeders providing education for the years 11 to 16.

John Ashurst left in 1971 to be replaced by Stuart Nicholls who had the task of overseeing the change in the status of the school to sixth form college.

[12] The Falkland Islands Government pays for each student to board at Peter Symonds if they achieve at least five "C" grades in their GCSEs.

[15] At one time the college produced an online magazine named The BUZZ, written and edited by students, which replaced Converse in 2008 but has since ceased to circulate.

[18] The UK Rock Challenge, Duke of Edinburgh's Award,[19] First Aid, Practical Wildlife Conservation, Choir, Harry Potter Appreciation Society, Libra Foundation, Fencing, Debating and Fantasy Football are all activities on offer at Peter Symonds College.

There were more boarding houses when the college was a boys' grammar school: Wyke Lodge, which is now the environmental studies block, and Kelso, which is home to the music department.

The college has teams in the following sports: athletics, American flag football, badminton, basketball, cheerleading, cricket, cross country, equestrian, football, hockey, lacrosse, netball, rugby, squash, swimming, tennis, skiing, sailing, and volleyball.

[21] The college enters individual players and teams into competitions for the following sports: Golf, table tennis and trampolining.

In the same year the college was ranked 85th in the country (only including institutions with at least 30 exam entrants) based on Average Points Score.

[13] 2015 results showed the pass rate remained at 99% and students performed better than last year, with 83% achieving A*-C at A Level.

In 2004, the John Shields Building was unveiled, providing classrooms for the computing, psychology and environmental science departments.

It sits alongside the Ashurst (LRC) was opened in September 2015, creating more study space for students.

The new complex will be open to the public, and local residents have expressed concerns of a potential safety problem due to the location of a planned new entrance to the college site.