St Philip's was founded when two priests of the Birmingham Oratory took over an existing Catholic Grammar School in 1887.

It should not be confused with the Oratory School founded by John Henry Newman in 1859 and which later moved to Pangbourne, near Reading.

The school started in the Little Oratory on 19 September 1887 until the main building was completed on 13 December 1887.

In October 1992, due to only 30% of the intake being Catholic, the board of governors unsuccessfully attempted to change it to an 11-16 boys' secondary school, resulting in the Hagley Road site closing in August 1995.

[citation needed] The school choir was formed in 1950 and came to have a considerable reputation.