Having moved to Bruges in 1762 and then Liège in 1773, due to the persecution of the Jesuit order which ran the school, it finally settled at Stonyhurst in 1794.

An attempt had been made to found a preparatory school to the college at St Omers, which would have been based in Boulogne, but this was abandoned and ultimately ended by the expulsion of the Jesuits from France in 1762.

Hodder Place continued to function as the preparatory school to the college until 1970 when it was shut and converted into residential flats.

[5] Between 1828 and 1830, a new building in Georgian style was constructed closer to the college and opened as the new novitiate, St Mary's Hall.

[6] The building was extended with two symmetrical wings on either side in the 1850s when the symmetry of the college's south front was also finally completed.

[6] After their return to Rome, the Figures Playroom (ages 11 to 12) was transferred from the college to St Mary's Hall, which opened as a middle school to Stonyhurst in 1946.

As such, the Jesuit ethos pervades the life of the school, with emphasis upon spiritual development, reasoning skills, and the creation of "Men and Women for Others", with focuses on prayer and charity.

It stands for the Latin phrase Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam which means "To the Greater Glory of God".

Unlike most English public schools, Stonyhurst is organised horizontally by year groups (known as playrooms) rather than vertically by houses.

In Rudiments, pupils sit the Common Entrance and/or the 11+ Scholarship examinations in preparation for entry to the college.