[22] The school was formally opened in 1938 by admiral Sir Vernon Haggard using a ceremonial silver key handed to him by the first headmaster P.G.

However, a predecessor institution called Great Burstead Board School opened on 13 February 1878.

White who was Billericay School's first headmaster was appointed head of the senior mixed department here in 1923.

Sue Hammond became the first female head of the school in Easter 1998 and in 1999 the Resource Based Learning Centre (RBLC) was opened.

[26] The School achieved Maths and Computing College status in 2003 allowing some use of selection based on aptitude in these subjects.

It was thought that this status would generate an additional £1 million worth of funding, but a government policy on foundation schools reduced this sum significantly.

The 2000s saw long-running attempts to sell disused land adjacent to the school in order to fund a series of improvements Development was initially refused[27] but was appealed.

[28][29] Changes were made in the 2005/06 academic year which cut the lunch break from 1 hour to 45 mins so that the school day finished at 3.00pm rather than 3.15pm.

In January 2007 the school was at scene of a BBC London news report after a gas explosion scare in nearby South Green, down Southend Road.

[30] In 2009 it was proposed that the a Billericay Community Trust be formed in order to increase standards at the school.

[31] This would involve a partnership with the multinational technology corporation Dell, something that the Essex branch of the National Union of Teachers has objected to.

[33] In 2011 the school's sixth-form prom ended after some students were allegedly found taking drugs.

The main wing of the block is a 3 stories high with roughly 1 and a half of these rooms as Science labs.

This block contains the Art classrooms and the Food Technology and Textiles rooms and also houses Child Development.

Sixth-form students (years 12 and 13) have their own study areas and common room, but shares classrooms with the rest of the school.

During the 1930s the house names were Effingham (Red), Raleigh (Blue), Grenville (Green) and Drake (Yellow).

Other guests who have visited the school include survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp Leon Greenman and Josef Perl.

[53] A magazine, run and published in the school library under the title of Reviewz Books, reviewed new and classic fiction and has had interviews with authors such as Stephen Fry, Sheila Norton, Iain Banks and Sharon Osbourne.

It was merged in 2008 with the Speak Up website initiative which now features reviews, articles and blog posts from current and past Billericay School students.