Rosland Secondary School first opened in 1932, serving the new council estates which were being built as an extension to the 19th century Kates Hill area.

Robert Hawthorne, the Sky Sports TV commentator, was also a pupil from 1977 to 1981, and James Whale was a student in the 1910s.

However, by the time the 1988/89 academic year began, Blue Coat's future was still uncertain and there was even a suggestion that it could merge with Sir Gilbert Claughton School.

The buildings at Beechwood Road were reused in 1991 as the base of St Thomas's Community Network, which closed in September 2015 and were demolished just over a year later.

The Beechwood Road site has since been replaced with a new housing development called Blue Coat Drive.