The Lowe Hill site is the location of the secondary school (11-16) whilst the Noble Street site is the location for the sixth form and adjacent boarding houses.

The school was founded in 1650 by Sir Thomas Adams, the Lord Mayor of London in 1645, who was described by the diarist Samuel Pepys as a "comely old alderman".

He was a staunch royalist, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London for his royalist sympathies but was later sent by Parliament to the Hague in 1660 to wait upon King Charles II who was about to be restored to the throne.

[3] The boarding house was rated as good in 2023 by OFSTED [4] The school has a strong connection with the Drapers Company, an ancient London guild who nominate two governors to sit on the school's governing body.

[6] Notable past-pupils of the Thomas Adams School include: