The town of Warwick was first recorded in the 9th and 10th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 914 during the rule of Æthelflæd, daughter of Alfred the Great.

Schoolmasters in the 17th century included the epigrammatist John Owen (1595–1622) and Rev Thomas DuGard (1633–49), later Rector of Barford Church, who recorded the history and daily life of the school in his Latin diary.

Around 1697 the school moved to the disused medieval buildings of the Vicars Choral in St Mary's churchyard, and stayed there for the next 200 years.

The years 1896 to 1906 were ones of increasing crisis for the school, however, culminating in its economic collapse and temporary closure, the flight of the headmaster, the sacking of all the staff and the withdrawal of most of the boys.

Notable modernisation efforts were undertaken by the headmasters P. W. Martin (1962–1977) and Dr P. J. Cheshire (1988–2002), who both extensively improved the school's buildings and facilities.

Intended from the outset to be used both by the school and by local organisations in the town, it was designed by Michael Reardon Associates and was opened on 1 May 2000 by Dame Judi Dench.

[10] On 2 June 2014, as the climax of the Jubilee year, Charles, Prince of Wales, visited the school and unveiled a commemorative plaque.

For the Upper School, at age 16, admissions are judged by subject-specific exams and interviews and offers are conditional upon GCSE and IGCSE results.

The six houses are named after people connected with the history of the town of Warwick (Tudor, Guy, Greville, Brooke, Oken, and Leycester).

The Junior School has four houses named after historical figures with no special connection to Warwick (Drake, Scott, Wellington, and Nelson).

The Town Crier of Warwick traditionally visits the school to announce an added week of holiday for the Michaelmas half term.

The ceremony involves a speech, read from a parchment to the whole school in the chapel quad, a mock discussion with the headmaster, and the declaration of the holiday, to cheers from the boys.

He succeeded with the school motto, Altiora Peto (I seek higher things), introduced in 1893, but neither the name change nor the coat of arms were legally established.

George Riding, headmaster from 1928 to 1933, eventually took the appropriate legal steps to obtain a coat of arms, which was granted to Warwick School in 1931.

Like the large golden cross, they are emblems used by King Edward the Confessor, reputed to be one of the original founders of the school.

The gold fleur-de-lys and portcullis are emblems of King Henry VIII, who re-founded the school in 1545, and the Bear and Ragged Staff have been the crest of the family of the Earl of Warwick since at least the 14th century.

[16] In the 1920s the uniform at Warwick School was simple: clothing was expected to be black, although trousers were also allowed to be grey and neckties dark blue.