| Biography | The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School (commonly referred to as HABS) is a British private school for boys aged 418. It is situated in Hertfordshire and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and of the Haileybury Group.
In 1997 the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail named Haberdashers' the best school in the country, and in 2001 was the Sunday Times independent school of the year. In 2012, it was also the top independent boys' school in the country. (qv www.telegraph.co.uk). Approximately one fifth of the student body goes on to study at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, putting the school at 19th in the country in terms of Oxbridge admissions.
The school was founded in 1690 by a Royal Charter granted to the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers to establish a hospital for twenty boarders with £32,000 from the legacy of Robert Aske (£4,300,000 in today's money). The school relocated from the premises of the old hospital in 1903 and presently occupies 104 acres of greenbelt parkland in Elstree. At its centre is Aldenham House, a Grade 2* listed building, formerly home to Vicary Gibbs and bought from Baron Aldenham. In recent years the school offered boarding to a proportion of the school's students. |