Regent House School
Grammar school in Northern Ireland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Regent House School is a co-educational, controlled grammar school in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland. The school comprises two parts: the grammar school and the preparatory department. Its current enrollment is 1486 (2024/25) students within the grammar school and 95 (2024/25) within the prep department.
Preparatory School
| Regent House Grammar School | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
 | |
Circular Road , , BT22 4QA Northern Ireland | |
| Information | |
| Type | Controlled grammar school Preparatory School |
| Religious affiliation | Non-denominational [1] |
| Established | 1924 |
| Status | Open |
| Local authority | Education Authority |
| Principal | Mr Michael Carville |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 4 to 18 Prep is 4-11, grammar school is 11-18 |
| Enrolment | Grammar School 1486 (2024/25) Prep Department 95 (2024/25) |
| Capacity | Grammar School 1450 |
| Houses | Castlereagh Clandeboye Scrabo Strangford |
| Colours | (Boys) (Girls) |
| School fees | Free |
| Website | regenthouse |
Regent House considers itself to be non-denominational, however, its current statistics show students at the school to be 57% Protestant, 7% Roman Catholic and 36% other.
The school is divided into four houses: Castlereagh, Clandeboye, Scrabo and Strangford.
Inspections
The school was inspected by the Controlled Schools' Support Council in 2015 and judged Satisfactory.[2] In 2019 another inspection was carried out, but could not reach a judgement because of industrial action being taken by staff.[3]
Music
In 2017 the school's choir won BBC Radio Ulster School Choir of the Year.[4] In 2024 the chamber choir placed third in the UK in the Barnardos National Choral Competition.
Notable former pupils
| Name | Notability | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| Jim Allister | MP, leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), former MLA | |
| Nigel Carr | Former British Lions rugby player | [5] |
| David Coulter | Minister in the Church of Scotland, Chaplain General in the British Army | [6] |
| Holly Hamilton | BBC journalist and presenter | [7] |
| Simon Hamilton | Politician (Democratic Unionist Party), former MLA | [8] |
| Eddie Irvine | Formula One driver | [9] |
| Phillip Matthews | Former Ireland rugby union international | [10] |
| Maxine Mawhinney | BBC newsreader | [11] |
| Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Blair "Paddy" Mayne DSO & 3 Bars | Founding member of the SAS, former British Lions rugby player | [9] |
| Rhys McClenaghan | Olympic gymnast, gold medalist for Ireland at the 2024 Summer Olympics | |
| Michael McGimpsey | Former Ulster Unionist Party politician, former MLA | [12] |
| Catherine Jean Milligan | Former Miss Northern Ireland | [13] |
| Colin Murray | Broadcaster | [14] |
| Ottilie Patterson | Blues singer with the Chris Barber jazz band | [15] |