Independent schools to be merged

Leeds Grammar School moved to its site in north Leeds in 1997.

Two independent schools in Leeds are to merge in September 2007.

Governors at the boys-only Leeds Grammar School and Leeds Girls' High School have approved the plan after consulting parents and staff.

The new school will have co-educational primary departments on the High School site in Headingley.

The Grammar School base at Alwoodley Gates will be used by senior pupils of both sexes but they will be taught in single-sex classes.

Leeds School

The provisional name for the new institution is the Leeds School.

At a series of meetings, parents were told that the falling number of children being born in Leeds means the best course of action was to combine the schools.

The heads of both schools say only a small number of parents opposed the plans.

Leeds Girls' High School was founded in 1876.

Leeds Grammar School can date its history back to 1552 and moved to its present site in 1997.

Both only admit pupils after tests and an interview and charge fees of around £7,500 a year.