The school is named after Mr C C Graham, Mayor of Scarborough between 1913 and 1919.
Grammar school Prior to 1973, the buildings were used by
Scarborough High School for Boys, a boys'
grammar school. The present building designed by Keith Scott of Building Design Partnership's Preston office, was built by the North Riding Education Committee in the late 1950s, around the same time as Scarborough Technical College (now called
Yorkshire Coast College). It had around 700 boys in the early 1970s.
Comprehensive Only the first year was all-ability when it opened. Gradually over four years from 1973 it became a comprehensive. The former site of the Scarborough Girls' High School on
Sandybed Lane, further to the south, became Scarborough Sixth Form College, although the girls aged under 16 from the school joined the Graham School, with boys from the other grammar school. For the first three years, it was mostly a mixed grammar school than a comprehensive. In 1975 it took over the former Convent of Our Ladies of Mary High School for Girls, and these buildings became the lower school until 1984. The school at this time had specialist
nautical studies courses, which were aimed at pupils wishing to pursue a career at
sea. It gained specialist
Science College status in 2004. In 2009 it entered into a federation with
Raincliffe School, a nearby secondary school. The Raincliffe School site, (now lower) Graham School, closed on 23 June 2017.
Academy Previously a
community school administered by
North Yorkshire County Council, in March 2019 Graham School converted to
academy status. The school is now sponsored by the Hope Learning Trust. ==Notable former teachers==