The college opened in September 1920 as
Southport Municipal Secondary School for Boys. New buildings were constructed at the current site on Scarisbrick New Road in 1926, in preparation for a reopening by the
Earl of Derby on 16 October of that year, when the institution was rechristened
King George V Grammar School. In September 1979 the college assumed its current name; in 1982 its school section ceased to exist. In October 2014,
Ofsted placed KGV — previously a grade 1 'outstanding' college — in the 'inadequate' or grade 4 boundary for education providers. The report cited a lack of effective leadership and severe staff cuts as reasons for its poor findings. In June of the following year, Ofsted upgraded the college's 'inadequate' grade after a second report announced significant improvement. Since 2014 several of the site's buildings have been refurbished, including the sports hall and the humanities building. During this renovation the two-room
Classics building, then the longest-standing building on the campus, was demolished. ==Academic structure==