Situated in the
Malvern Hills, the school's location owes much to Malvern's emergence in the nineteenth century as a fashionable spa resort, appreciated for its unpolluted air and the healing qualities of its famous
spring water. The school opened its doors for the first time on 25 January 1865 with twenty-four boys, of whom eleven were day boys, six masters and two
houses, named Mr McDowall's (No.1) and Mr Drew's (No.2). The new school expanded quickly: a year later, there were sixty-four boys; by 1875, there were 200 on the roll and five boarding houses; and by the end of the 19th century, the numbers had risen to more than 400 boys and ten houses. The school was one of the twenty-four
public schools listed in the Public Schools Yearbook of 1889 and was incorporated by
royal charter in 1928. The school song, "Carmen Malvernense", was written and composed by two masters,
M. A. Bayfield and R. E. Lyon. It was first sung on speech day in 1888. In 1909,
Henry Morgan began the construction of his first motor car in the engineering workshop at the college, which led to the establishment of the
Morgan Motor Company. Further expansion of pupil numbers and buildings continued between the end of the
First World War in 1918 and the start of the
Second World War in 1939. A total of 715 former pupils were killed in both World Wars. Two of seven former pupils who flew in the
Battle of Britain were killed in action. The dead are commemorated in two
memorials at the college: a statue and a library. "Within six weeks a huge steel-girdered workshop with 14” brick walls have been roofed and equipped, and a large canteen capable of feeding 1,500 people at least at one sitting has been completed, the whole of the grass space between the Science Schools and No.3 was bristling with huts, and in many parts of the grounds strange buildings of a special design rose up." Thousands of local people were engaged in the logistics and the supply of electricity to the town was upgraded from Gloucester and Worcester. The arrival of TRE saw the college's second relocation and from May 1942 to July 1946 the school was housed with
Harrow School near London. The TRE installations in the college were visited on 19 July 1944 by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. A nine-minute film of their tour of the premises is part of a collection at the
Imperial War Museum. Since the occupation of the college by the
Ministry of Defence in 1942, research and development into defence physics and electronics have been the major sources of employment in Malvern.
Later 20th and 21st centuries In 1965, the college celebrated the
centenary of its foundation with a visit by
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and
Harold Macmillan, the recently retired
prime minister. The college's 160th anniversary will be commemorated in 2025. Having been a school for boys aged 13 to 18 since its foundation, in 1992 it merged with Ellerslie Girls’ School and Hillstone
preparatory school (independent
primary school) to become coeducational and to offer education for pupils aged 3 to 18. The college also departed from the full boarding model of many English
public schools by admitting day pupils, although over two-thirds of pupils board. A development scheme was initiated in 2008. This included the building of a new sports complex, new athletics and viewing facilities at the pitches and two new boarding houses. The sports complex and new houses were opened in October 2009. Ellerslie House was opened for girls, commemorating the eponymous former girls' school, and the other new house has become the new permanent residence for the boys of No. 7. In April 2010, part of the school suffered serious damage when a fire broke out in one of the boarding houses. The
Grade II listed building, built in 1871, was home to 55 girls and the housemistress, although no one was in residence at the time of the fire. In 2024, the college submitted
plans for the adaptation of the War Memorial Library to a
Sixth form centre. The original preparatory school, Hillstone, opened in 1883. When the college went coeducational, Hillstone was absorbed into Malvern to become its preparatory department. In 2008 this was merged with
The Downs preparatory school in the nearby village of
Colwall, Herefordshire to form The Downs, Malvern College Preparatory School. Boarding is available to pupils in the preparatory school aged 7 and above, who reside in a separate boarding house known as The Warren. == Governance and admissions ==