New College Worcester   New College Worcester Whittington Road

In 1866, a school for boys, Worcester College for the Blind, started at the Commandery. They rented the Sidbury wing of this house which had acted as Charles II's headquarters before the Battle of Worcester. The need for more space led the College to move in 1887 to Slaughter's Court, a house in Powick. However, this was still rented. In 1902 Worcester College gained a permanent home on the Whittington Road site. The school site had been purchased by Miss Eliza Warrington from the Sebrights in 1897.An important change came in 1936 when the then National Institute for the Blind undertook all financial responsibility for the College. After the passing of the 1944 Act, Worcester College for the Blind was designated as a grammar school for blind boys.The establishment of Worcester College for the Blind in 1866 gave boys the opportunity to progress on to higher education, but there was no such establishment for girls until Chorleywood College was set up by the National Institute for the Blind in 1921. The school was located in the Cedars, a large Renaissance-style mansion in Hertfordshire. After the Education Act of 1944, the school was designated as a grammar school for girls.In 1987, Worcester College for the Blind, a boys' school, merged with Chorleywood College for Girls, and the school site became the home of RNIB New College Worcester. In June 2007, the new school became independent as New College Worcester.