Ifield Community College traces its origins back to the pioneering work of Miss Sarah Robinson who in 1854 set up the school in Crawley to be a Free School, open to those of all beliefs, as it is put in the Quaker literature of the time “to receive children of the Established Church and those of any sector denomination, to be run on lines purely unsectarian”. 

The school was known as the British School and it continued on its original site in Robinson Road, being rebuilt in 1916.  However, with the New Town plans in the 1950’s the premises became overcrowded, and new building works were undertaken in Ifield. 

These buildings were the Sarah Robinson Secondary Modern School and the Ifield Grammar School, functioning separately when the old 11+ selection examination was operating, and joining together to serve the needs of all boys and girls when Comprehensive education was finally introduced in 1966.  In the 1980s the School became a Community School, adding a wider range of courses for adults in the evening and during the day, and evening activities for the 14-20 year olds in our Youth Wing. 

Finally with the change from 11-18 to 12-19, the School was renamed Ifield Community College in 1986, and a massive rebuilding and refurbishment programme was undertaken, joining the two original buildings.