In September 1973 Kimber (head of the High School) became the first headmaster of the newly formed comprehensive school with over 2,000 students on its roll-call. Having been established on a large tripartite campus, with soft boundaries between schools, all sharing the sports grounds, swimming pool and car parks there was a relatively easy transition and the newly formed comprehensive school took over the smaller buildings and grounds of the 3rd school on the campus, vacated by St John Fisher Catholic High School (which relocated to its current site in parkland on the south side of Harrogate), creating a  campus bounded by residential housing to the west, the Harrogate Line to the north, Kingsley Drive to the south, and Kingsley Road to the east.
The establishment of the comprehensive school involved Kimber taking over as headmaster in September 1973. This new school was built on a campus with shared facilities between three schools. The former St John Fisher Catholic High School moved to a new location, leaving behind its smaller buildings and grounds which were taken over by the new comprehensive school.