Sugars was a man of education, particularly regarding foreign languages. But he came to the School in its twilight years, and in its twice yearly examinations the Vicar of Hitchin at that time, the Reverend Canon Lewis Hensley, found more and more depressing results, with only four boys taking Latin in 1872. One did Greek but no English and Mathematics was woefully poor. There was no improvement and eventually Sugars had a mental breakdown in 1876. The Trustees closed the School and paid Sugars a small pension.