It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest grammar schools in the United Kingdom, with a history spanning more than 750 years. Founded around 1257, the year used in official school records, it began operating as a boys' school. On Skene Street, near the centre of the city, it was originally situated on Schoolhill, near the current site of Robert Gordon's College. It moved to its current site in 1863, and became co-educational in 1973. From 1970 to 1977, it was known as Rubislaw Academy, named after the nearby Rubislaw area of Aberdeen.