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Royal Belfast Academical Institution | |
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Address | |
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College Square East , , BT1 6DL | |
Coordinates | 54°35′49″N 05°56′11″W / 54.59694°N 5.93639°W |
Information | |
Type | Voluntary grammar school |
Motto | Quaerere Verum (To Seek the Truth) |
Established | 1810 |
Founder | William Drennan |
Chairman of the board of governors | Colin Gowdy |
Principal | J. Williamson |
Age | 11 to 18 |
Number of students | 1060 (approx.) |
Houses | Dill Jones Kelvin Larmor Pirrie Stevenson |
Colour(s) | Black and gold |
Newspaper | Sea Horse |
Yearbook | School News |
Affiliations | Inchmarlo Prep. |
Former pupils | Instonians |
Website | http://rbai.org.uk/ |
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is Queen's University, the institution pioneered Belfast's first programme of collegiate education. Locally referred to as Inst, the modern school educates boys from ages 11 to 18. It is one of the eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school occupies an 18-acre site in the centre of the city on which its first buildings were erected.