for repairs and that there were only nine boys "instead of the former ordinary number of 100". Various suggestions were made by the Charity Commission to raise funds for the school, including a reorganisation with Archbishop Abbot's School. The Committee for Maintaining Higher Education in Guildford was established in March 1887 to oppose the Charity Commission's draft scheme to amalgamate the RGS, Nettle's Charity and Archbishop Abbot's School. The committee raised (approximately £108,000 in 2010) towards the restoration of the RGS, ensuring its survival. A new Charity Commission scheme came into effect in November 1888 which resulted in the Old Building being restored, and the school's continuation as a day only school. Several years later under the Education Act 1944 the school adopted voluntary controlled status; tuition was therefore free and entrance was to be by common examination at the age of eleven. The construction of the New Building started in 1958 in the grounds of Allen House and initially consisted of a gymnasium, assembly hall, dining hall and kitchens, caretaker's flat, staff common rooms, junior library, cloakrooms and changing rooms, eight classrooms, science lecture theatre, five science laboratories, geography and art rooms, and various offices, stores and smaller rooms arranged in a J shape. The construction of the initial building was finished in 1963. On the morning of , a fire broke out in the Old Building. It caused widespread damage to a large part of the structure, including the two oldest rooms in the school, School Room and Big School. The main concern was to prevent the books contained within the chained library from being damaged, either by fire or water from the fire brigade's hoses. The damage to the building was so great that rebuilding took over 2 years, with the unusually cold winter of 1962–1963 delaying the restoration. Lessons, however, continued throughout on the Allen House side of the high street. The school became independent in 1977 when the parents and staff of the school, led by the Chairman of the Governors, John Fergrieve Brown, raised sufficient funds to purchase the school. The RGS then withdrew from the government maintained system, becoming independent and fee paying. This was followed in 1978 by the purchase of Lanesborough Preparatory School which became the junior school, preparing boys for entry to the RGS at either 11 or 13. More recently in 2003 construction finished on a new Sports Centre