Education Authority. From now on, admission to the school was solely via the eleven-plus examination, and education was free (previously there had been fees of five guineas a year). Classes were held six days a week, with no lessons on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. Saturday morning school was abolished in 1967. Voluntary controlled status In 1959 the school governors decided to change the status of the school from voluntary aided to voluntary controlled. The school was now controlled by a board of ten governors appointed by the borough of Hastings and five appointed by the charitable foundation. The charitable funds remained under the control of the foundation governors, but responsibility for providing buildings now fell to the education authority. A new modern building was constructed further from the town centre, on of land which had long been used as the school's playing fields. The new school was designed for 570 boys, including a sixth form of 120, and is now the Parkstone Road half of the school. The foundation stone of the new school was laid on 4 July 1962, and the school occupied in 1964. Comprehensive school The incoming Labour government of 1965 introduced a change in national education policy intended to phase out grammar school education and replace it with comprehensive education. This was resisted by the borough of Hastings, but local government reorganisation under the following Conservative administration meant that the autonomous county borough was abolished and replaced by East Sussex County Council (ESCC) as the education authority. A decision was taken by ESCC to change to a comprehensive school system, and at the same time to merge the school with Hastings Secondary School for Boys (HSSB) known locally as "Priory Road". A further new building was constructed on the same site, but reached by a separate road entrance in Park Avenue. The school was renamed "The William Parker School" and had its first comprehensive system intake in 1978. This first year of comprehensive students were temporarily taught in the former Hastings Secondary School for Boys site located in Priory Road, with occasional lessons held at the former grammar school site while the new building was being completed, and moved across to the new location for 1979 start of the school year. College In 1998, the school achieved specialist Sports College status, following the new opening of an athletics arena. Towards 2000 the Alan Booth Jones Cricket