Auckland Grammar School was originally endowed by the Governor of New Zealand, Sir George Grey, in 1850. The student cohort at the school includes young men from a wide range of backgrounds, including European, Maori, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Sri Lankan, Japanese, Taiwanese, African, Tongan, Samoan, Cook Island, Fijian, Niuean , Cambodian, Middle Eastern and Vietnamese. It also recognizes the mutual rights and obligations provided for by the Treaty of Waitangi, and in so doing ensure the curriculum reflects both Maori perspectives and values.

Auckland Grammar School offers an academic programme based on both national and international syllabi, providing an education for young men from Form 3 to Form 7, catering for a range of students from diverse backgrounds, socio-economic groups and ethnicities. The teaching staff enables their students to master the skills required to acquire and apply knowledge, while at the same time teaching them the value of hard work and the importance of healthy competition. School's curriculum is both substantial and rigorous, designed to ensure students achieve a standard of literacy and numeracy that exceeds national standards and is comparable to the best international standards.

Auckland Grammar owns world class facilities for students and staff to use, from historic buildings that honour the past, through to modern architecture with the latest technology. As New Zealand's leading academic secondary school for boys, it offers a dual qualification pathway both the New Zealand National Certificate of Education Achievement and the University of Cambridge International Exams.