The origin of Castle Donington College can be traced back to 1911, when it opened its doors to children on 9th January, in what is now St. Edwards Primary School. It had only 216 children on roll  taught by four members of staff. 

Liaison between Castle Donington School and its feeder schools (Kegworth, Breedon, Long Whatton and Hemington) began around 1930 a good relationship that has strengthened over the years and continues to this day. The school was re-designated as a secondary modern school in 1944, following the Education Act and educated children from age 11 to 15. Five years later, a ‘House System’ was introduced (Castle, Cedar and Key). In 1957 the school moved to the existing building and by the end of 1959 was firmly established, with over 430 pupils on roll, and well set for the future. 

From September 1967, the school became a High School as part of the ‘Leicestershire Plan’. Under this scheme, pupils intending to stay on at school until the age of sixteen, transferred to Burleigh College in Loughborough, at the end of their third year. 

In 1970, the High School became one of the first in Leicestershire to accept pupils at the age of ten rather than eleven. To accommodate these children, a new block was added to the building (the 10+ Base). This consisted of four classrooms, a science room, craft area, library area and some small rooms for group work. In the early 1970s, the High School first became a Community Centre and by the mid-seventies, a Community College. It also started to transfer pupils to Hind Leys Community College, in Shepshed, at the age of 14. The Community College continued to flourish during the subsequent decades. On October 1st 2012, the College experienced the next significant change and was awarded academy status removing it from Local Authority control. In 2017, the College was granted permission by the DfE to lose Year 6, retain pupils at the end of Year 9 and offer a Key Stage 4 curriculum. 2019 saw Year 11 pupils completing GCSE courses for the first time.