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Early history, 1949-1972
Aiglon College was founded by John C. Corlette in 1949 and opened with just six pupils. A former teacher at Gordonstoun, Corlette had sympathised with the theories of its founder, Kurt Hahn, and began to think about opening a school of his own.

Corlette suffered from ill-health as a child and was never physically robust. This spurred a personal philosophy emphasising stamina and toughness, and upon which the principles of Aiglon would be founded. Corlette's decision to open a school in Switzerland was likely inspired by his own experience: he left Stowe at 16 to finish his education at Alpine College, having been sent there for the benefit of his health.

Following a financially precarious beginning, during which it rented various chalets, the school acquired its first permanent building with the purchase of the Hotel Beau-Site in 1955, now known as Clairmont. Though founded as a school on the British model, by 1957 half the student body were American nationals. British parents at this time were put off by a combination of high fees and a weak pound.

That decade, another idea borrowed from Gordonstoun, the 'rank system', was implemented. This ranked boys according to merit, academic or otherwise, with extra privileges awarded to the higher ranked. In 1968 the school became co-educational and 22 girls arrived that September.

By the 1970s Aiglon had drawn some criticism due to the fullness of its programme, with the working day running from 7am to 8:45pm for the youngest children, and up to 11pm for the oldest; though the school maintained this was necessary to "develop the whole child" and set this against long vacation times, which lasted up to 11 weeks in the summer. American author Allen Kurzweil recalled the eccentricities he encountered when he was sent to Aiglon in 1971.

In line with the aims of its founder, school culture "placed a premium on stoic self-reliance" and injuries were a fact of life. During the academic year Kurzweil attended, one student lost the tips of two toes to frostbite, another almost died after falling into a crevasse, and a girl was permanently disfigured on the local slalom course after taking a bamboo gate too closely.

In 1972 the Indian spiritual leader Chinmayananda Saraswati visited the school and gave talks on the Hindu faith. That year, Corlette stepped down as Executive Headmaster and took on the new title of Director and Founder.

By 1983 there were approximately 250 pupils from 142 nationalities, and the school was becoming well established as a popular choice for celebrity parents, including Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Roger Moore and Dame Joan Sutherland

A 1995 Newsweek profile noted that high fees did not "buy luxury" at Aiglon, and student dormitories were surprisingly modest. Such "unpretentious surroundings" were said to be popular with wealthy parents who did not want their children to be living in too much comfort.

In 2019 Nicola Sparrow became the first woman to lead the school.

Admissions
Applications can be submitted up to a year in advance of the intended entrance date. Decisions are made twice a year, the first round being in December and the second in March. Additional places following the second round may be allocated "on a rolling basis".

Admissions assessment consist of an interview, which require the participation of both the prospective student and their parents, as well as a series of tests to measure academic ability.

Campus
As of 2021 there were 8 senior boarding houses with 350 senior students (defined as those aged 13-18) and 2 junior houses with room for 75 students, of which the youngest are 9 years old. Students occupy a study bedroom shared with no more than three others. Houseparents live on-site. The oldest students are in single or double rooms.

Students are required to complete nine outdoor expeditions each year. These take place on the weekend and students can be away for a day or both weekend days. Skiing is part of physical education and during winter months the school week is adjusted to allow for it

Societies
Hatfield alumni are active through organisations and events, such as the Hatfield association, which now has a membership of more than 4,000 graduates.

Notable people
There are examples of notable alumni of Hatfield College in various fields, including government, academia, arts, and sport to name just a few.

The sporting alumni of Hatfield College may be the most famous, among them former England rugby union captain Will Carling, 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Will Greenwood, and former England cricket team captain Andrew Strauss. More recently, rower Angus Groom was a silver medallist at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Government figures to have attended the college include Robert Buckland, a former Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor; Edward Timpson, former MP for Eddisbury and Minister of State for Children and Families; and Labour Party life peer Baron Carter of Coles. At least 5 alumni have held ambassadorial level posts in the Foreign Office, most notably Kim Darroch, previously British Ambassador to the United States

Hatfielders in the military include Lord Dannatt, a former Chief of the General Staff, and one of his successors in the same role – General Mark Carleton-Smith. The late Air Marshall Peter Walker, Rear Admiral Andrew Burns, the current Fleet Commander, and retired Rear Admiral Matt Parr were also Hatfield undergraduates, in addition to Major-General Peter Grant Peterkin, later appointed Serjeant at Arms in the House of Commons.

In the media, presenters Jeremy Vine, Mark Durden-Smith, Jonathan Gould, and Mark Pougatch; and David Shukman, Science Editor of BBC News (2012–2021), were all students at the college. Travel writer Alexander Frater was a Hatfield student, as was the poet and memoirist Thomas Blackburn, fashion journalist Colin McDowell, singer-songwriter Jake Thackray, and comedian Ed Gamble.

Ecclesiastical alumni are numerous: with former Bishop of Derby Peter Dawes, former Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf Clive Handford, and Morris Gelsthorpe, the first Bishop in the Sudan, making up just a small sample.

In academia, names include computer scientist Keith Clark, Professor of Computational Logic at Imperial College London (1987–2009); particle physicist Nigel Glover, a current professor at Durham; Rebecca Goss, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of St Andrews; and Gordon Cameron, Professor of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge (1980–1990) and Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (1988–1990).

Eden Project founder Tim Smit, BP executive Richard Paniguian, Oliver Bonas founder Oliver Tress, and David Arkless, Chairman of End Human Trafficking Now, are all examples of alumni with a background in the business world.