The School of Musketry with its Corps of Instructors was formally established on 1 April 1854 at Hythe, Kent, although the first instructors were working at Hythe from mid 1853. The School was established by Lord Hardinge who, as Master General Ordnance, was determined to ensure that the best possible use was made of the greatly improved rifle musket then coming into service. From its inception a section of the School was responsible for user testing of infantry weapons and the exemplary collection of weapons in the Infantry and SASC Weapons Collection bears witness to this work.

The Corps Headquarters was then renamed the Small Arms School Corps in 1929 and a Vickers Machine Gun was incorporated into the cap badge. This reflected the change in name adapted for the School at Hythe in 1919 and for the expanding School, which now included Netheravon, that took on responsibility for the Vickers Machine Gun.

With the move of the Small Arms Wing from Hythe to Warminster in 1969 the Headquarters of the Corps was part of the School of Infantry and renamed Depot SASC. In 1996 under 'Options for Change' Headquarters SASC was formed as an integral part of the newly formed Headquarters Infantry.