Education in Bath, Somerset

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Bath, Somerset has a large number of educational establishments for a city of its size. It has two universities, a further education college and five private schools as well as state-funded school provision. The state-funded schools are organised within the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset. [1]

Contents

Universities

The University of Bath was established in 1966 and has grown to become a leading university in the United Kingdom. [2] The university is known, academically, for the physical sciences, mathematics, architecture, management, technology and social sciences, as well as for its leading Sports Training Village. [3]

Bath Spa University was first granted degree-awarding powers in 1992 as a university college (Bath Spa University College), before being granted university status in August 2005. [4] It has schools in the following subject areas: Art and Design, Education, English and Creative Studies, Historical and Cultural Studies, Music and the Performing Arts, and Social Sciences. [4] Although regarded as a Bath university, the main campus is a few miles outside the city at Newton Park. Bath School of Art and Design is a college within the university based at Sion Hill, Bath. It also awards degrees through colleges such as Weston College in nearby Weston-super-Mare.

Vocational training

Bath is the present home of Norland College, a provider of childcare training and education. Courses range from a BTEC programme for 14- to 16-year-olds offered in conjunction with local schools, through post-school practical vocational courses, to degree courses in association with the University of Gloucestershire. [5]

Secondary education

The city contains one further education college, Bath College, and several sixth forms as part of both state, private, and public schools. In England, on average in 2009, 49.8% of pupils gained 5 grades A*-C including English and Maths; for Bath and North East Somerset pupils taking GCSE at 16 it is 59.9%. Special needs education is provided by Three Ways School.

A review of secondary education in Bath was started in 2007, primarily to reduce surplus provision and reduce the number of single-sex secondary schools in Bath. [6] Bath had an exceptional number of single-sex state secondary schools, with four single-sex schools compared to one non-religious and two religious co-educational schools. In a parental consultation 72% desired a re-organisation providing more co-educational places. [7] [8] Two schools became co-educational from 2012, still leaving two single-sex state-funded secondary schools.

By 2018, it was recognised that there was a serious shortfall in school place provision in Bath. For the whole of Bath and North East Somerset, 246 extra school places were estimated required by September 2018, and 722 by September 2021. [9]

The Bath Education Trust is a partnership and collaboration involving most of the state-funded secondary schools in Bath, providing joint educational services and working with the local business community. [10]

SchoolType % pupils achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs
(including maths & English)		 % pupils achieving EBacc
(5+ A*-C academic GCSEs)
State-funded Secondary Schools2009 [11] 2010 [12] 2013 [13] 2013 [13]
Beechen Cliff School boys-only with co-educational sixth form74677244
Hayesfield Girls' School girls-only with co-educational sixth form61537138
Oldfield School co-educational from 2012 with sixth form77737725
Ralph Allen School co-educational with sixth form61727334
Saint Gregory's Catholic College co-educational with sixth form66646441
St Mark's CofE School co-educational with no sixth form41385825
Independent Schools2009201020132013
Bath Academy [14] co-educational specialised tutorial collegen/a
King Edward's School co-educational with sixth form10099n/an/a
Kingswood School co-educational with sixth form9895n/an/a
Prior Park College co-educational with sixth form9486n/an/a
Royal High School girls-only with sixth formn/a9771
Monkton Combe School
(just outside Bath)		co-educational with sixth formn/a [15] 93n/a

Primary education

Bath has about 27 Primary Schools, a few of which have nursery classes attached. [16] In 2018 Bath and North East Somerset Council announced that it anticipated all its schools will be classified as academies by 2020, and it intended to cut central school support services and save at least £16 million by 2020. [17]

Closed educational establishments

The City of Bath reorganised secondary education by merging grammar schools and secondary modern schools to form comprehensive schools. West Twerton Secondary Modern School and City of Bath Girl's Grammar School were merged to form Hayesfield Girls' School. Saint Gregory's Comprehensive School was formed in 1979 through the amalgamation of Cardinal Newman School located at the site of the new school, and La Sainte Union Convent School founded in 1858. City of Bath Technical School was formerly part of Bath Technical College (now Bath College). It was formed in the early 20th century from several other institutions and evolved through various sites and roles until its closure in 1970, when it was merged with Westhill Boys School to form Culverhay School.

Bath Community Academy (formerly Culverhay School), operated by the multi-academy trust Cabot Learning Foundation, closed on 24 July 2018 due to low pupil numbers. [18] [19]

Older schools include:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Allen School</span> Academy in Bath, Somerset, England

Ralph Allen School in Combe Down, Bath, England, is a co-educational, comprehensive secondary school with academy status. Located on the south-eastern edge of Bath, the school educates 11 to 18-year-olds from Bath and the surrounding area.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayesfield Girls' School</span> Academy in Bath, Somerset, England

Hayesfield Girls' School is an all-girls secondary school with a co-educational sixth form located in Bath, England. In August 2011, the school became an academy. The school operates from two main sites, about a seven-minute walk apart. The campus at Brougham Hayes accommodates STEM subjects such as Science, Technology and Maths, and the Upper Oldfield Park campus hosts the Performing Arts, English and Sports faculties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oldfield School</span> Academy in Bath, England

Oldfield School is a secondary school, with a small sixth form, in Newbridge, Bath, England. Since February 2011, the school has had academy status, meaning that it operates outside the control of the local authority. Prior to 2012 the main school was for girls only, with a co-educational sixth form. In 2017, the school had 1036 students aged 11 to 18.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bath Community Academy</span> Secondary academy in Bath, Bath and North East Somerset, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wellsway School</span> Academy in Keynsham, Somerset, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Gregory's Catholic College</span> Voluntary aided school in Bath, Somerset, England

Saint Gregory's Catholic College in Odd Down, Bath, England is a Roman Catholic, co-educational secondary school with a sixth form. It was renamed from Saint Gregory's Comprehensive School, which opened in 1979. It teaches around 1000 pupils, its current head teacher is Anne Cusack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mark's School, Bath</span> Academy in Bath, Somerset, England

St Mark's is a coeducational Church of England secondary school and sixth form located in Bath, Somerset, England. The school attracts pupils from Bath, Larkhall and Fairfield Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haygrove School</span> Academy in Bridgwater, Somerset, England

Haygrove School is a co-educational secondary school in Bridgwater, Somerset, England, with 1,106 students aged between 11 and 16.

Broadlands Academy is a secondary school in Keynsham, Bath and North East Somerset, England. Formerly known as Broadlands School founded in 1935, the academy opened in December 2012. The school, which had specialist Science College and Engineering College status, has 603 students between the ages of 11 and 16 years, as of 2019.

The City of Bath Technical School in Bath, Somerset, England had various roles from the late 19th century until 1970. It obtained its official name when technical schools were formally introduced in Bath between the years 1892 and 1896, and at first was housed in a new extension of the Guildhall. The school was transformed in the early 20th century, when it was combined with several other institutions, and then evolved through various sites and roles until its closure at Brougham Hayes, Lower Oldfield Park in 1973 after being renamed in 1971 as Culverhay School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Taunton Academy</span> Academy in Taunton, Somerset, England

The Taunton Academy is a school with academy status in Taunton, Somerset, England. The school was formed by the merger of The St Augustine of Canterbury Church of England/Roman Catholic VA School and Ladymead Community School. Its original sponsors were Somerset County Council and the Diocese of Bath and Wells, however the school transferred to the Richard Huish Trust in 2015 and is now sponsored by Richard Huish College. It was opened on 9 September 2010 by Peter Price, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. Initially the academy admitted pupils aged 11 to 16 and will be based in the existing schools' buildings. In September 2011, the academy opened a sixth form for 100 students. In 2013, the academy moved to new and refurbished buildings on the former Ladymead site on Cheddon Road, with the former St Augustine site being closed. This plan was temporarily put on hold following the government's major review of the Building Schools for the Future programme in July 2010, and was subject to review by the Department for Education.

References

  1. ↑ "School Contact Details". Bath and North East Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 24 May 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  2. ↑ "History of the University". University of Bath. Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  3. ↑ "Departments". University of Bath. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  4. 1 2 "Bath Spa University". Archived from the original on 9 December 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  5. ↑ "Courses at Norland College". Norland College. Archived from the original on 29 July 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  6. ↑ "Secondary School Reviews". Bath and North East Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
  7. ↑ "A Review of Secondary Schools in Bath and North East Somerset". Bath and North East Somerset Council. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
  8. ↑ "A Review of Secondary Schools in Bath". Bath and North East Somerset Council. 14 April 2010. Archived from the original on 21 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  9. ↑ Claire Miller, Amanda Cameron (15 March 2018). "Bath needs hundreds more school places in just four years' time". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "About BET". Bath Education Trust. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  11. ↑ "Secondary schools in Bath and NE Somerset (2009)". BBC. 13 January 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  12. ↑ "Secondary schools in Bath and NE Somerset (2010)". BBC. 12 January 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
  13. 1 2 "GCSE and A-level results: See how B&NES schools performed last summer". Bath Chronicle. 23 January 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  14. ↑ "Bath Academy". CIFE. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "Record year for GCSEs". Bath Chronicle. 27 August 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  16. ↑ "Primary Schools and Nurseries". Bath and North East Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 24 May 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  17. ↑ Ferguson, Sam (11 January 2018). "School support services to be cut as Bath and North East Somerset Council aims to save £16 million by 2020". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  18. ↑ Nancy Connolly, Jonathan Coles (5 July 2018). "Bath community gets ready to say goodbye to much-loved school". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  19. ↑ Cameron, Amanda (24 July 2018). "Academy trust closing Bath Community Academy justifies high executive pay". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
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