Education in Bath, Somerset
Encyclopedia
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 independent school
s as well as state-funded school provision. The state-funded schools are organised within the unitary authority
of Bath and North East Somerset
.
was established in 1966 and has grown to become a leading university in the United Kingdom. The university is known, academically, for the physical sciences, mathematics, architecture, management and technology.
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. 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. Bath School of Art and Design
is a college within the university. Although regarded as a Bath university, the main campus is a few miles outside the city at Newton Park
. It also awards degrees through colleges such as Weston College
in nearby Weston-super-Mare
.
, 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
.
college, City of Bath College
, and several sixth form
s 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
.
State-funded schools are organised within the unitary authority
of Bath and North East Somerset
.
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. Bath has 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.
In 2010, the council decided to close Culverhay School
, so from September 2012 no new pupils will be admitted.
s and secondary modern school
s to form comprehensive school
s. West Twerton Secondary Modern School and City of Bath Girl's Grammar School were merged to form Hayesfield Girls' School. City of Bath Technical School
was formerly part of Bath Technical College (now City of 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
, which in turn will close commencing in 2012.
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
, a further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
college and five independent school
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...
s as well as state-funded school provision. The state-funded schools are organised within the unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
of Bath and North East Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset is a unitary authority that was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the County of Avon. It is part of the Ceremonial county of Somerset...
.
Universities
The University of BathUniversity of Bath
The University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, United Kingdom. It received its Royal Charter in 1966....
was established in 1966 and has grown to become a leading university in the United Kingdom. The university is known, academically, for the physical sciences, mathematics, architecture, management and technology.
Bath Spa University
Bath Spa University
Bath Spa University is a university based in, and around, Bath, England. The institution was previously known as Bath College of Higher Education, and later Bath Spa University College...
was first granted degree-awarding powers in 1992 as a university college
University college
The term "university college" is used in a number of countries to denote college institutions that provide tertiary education but do not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university...
(Bath Spa University College), before being granted university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
status in August 2005. 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. Bath School of Art and Design
Bath School of Art and Design
Bath School of Art and Design is an art college in Bath, England. It forms part of the Bath Spa University whose main campus is located a few miles from the City at Newton Park, near Corston, Somerset.-History:...
is a college within the university. Although regarded as a Bath university, the main campus is a few miles outside the city at Newton Park
Newton Park
Newton Park is an 18th-century landscape garden, designed by the landscape gardener Capability Brown, and now owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.Newton Park was laid out on land containing the 14th century keep and gateway of St Loe's Castle, a fortified medieval manor house, Elizabethan farm...
. It also awards degrees through colleges such as Weston College
Weston College
Weston College is a further education college situated in Weston-super-Mare, England. The college has 7,500 students who are taught at facilities in Weston-super-Mare and Nailsea...
in nearby Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...
.
Vocational training
Bath is the present home of Norland CollegeNorland College
Norland College, founded in 1892 by Emily Ward, is a provider of childcare training and education. Norland trainees are employed world-wide as nannies, nursery nurses and in other positions in a variety of settings for childcare....
, 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
University of Gloucestershire
The University of Gloucestershire is a university primarily based in Gloucestershire, England, spread over four campuses, three in Cheltenham and one in Gloucester...
.
Secondary education
The city contains one further educationFurther education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
college, City of Bath College
City of Bath College
City of Bath College is a Further Education college in the centre of Bath, Somerset, England.-History:The college was formed in 1892 under the combined names of Bath City Science, Art, and Technical Schools...
, and several sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
s as part of both state, private
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
, 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
Bath and North East Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset is a unitary authority that was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the County of Avon. It is part of the Ceremonial county of Somerset...
pupils taking GCSE at 16 it is 59.9%. Special needs education is provided by Three Ways School
Three Ways School
Three Ways School is a special school in Odd Down, Bath, England.It was created in 2005 from the amalgamation of three special schools in Bath, the Royal United Hospital School, Summerfield School and Lime Grove School, but only moved into its new £12 million, purpose built facilities after they...
.
State-funded schools are organised within the unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
of Bath and North East Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset is a unitary authority that was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the County of Avon. It is part of the Ceremonial county of Somerset...
.
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. Bath has 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.
In 2010, the council decided to close Culverhay School
Culverhay School
Culverhay School is a boys secondary school situated at Rush Hill, Odd Down in Bath, England. There are around 348 students, boys in years 7 to 11 and a co-educational sixth form. The school was scheduled to close, with new admissions ceasing in September 2012...
, so from September 2012 no new pupils will be admitted.
| School | Type | | % pupils achieve 5 or more good GCSEs (including maths & English) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| State-funded Secondary Schools | 2009 | 2010 | |
| Beechen Cliff School Beechen Cliff School Beechen Cliff School is a boys' secondary school in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in 1896, it has 1,145 students aged 11 to 18.There are around 830 boys in years 7 to 11 and a co-educational sixth form of over 200 students... |
boys-only with co-educational sixth form | 74 | 67 |
| Culverhay School Culverhay School Culverhay School is a boys secondary school situated at Rush Hill, Odd Down in Bath, England. There are around 348 students, boys in years 7 to 11 and a co-educational sixth form. The school was scheduled to close, with new admissions ceasing in September 2012... |
boys-only with co-educational sixth form | 39 | 31 |
| Hayesfield Girls' School | girls-only with co-educational sixth form | 61 | 53 |
| Oldfield School Oldfield School Oldfield School is a girls secondary school, with a small co-educational 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.-History:... |
girls-only with co-educational sixth form | 77 | 73 |
| Ralph Allen School Ralph Allen School Ralph Allen School in Combe Down, Bath, England is a non-denominational, co-educational school for 11-18 year olds.The school was built and named in 1957 to commemorate Ralph Allen . It opened in 1958... |
co-educational with sixth form | 61 | 72 |
| Saint Gregory's Catholic College | co-educational with no sixth form | 66 | 64 |
| St Mark's CofE School St Mark's CofE School St Mark's is a Church of England secondary school located in Larkhall in Bath, England. It is a specialist Business and Enterprise College.In September 2009, 282 pupils were enrolled at the school., this number had dropped to 270.... |
co-educational with no sixth form | 41 | 38 |
| Independent Schools | 2009 | 2010 | |
| King Edward's School King Edward's School, Bath King Edward's School , Bath, Somerset, England is an independent school providing education for 950 pupils aged 3 to 18.The school is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.... |
co-educational with sixth form | 100 | 99 |
| Kingswood School Kingswood School Kingswood School, referred to as 'Kingswood', is an independent day and boarding school located in Bath, Somerset, England. The school is coeducational and educates some 950 children aged 3 to 18. It is notable for being founded by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1748... |
co-educational with sixth form | 98 | 95 |
| Prior Park College Prior Park College Prior Park College is a Roman Catholic co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils.It is situated on a hill overlooking the city of Bath, in Somerset, in south-west England... |
co-educational with sixth form | 94 | 86 |
| Royal High School Royal High School, Bath The Royal High School is an independent day and boarding school for girls in the city of Bath, Somerset, England, catering for approximately 1,000 pupils.-Admissions:The school is located on Lansdown Hill just outside Bath city centre... |
girls-only with co-educational sixth form | n/a | |
| Monkton Combe School Monkton Combe School Monkton Combe School is an independent boarding and day school of the British public school tradition, near Bath, England. The Senior School is located in the village of Monkton Combe, while the Prep School, Pre-Prep and Nursery are in Combe Down on the southern outskirts of Bath... |
co-educational with sixth form | Does not publish results publicly | |
Primary education
Bath has 27 local authority organised Primary Schools, a few of which have nursery classes attached.Closed educational establishments
The City of Bath reorganised secondary education by merging grammar schoolGrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
s and secondary modern school
Secondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s, under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...
s to form comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
s. West Twerton Secondary Modern School and City of Bath Girl's Grammar School were merged to form Hayesfield Girls' School. City of Bath Technical School
City of Bath Technical School
The City of Bath Technical School. Its origin can be traced back to an educational establishment founded in the early 19th century. It obtained its official name when Technical schools were formally introduced in Bath between the years 1892-96...
was formerly part of Bath Technical College (now City of Bath College
City of Bath College
City of Bath College is a Further Education college in the centre of Bath, Somerset, England.-History:The college was formed in 1892 under the combined names of Bath City Science, Art, and Technical Schools...
). 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
Culverhay School
Culverhay School is a boys secondary school situated at Rush Hill, Odd Down in Bath, England. There are around 348 students, boys in years 7 to 11 and a co-educational sixth form. The school was scheduled to close, with new admissions ceasing in September 2012...
, which in turn will close commencing in 2012.