Education in Bath, Somerset

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 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]

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] 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.

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.

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.[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.

School Type % pupils achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs
(including maths & English)
% pupils achieving EBacc
(5+ A*-C academic GCSEs)
State-funded Secondary Schools 2009[9] 2010[10] 2013[11] 2013[11]
Bath Community Academy
(formerly Culverhay School)
co-educational from 2012 with sixth form 39 31 18 n/a
Beechen Cliff School boys-only with co-educational sixth form 74 67 72 44
Hayesfield Girls' School girls-only with co-educational sixth form 61 53 71 38
Oldfield School co-educational from 2012 with sixth form 77 73 77 25
Ralph Allen School co-educational with sixth form 61 72 73 34
Saint Gregory's Catholic College co-educational with no sixth form 66 64 64 41
St Mark's CofE School co-educational with no sixth form 41 38 58 25
Independent Schools 2009 2010 2013 2013
Bath Academy[12] co-educational specialised tutorial college n/a
King Edward's School co-educational with sixth form 100 99 n/a n/a
Kingswood School co-educational with sixth form 98 95 n/a n/a
Prior Park College co-educational with sixth form 94 86 n/a n/a
Royal High School girls-only with co-educational sixth form n/a 97 71
Monkton Combe School co-educational with sixth form n/a[13] 93 n/a

Primary education

Bath has 27 local council organised Primary Schools, a few of which have nursery classes attached.[14]

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. 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.

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". Bath Spa University. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  5. "Courses at Norland College". Norland College. 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. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  9. "Secondary schools in Bath and NE Somerset (2009)". BBC. 13 January 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  10. "Secondary schools in Bath and NE Somerset (2010)". BBC. 12 January 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
  11. 1 2 "GCSE and A-level results: See how B&NES schools performed last summer". Bath Chronicle. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  12. "Bath Academy". CIFE. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  13. "Record year for GCSEs". Bath Chronicle. 27 August 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  14. "Primary Schools and Nurseries". Bath and North East Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 24 May 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, November 16, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.