Bedminster Down School is a mixed gender

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

with academy status, located in the

Bishopsworth Bishopsworth is a suburban neighbourhood and wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of the city of Bristol. It is located in the south of the city and has a high proportion of council housing. Local facilities include shops and pubs, a pu ...

area of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England.

History

The school originally opened in 1955 as a comprehensive, although it was technically reestablished on 1 June 2012 upon officially becoming an academy. This switch was initially planned for September 2011, but was delayed. In 2010, the

head teacher A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management Management (or managing ...

of ten years, Marius Frank, left the school to become

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

ASDAN ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) is a UK education charity and awarding organisation based in Bristol. It develops and accredits programmes and qualifications aimed at supporting learners in developing personal, social, ...

, an education charity also based in Bristol. The school was part of The Malago Learning Partnership (MLP). MLP was a collaboration between Bedminster Down, Cheddar Grove Primary, Greenfield Primary, Headley Park Primary, Parson Street Primary, Victoria Park Primary and St Peters CofE Primary. As of 2024, the school is a member of Futura Learning Partnership, a

multi-academy trust Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) or academy chain is an academy trust that operates more than one academy school. Academy schools are state-funded schools in England which are directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local aut ...

which operates 27 schools in the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

. The current head teacher is Louise Davies.

Building

In 2003, the school was selected as one of four schools in Bristol to be completely rebuilt through the PFI programme. Work began on the new school building in 2004, which opened in Easter 2006.

Academic achievement

The school has improved its results year on year and achieved its best ever

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

scores in 2016, the table below shows the percentage of students hitting the key measure of 5 A*-C (9 – 4 from 2017 onward) including English and Mathematics over the last 5 years.

Ofsted

The school received a 'Good' rating following its last full Ofsted inspection, which took place on 6 and 7 November 2014. In specific areas, it received the following ratings: A follow-up inspection on 29 and 30 November 2023 concluded that there was no change to the previous 'Good' rating.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Secondary schools in Bristol Academies in Bristol