The Ilfracombe Academy is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

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 ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

with academy status, located in the

North Devon North Devon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based just outside Barnstaple, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Ilfracombe, Lynton and Lynmouth and Sout ...

town of

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay towar ...

, England. Originally opened by then Education Secretary

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

in 1970 and known as Ilfracombe School & Community College, it was the first purpose-built comprehensive school in the country. Subsequently, it was called Ilfracombe College. Since the early 1980s, facilities available to students have included a television studio with an editing suite. The buildings were designed by Messrs & stillman. Following fundraising and negotiations from 2001, the college was awarded specialist college Media Arts status in 2004 and was renamed Ilfracombe Arts College. In 2007, the school built a £3.4 million arts block named the Beacon Arts Centre. The arts department relocated to this department, freeing up rooms for other uses in the school. The previous art rooms were refurbished into new administration, student services, and learning support areas. The previous student services were refurbished into a conference room with video conferencing facilities. The school converted to academy status in May 2013, but continues to specialise in the arts. The school used to broadcast students' radio shows in stereo on frequencies 103.6 & 107.7 MHz FM, up until the completion of a new school building in November 2017, when the old school was demolished to make space for new outdoor areas for students. List of headteachers * 1970-unknown, Mr J. F. Gale * 1980's - 1990's Mr Alan Bacon * 2005–2006, Colin Eves * 2006–2010, Brian Sarahan * 2010–2019, Sharon Barnes/Marshall * 2019–present, Steve Rodgers $Ilfracombe_College$ IS_and_CC_leaflet_page_1

References

External links

The Ilfracombe Academy official website
Secondary schools in Devon Ilfracombe Academies in Devon Buildings and structures in Ilfracombe 1970 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1970 {{Devon-school-stub