King Edward's School (Bath)

Our View

Bath's most academic school, where bright, confident, motivated achievers will thrive on the constant intellectual stimulus it provides in and out of the classroom. Totally unpretentious in site and clientele, with the feel of a grammar school, but edgy – for Bath. Specialises in producing independent thinkers.

Headmaster

Since 2008, Mr Martin Boden MA (late thirties). Educated at Bolton School, (where he was asked back to teach after his PGCE) and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he read French and German. Spells at Cheadle Hulme School and Bradford Grammar as head of modern languages preceded his arrival at King Edward's as director of studies, whence he was appointed head, after a turbulent period with three heads in six years. A boy wonder. Married to head of geography, Jane, with an infant son.

Proud of grammar school career and academically very ambitious for his school. It shows: as director of studies he redesigned the school day to lengthen lessons to 60 minutes, necessitating a move to a 2 week timetable, to 'underline philosophical aim of depth in education'. Something's clearly working – KES is up there in the top 50 independents, having recently achieved 91 per cent A/B grades at A level and 74 per cent A/A* at GCSE. Anxious to dispel local reputation as hothouse however, by taking every opportunity to flag up everything else the school does: he claims its stunning results are attributable to 'the quality of the teaching', not merely the innate ability or industry of its students. Although relentlessly on-message when we visited, we did uncover a keen footballer 'though I have learnt to love rugby since coming to Bath' and the drummer in the staff band. Parents reckon he is straightforward (what you see is what you get), professional and they respect him, not least for his intellect and ability to think strategically... though some feel he has yet to perfect the art of delegation.

Academic Matters

Exceptionally strong across the board. Prominent Oxbridge entrants boards (eight or so per year) draw the eye on the way in, setting the tone and expectations. 'The school takes great pleasure in its rude academic health', states the head, who also claims intake is not off-puttingly selective. That myth will take some dispelling locally, where it still prevails. Nonetheless, pupils are not pushed into taking absurd numbers of public exams: the norm is nine or 10 GCSEs, four subjects at AS, dropping to three at A2 in most cases. A small group of enthusiastic year 9 classicists is now able to pursue Greek as well. A level options have been enlivened by trendier non-trad additions like photography, but intellectual rigour is applied and delivered here too.

SEN provision has been massively developed since we last reported, and the head says 'it has been embraced by pupils, parents and staff'. Learning support now has its own department, one of whose staff has close links with the junior school. 100 per cent screening for year 7 has just come in. Individual support lessons in school time as a chargeable extra (after assessment), but the head concedes that the school would find it hard to accommodate severe cases of dyslexia, dyspraxia or dyscalculia.

Games, Options, the Arts

Sport is king here and woven into the fabric of the school. Keenly competitive rugby, hockey, football and netball: fearsome local reputation extends to cricket, tennis and athletics in summer. Much participation at county level, some at national, and individual quirks accommodated, such as pole-vaulting and the Devizes to Westminster canoe race. Indoor sports complex, Astroturf and an athletics track on site, grass pitches a mile away at Bathampton. No swimming pool, but close enough to the university's superior set-up. Head conscious of managing the tension between winning at all costs v sport for all. Sixth form options include walking the inhabitants of the local dogs' home, as part of community service.

Drama an increasing strength: one recent Old Edwardian, Tom Payne, has become a star of stage and screen, and at least one production has been to the Fringe. Music facilities small, uninviting but high tech. Staff mad keen though and try their best to enthuse: recent appearances of the highly selective chamber choir, 16 in number, and the non-auditioned one have been very well received and instrumental groups gain plaudits at the Mid Somerset Festival. Notable individual successes too (eg National Children's/Youth Orchestra, fast track GCSE group getting all A/A*), yet music still seems to have an undeserved image problem for non-participants.

Visual arts emanate from a well-used department with an enthusiastic following, and a fantastic annual exhibition. Graphic design and photography well catered for with their own designated space, and DT has its own bang up to date CAD/CAM workshop. Loads of trips every year; mostly Europe but recently Kenya as part of Global Schools Partnership, and Antigua for the cricketers. Very active CCF, Duke of Edinburgh Awards and Ten Tors Challenge teams, plus an annual activities week remove pupils regularly from the confines of Bath. Charitable initiatives undertaken with typical KES seriousness of purpose.

Background and Atmosphere

Ancient grammar school founded in sixteenth century but wears its history lightly if at all, having abandoned its historical but unsuitable buildings right in the city in the 1960s in favour of the southern slopes. Buildings scattered over a steep-ish site: largely functional but not beautiful, exceptions being Nethersole House, a Georgian mansion housing the parts the head's visitors will see first, plus history, politics and classics, and B block, a sensational new high tech teaching space opened in 2008. Some parts could do with smartening up, such as the dining hall and locker spaces, cheerless in winter we suspect, and the school is short on common-room space below sixth form. Food gets thumbs up, though – all done in-house with plenty of hot and cold choices. Impression is busy busy busy but not frenetic. Lessons have a real buzz: no-one's snoozing at the back. Actually they wouldn't be allowed to – academic commitment and performance are what count here though, as the head is so keen to point out, that's not all that counts.

The short-ish day – lessons end at 4.00 and even the keenest are shooed out of the library by 5.30 – means that most clubs – and there are over 60, from the cerebral Aeolian (the hot air club?) to the practical Young Life Savers – are fitted into lunchtimes. Take-up is reasonable and pupils say there's everything they want but some parents worry that that 'there is too much time to hang about and obsess'. Earlier reputation for being two dimensional (ie kids who weren't bright and/or sporty didn't count) gradually fading, though some pupils reckon this is not a school for nonentities, passengers or those without particular skills or gifts. It is certainly cool to be clever here, and an air of academic seriousness is quite discernable. The head conceded, when pressed, that children who don't throw themselves into their work and at least some of what is on offer at KES might not thrive. Personal independence and eco-conscience encouraged too: large numbers of pupils make their way to school by bus, train (school runs a shuttle service from the station), bike and on foot; space for sixth formers to park. Lively social scene after hours with other Bath schools, but partying which invades the groves of academe, literally or otherwise, strongly discouraged.

Pastoral Care and Discipline

Strenuous attempts to rid itself of persistent reputation for being tough seem to have met with some success; current pupils and parents praise support given to them, particularly when the going gets rough, academically or otherwise. The post of pastoral deputy head was created in 2008 and a p/t chaplain from the Bath Abbey is now on board. We witnessed one teacher truly going the extra mile with an evident straggler in her lunch break; apparently discussions about pupil welfare predominate over crosswords and gossip in the staffroom too. Inordinate trouble taken not only by tutors but by subject teachers over personal statements. Academic expectations are high, but pupils are helped, not bullied into meeting them by effective tutors, who enjoy just the right kind of rapport with their charges. Senior management occasionally exercised over pupil behaviour in town on Saturday nights and not afraid to expel those who supply drugs. Sixth formers are expected to be role models and mentors to the lower school: in lower sixth they can try out the role of deputy prefect for three weeks before standing for election. 40 per cent of upper sixth then become prefects with 10 or so senior prefects, from whom a head girl and boy are appointed.

Pupils and Parents

Wide social and economic cross-section coming from a 25 mile radius, with a refreshing lack of snobbery for an independent school. Pupils are articulate, open and direct but without brashness, and they are proud of their school. The head likes to remind them that having all those opportunities does not make them better people. Parents are academically ambitious for their children ('but not at the expense of all the extras', he says) and support the school in all it does, including active fund-raising for extras; interestingly one said it was hard to 'give the school money', so determined is it to be financially independent. Amazingly few gripes of any description.

Most famous Old Edwardian is comedian Bill Bailey. Older notables have reached prominence in industry, academia, finance and the military.

Entrance

At 11, 90-or-so places up for grabs by passing an entrance exam in maths, English and verbal reasoning. 50 per cent of the intake comes from its own junior school, tucked away at the top corner of the site, nearly all the rest from a range of local-ish primaries.

25-30 places offered at sixth form, conditional on good GCSE passes (A/A* desirable for A level subjects), interview and references from previous school. Sixth form entry tends to attract more girls, who even up the numbers and give the sixth form a genuinely co-ed feel.

Exit

Vast majority to university of first choice with few gap years, including approx eight per cent to Oxbridge. Scottish and northern universities popular, with London and Wales attracting their share. Wide diversity of degree courses but medicine and geography particularly strong. Sports and art-related degree choices also feature. Hardly anyone leaves after GCSE.

Money Matters

Widely acknowledged by parents to be a ‘complete bargain’, for the calibre of teachers and range of opportunities the school provides. Approx 15 per cent of pupils receive means-tested bursaries, total fees in exceptional cases. Bursary forms routinely given to prospective parents; the head very keen to encourage able but impoverished candidates to apply.