Beechen Cliff School A GSG School Review
What is included in the Beechen Cliff School review?
Academic results & facilities
Up to date results for GCSEs, A levels, BTECs and IB; we go to places league tables can’t reach.
Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline
From how the school reacts when something goes wrong to how they tackle thorny issues like substance abuse, consent and mental health. We check they’ve got it all covered.
Information about the head
Our unparalleled access to the head teacher means we can tell you exactly what to expect when you meet them – from leadership style right down to the décor of their study and what they’re currently reading.
Teaching and learning approaches
Detailed info on teaching styles and stand-out subjects. We observe the lessons you’ll never see on an open day.
Entrance & admissions information
Exit information - where do the children go next?
Learning support & SEN information
Arts, sports and extracurricular
Pupils & parents (what are they really like?)
What The Good Schools Guide says..
Illustrious sports record, as one would expect from a school which offers places to rugby players in the ACE scheme in conjunction with Bath Rugby. Big, well-used music centre brims with exciting equipment and there are plenty of alumni at music college. Although non-selective, the school reflects the population of Bath and tends to get more able boys (and, in sixth form, girls). Three different pathways at GCSE. Around 70 per cent take the…
Read more- Beechen Cliff School
Alexandra Park
Kipling Avenue
Bath
Somerset
BA2 4RE - Head: Mr T D Markall
- T 01225 480466
- F 01225 314025
- E [email protected]
- W www.beechencliff.org.uk
- Beechen Cliff School is a state school for boys aged from 11 to 18 in Bath. Interested in an honest insight? Read the Beechen Cliff School review and find out more.
- Boarding: Yes
- Local authority: Bath and North East Somerset
- Pupils: 1,300; sixth formers: 430
- Religion: None
- Fees: Day free; Boarding: £12,000 pa.
- Open days: Sixth Form Open Morning October 16th
- Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
-
Ofsted:
- Latest Overall effectiveness Outstanding 1
- Outcomes for children and learners Outstanding 1
- Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding 1
- Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding 1
- 1 Full inspection 20th March 2014
- Previous Ofsted grade: Outstanding on 17th February 2011
- Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report
What the school says...
Beechen Cliff is a very popular school and is regularly over-subscribed. Our overall objective is to provide the best education for every pupil to achieve the highest standards in all areas of school life and to prepare each individual with the skills and aptitudes to achieve success in adult life. Our first priority is academic standards. Results are significantly above national averages at each academic stage. A level results are very good, with well over half of A level grades at A* to B in any given year. Many of our students achieved three or more A grades at A level and every year a number of the Sixth Form take up places at Oxbridge or medical college. At GCSE level our results are also consistently strong with more than 80% of our boys receiving 5 or more grades of 9-4 (A*-C) each year, significantly higher than the national average for boys.
The school takes a particular pride in its vibrant broader life. Sport is exceptionally strong; we have Saturday fixtures in all age groups throughout the year. Rugby, Hockey, Football, Tennis, Cricket, Athletics, Fencing, Rowing and Shooting are all represented at a highly competitive level and the school has been highly successful at county level and in national competitions. We have also enjoyed notable success in our Music, Debating, Art and Theatre Productions all of which are regarded highly by our parents and the wider community of Bath. ...Read more
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School associations
State boarding school
Sports
Rowing
Fencing
Shooting
Since September 2021, Tim Markall (40s). Home grown, having joined the school as a maths teacher fresh from his PGCE (Bath) back in 2005, since when he’s risen through the ranks as head of maths, assistant head and finally deputy head before taking the helm. A local boy, he grew up in Nailsea, near Bristol, where he attended Bristol Grammar before studying maths and statistics at the University of Bath. Caught teaching bug while tennis coaching as part of his degree: ‘I realised just how much I enjoy working with younger people.’ Sadly no time for teaching these days, ‘but I’m hoping to fit some in further down the line,’ he told us, and what he loses in classroom time he gains in developing the school’s outdoors education, more of which later.
‘Big shoes to fill’...
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Results by exam and subject
Subject results
Entry/Exit
Special Education Needs
Nov 09.
| Condition | Provision for in school |
|---|---|
| ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder | Y |
| Aspergers | Y |
| Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders | |
| CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia | |
| Dyscalculia | |
| Dysgraphia | |
| Dyslexia | |
| Dyspraxia | |
| English as an additional language (EAL) | |
| Genetic | |
| Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory | |
| Has SEN unit or class | |
| HI - Hearing Impairment | |
| Hospital School | |
| Mental health | |
| MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty | |
| MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment | |
| Natspec Specialist Colleges | |
| OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability | |
| Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty | |
| PD - Physical Disability | |
| PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty | |
| SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health | |
| SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication | |
| SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty | |
| Special facilities for Visually Impaired | |
| SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty | |
| VI - Visual Impairment |
Interpreting catchment maps
The maps show in colour where the pupils at a school came from*. Red = most pupils to Blue = fewest.
Where the map is not coloured we have no record in the previous three years of any pupils being admitted from that location based on the options chosen.
For help and explanation of our catchment maps see: Catchment maps explained
Further reading
If there are more applicants to a school than it has places for, who gets in is determined by which applicants best fulfil the admissions criteria.
Admissions criteria are often complicated, and may change from year to year. The best source of information is usually the relevant local authority website, but once you have set your sights on a school it is a good idea to ask them how they see things panning out for the year that you are interested in.
Many schools admit children based on distance from the school or a fixed catchment area. For such schools, the cut-off distance will vary from year to year, especially if the school give priority to siblings, and the pattern will be of a central core with outliers (who will mostly be siblings). Schools that admit on the basis of academic or religious selection will have a much more scattered pattern.
*The coloured areas outlined in black are Census Output Areas. These are made up of a group of neighbouring postcodes, which accounts for their odd shapes. These provide an indication, but not a precise map, of the school’s catchment: always refer to local authority and school websites for precise information.
The 'hotter' the colour the more children have been admitted.
Children get into the school from here:
regularly
most years
quite often
infrequently
sometimes, but not in this year
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