School portraits | 6 September 2018

Bath Academy

 
Based in the beautiful city of Bath, this tutorial college is one of very few in the south-west to offer flexible academic programmes for a wide range of students. As well as being a sixth-form college, Bath Academy also offers GCSE courses, revision courses and resits in a wide range of subjects. The Academy’s University Foundation Programme was the UK’s first independent foundation programme. Equivalent to A-levels or the International Baccalaureate, it is designed primarily for international students who want to study at a British university. The focus is on a personalised approach to learning, with small class sizes and regular meetings between students and their personal tutors. In 2017 the Academy topped the list for added value in A-level results in Bath and north-east Somerset, a fine endorsement of the progress students at the college have made during their A-level studies.
 

 

Harrogate ladies

 
Harrogate — with an aitch, please — is one of the smartest towns in Yorkshire, known for its spa and its tea rooms. Perhaps it’s no surprise therefore, that it boasts not just a girls’ high school like so many other towns, but a ladies’ college instead. The main school was originally founded in 1893 as a girls-only senior school, but whereas the senior school (11-18) remains girls (or ladies) only, in later years junior schools were added, and today the prep and pre-prep schools both welcome boys as well. Academic attainment is excellent, with 80 per cent of students receiving offers from Russell Group universities this year. Italian for beginners and a psychology film club are some of the more unusual extracurricular clubs. In September the school will open its brand new Wellness Centre, offering mindfulness practice, meditation and yoga, massage and reflexology, stress prevention and management, nutritional advice and counselling services.
 

 

Millfield

 
Millfield School in Somerset is well known for its sporting prowess.