Bristol Brunel Academy is a mixed sex Secondary Academy, located in Speedwell in the ward of

Hillfields Hillfields is a suburb of Coventry in the West Midlands of England. It is situated north of Coventry city centre, and has undergone a series of name changes throughout its history originally called "Harnall" and has seen itself change from a ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England. The academy is named after

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...

. The Academy is part of the Cabot Learning Federation which is sponsored by the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

and

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

History

The site was originally the location of 2 single sex schools which became a mixed sex school called Speedwell Secondary School in the 1960s. A large part of the school burnt down in the mid 1970s, temporary classrooms were used while the school was rebuilt. The school became the first specialist school in Bristol when it changed to a technology college in 1997. The original buildings were in use up to July 2007 after which all the old school was completely demolished. Building for the new academy was undertaken on the site of the existing school in early 2006 by the construction company

Skanska Skanska AB () is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to ''Construction Global'' magazine. Notable Skanska projects include renovation of t ...

. The academy was officially opened in September 2007 by the then Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

and

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British broadcaster, writer, economist, professor and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Ex ...

. The main school building was designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects. Brigid Allen was the former Principal of the Academy. Guy Keith-Miller is the Chair of the Council.

Academic achievement

The school has improved its results over the period from 2008 and achieved its best ever GCSE score in 2014. The table below shows the percentage of students gaining 5 A*-C including English and Mathematics. The results of other LEA schools in the Bristol area are, on average, 10% higher than this.

Notable alumni

Kenny Stephens Kenneth John Stephens (born 14 November 1946) is a former professional footballer, who played in 314 Football League games for West Bromwich Albion, Walsall, Bristol Rovers, and Hereford United. Career Stephens began playing for Speedwell Scho ...

a former professional footballer. *

Justin Lee Collins Justin Lee Collins (born 28 July 1974) is an actor and former radio and television presenter from Bristol, England. Collins began his career as a stand up comedian in the 1990s when he was in his late teens. He then presented a number of TV sh ...

a television presenter/comedian.

References

External links

Cabot Learning FederationWired-gov.netNews.bbc.co.uk
Secondary schools in Bristol Academies in Bristol Educational institutions established in 2007 2007 establishments in England {{Bristol-school-stub