Serving students from across north Bristol and beyond, the North Bristol Post 16 Centre offers sixth form education through two separate learning communities, one based at Cotham School and one at Redland Green School. The centre opened in September 2007, a year after Redland Green School had first welcomed Year 7 pupils through its doors, and has since grown into a well-established option for students finishing their secondary education in the city.
How the Centre is Organised
At the start of Year 12, students choose which of the two schools they wish to be based at for the duration of their sixth form studies. Whichever site they select becomes their learning community, and they are considered both a student of the centre and a pupil of that particular school. Each community operates its own student services team, responsible for looking after the welfare and day-to-day needs of its pupils. An assistant headteacher leads each site, providing dedicated oversight and pastoral support within their community.
Partner Schools and Wider Access
The centre functions as the designated sixth form for a number of partner schools across the area. These include Fairfield School, Henbury School, Orchard School Bristol, and Oasis Academy Brightstowe, giving students from these institutions a clear and supported route into post-16 education without having to look far afield. Beyond these formal partnerships, the centre also accepts applications from students attending other schools throughout the broader Bristol area, making it accessible to a wider range of young people completing their GCSEs across the city. This open approach means that sixth form study at the centre is not restricted to those within a narrow catchment, and students from a variety of secondary schools have the opportunity to apply.
Location Within Bristol
Bristol is a large city in the south-west of England with a substantial and varied secondary education sector. The North Bristol Post 16 Centre sits within the northern part of the city, drawing from communities across that portion of the urban area. Both Cotham School and Redland Green School are established schools in their own right, and the arrangement of running a shared sixth form across two sites allows students to benefit from the combined resources of both institutions while retaining a sense of belonging to their chosen community. The centre has been operating for well over a decade and continues to provide post-16 education to students from a broad geographical spread within and around Bristol.