Prior Park College: a Bath day route with full, weekly and occasional boarding

The curriculum stays broad, then becomes more conditional

The Year 7 curriculum includes English, mathematics, science, humanities, languages, technology, arts, performance, religious education and PSHCE. Year 7 pupils do not make elective choices.

Most pupils later take nine GCSE or IGCSE qualifications. The examined core centres on English Language, English Literature and mathematics, with six options alongside non-examined Games, PSHE and Core RE.

Sixth Form is mainly a three-A-level programme, with EPQ, IELTS and a Level 3 Business Diploma also published. The school does not currently advertise an IB route. Existing Prior Park Year 11 pupils are currently offered automatic Sixth Form progression, but subject prerequisites still shape what they can study.

Nine short periods make a busy day

The published typical day starts at 8.30am and uses nine 35-minute periods on a two-week timetable. Clubs and prep commonly run from 4.45pm to 5.45pm Monday to Thursday. A day pupil may receive one early departure with permission.

Ask what happens between the last lesson and a 4.45 activity, which activities require a full term, and whether a pupil can eat before a late journey. A long day is valuable only when the child can use it without arriving home too tired for family life.

Saturday Active runs roughly 10–11.30am and is optional for day pupils, while fixtures can still affect weekends. Check the likely sport rather than asking whether “the school” has Saturday commitments in general.

A workable bus route still needs a late-day plan

The current transport information covers routes around Bath, Frome, Bradford-on-Avon, Keynsham, Chew Valley, Chippenham and other areas. The dated 2026–27 route sheet uses 16-seat minibuses and gives priority to daily riders.

Current return fares range roughly from £4.30 to £10.75 per travel day, charged by term. A full term’s cancellation notice is required, and missed trips are not refunded. Confirm the 2027 stop, seat, departure time and whether any return follows the 5.45pm activity finish.

Full, weekly and flexi boarding solve different problems

The boarding overview offers full, weekly and flexi boarding from Year 7. St Paul’s is the boys’ house and St Mary’s the girls’ house, with distinct younger areas for Years 7–8. Current boarding FAQs say Years 7–9 share rooms with three or four others; Lower Sixth rooms may be single or shared, and Upper Sixth pupils have their own rooms.

Full boarding includes organised airport transport at the start and end of term and ordinary weekends. Half-term residence is a separate, limited option at £97.50 per day. Flexi boarding is £100 a night including dinner, bed and breakfast, subject to space. Ask how far ahead a night can be booked and whether regular users keep the same bed.

The public material does not define the exact nights or return times for weekly boarding. Two quieter weekends are published, with no exeat weekends, but one page places both in Michaelmas and another places one in Michaelmas and one in Lent. Obtain the current house calendar and ask how many pupils in the relevant age group usually remain on an ordinary weekend.

Current FAQs say pupils through Year 11 hand in all devices at 9.30pm overnight. Sixth Form normally keeps them unless a concern arises.

Where parents do not live permanently in the UK, Prior Park requires an AEGIS-accredited guardian or a qualifying close relative over 25. Current guidance conflicts on whether the guardian must live within one hour or should ideally do so, and was due for review in September 2026. Request the current rule in writing.

Ask what the school’s Christian identity means in practice

The latest inspection records that Prior Park changed its formal religious designation from Catholic to Christian in September 2024. Its religious-life page describes a Christian school with a strong Catholic tradition. The boarding FAQ asks all boarders to attend a weekend service; the service time rotates through a three-week pattern.

Families of every faith or none should ask what services are expected, what is optional and how religious education and pastoral life handle difference. A label alone does not explain the weekly experience of a day pupil or boarder.

House life and phone rules shape the social week

Year 7 pupils join Baines House and Year 8 Brownlow, both coeducational. After Year 8, pupils move into single-sex Senior day houses.

The school presents itself as phone-free: pupils hand phones to tutors at the start of the day and collect them at dismissal. The Health and Wellbeing Centre is described as open from 8am to 6pm on term-time weekdays, alongside house staff, listening support and trained Sixth Form peer mentors.

Share support evidence before the assessment

The admissions policy asks families to disclose known or suspected learning, disability, medical and mental-health needs during application. Reports and details of current support should arrive before assessment so reasonable adjustments can be considered.

Prior Park says mild or moderate dyslexia can usually be supported, but specialist places are limited and the historic, multi-level site affects physical access. A diagnosis by itself does not automatically create a public-exam arrangement; current evidence and the child’s normal way of working matter.

The linked SEND policy was due for review in February 2026. Request the replacement, the child’s proposed assessment adjustment and a weekly support plan in writing. Current fees list £12.50 for a 35-minute group session and £25 for individual Learning Development support, with external therapies possibly costing more.

EAL provision follows a different path. The school says bespoke Year 7 EAL classes and some Year 9–11 examination preparation may be included, while additional individual or group tuition and Sixth Form IELTS support can be charged.

The latest inspection passed—and still left useful questions

The October 2025 ISI inspection recorded 535 pupils, including 130 boarders. All applicable standards were met. Inspectors described a positive culture, broad curriculum, adaptive teaching and coordinated pastoral, medical and boarding support.

Its next steps were to align the written attendance policy with statutory guidance, make prior-year academic-performance information available and improve the consistency and precision of written risk assessments. Some issues were addressed during the visit; they should not be inflated into a failed inspection.

Compare the full annual route, not one term’s headline

The 2026–27 fee information separates tuition and a £1,200 annual lunch charge. Billing is uneven: 40% falls in Michaelmas and 30% in each later term. The totals below include lunch but not every extra.

These are 2026–27 charges, not a September 2027 quotation. Add transport, music at £35.30 per half hour, learning support, examinations and selected trips or activities. The school seeks permission for an activity extra above £20.

A school-supplied personal learning device is compulsory at £100 per term, except for pupils entering Lower Third that September. Ask when the £300 annual cost begins for a 2027 Year 7 entrant. Sixth Form also has a compulsory £75 annual subscription.

Registration is £150 and the current page calls the £600 acceptance payment an “acceptance fee”, while another page uses “deposit”. Do not assume it is refundable or credited later. Obtain the offer-stage contract. One full term’s notice applies to withdrawal and a change from boarding to day, or fees in lieu may be due.

Bursary forms follow each route’s deadline

Means-tested bursaries are separate, funding-dependent and reassessed annually. The bursary form is due by the route’s registration deadline; that clearly means 23 November 2026 for Year 7. Confirm the Year 9 and Sixth Form deadlines and whether help can cover extras as well as tuition.

Put the 2027 Year 7 dates into the family calendar now

The current admissions calendar lists a Year 7 taster day on 13 October 2026. Applications close on 23 November. Special Talent assessments begin in the week of 30 November, Headmaster interviews are on 12–13 January 2027 and the entrance assessment is on 15 January.

The public calendar does not give the offer or acceptance date. Ask whether one common deadline applies to day and boarding offers, and when the current-school reference must arrive. Do not reconstruct those dates from another Bath school.

For Year 12, applications close at 9am on Friday 6 November 2026, with interviews beginning at 9am on Monday 9 November. The page does not publish the rest of the decision calendar.

The 11+ process mixes screen work, writing and teamwork

The on-screen assessment lasts about 45 minutes and covers mathematics and non-verbal reasoning. It assumes at least the relevant National Curriculum mathematics. A separate 50-minute prompted creative-writing task looks at English, grammar, imagination and what the school calls “spark”.

Children then work in small teams on active challenges with Sixth Form pupils in the Sports Centre. Parents may see this activity during a reception, but the school does not describe the reception as a parent interview. The final decision also uses an informal interview and current-school reference.

Prior Park publishes no teamwork rubric. A child does not need to become the loudest person in the room. Practise entering a task helpfully: listen, suggest one next step, invite another child’s view and change course when the group finds a better idea.