The Bourne Academy, Bournemouth

In its own words: "The Bourne Academy, established in 2009, is a state funded secondary school with 1000 students aged 11 to 18 years. Formerly Kings High school, the Academy received a £10 million investment in 2012 which transformed the site into a state of the art 21 st century secondary school."

In 2026, pupils at The Bourne Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 46.2, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 50.2 in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; and 47 across England.

42% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 56% in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; and 47% in England.

That is up from 44.2 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.22: pupils made below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 39.5, against 50.7 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 11.2 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 26 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, History and Biology.

For September 2026 entry, 181 families put The Bourne Academy as their first choice and 601 named it as one of their preferences, for 171 places offered. That is 1.1 first choices for every place. 39 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to The Bourne Academy are Winton Academy (0.8 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 56.1); Glenmoor Academy (0.8 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 59.3); Oak Academy (0.9 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 34); and LeAF Studio (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 36.1).

The Bourne Academy's 2026 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.

74 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about The Bourne Academy (as of September 2025): 97% would recommend the school, 93% say their child is happy there and 75% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that the school has high expectations for their child (100%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (75%).

Of the 136 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 83% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 51% to a further education college, 3% to an apprenticeship and 2% into work.

Of the 55 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 44% went on to university or other higher education, 7% to apprenticeships and 33% into work. 14% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

35.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 9.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (82%) and Mixed (6%).

In 2026, 213 pupils (22.2%) received SEN support and 72 (7.5%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is social, emotional and mental health needs.

The Bourne Academy had 71 teachers in 2026, one for every 13 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical secondary school, at about one for every 17.

The nearest railway station is Branksome Rail Station, about 2.2 miles away in a straight line.

9 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Hadow Road (sw-bound), 90 metres away.

In 2024/25, The Bourne Academy issued 640 suspensions, 67.7 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 4 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to The Bourne Academy are Kingsleigh Primary School (under 0.1 miles), Heathlands Primary Academy (0.6 miles), Hill View Primary Academy (0.7 miles) and St Mark's Church of England Primary School (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.