Kingsbridge Community College has won the South West Secondary School of the Year 2024 Award.
The UK’s highest-achieving secondary schools are ranked by the first true set of post-pandemic examination results in England in the 31st edition of The Sunday Times Parent Power Guide.
The guide is widely acknowledged as the most authoritative survey of the country’s top schools.
Principal Tina Graham said: ''We are absolutely delighted to have the hard work of staff and students recognised by this award. We are ambitious for all of our students. Staff are dedicated and have a desire to ensure that students have the best life chances possible. The commitment to extra-curricular opportunities is impressive and we have a committed group of volunteers that contribute significant amounts to the success for the college. I am grateful to everyone involved for sharing our values.''
The fully searchable national database of over 1,000 schools by name, local authority, town and postcode, is available online from Friday, December 1 and as a print supplement with The Sunday Times on Sunday, December 3.
As well as an assessment of all academic results on a school-by-school basis, Parent Power enables parents to compare the performance of a given school with other schools in the same town, local authority or nationally. There are also live links to school websites and schools’ most recent inspection reports.
Helen Davies, Editor of Parent Power, said: “The educational landscape continues to be challenging across both the state and independent sectors, and this is the first true assessment of post-pandemic exam results. We believe these rankings – and all the additional information on
offer in Parent Power – provide parents with a more reliable guide to academic achievement in
schools today.
“The guide showcases academic excellence but also celebrates schools who may not be right at
the top but are rising, innovating and helping pupils flourish. Being a teenager is hard enough, and the past few years since Covid have made life even harder. It is heartening to highlight the achievements of so many students and schools across the UK.
“This year Parent Power includes details on extracurricular clubs, wellbeing initiatives and school
lunch menus – chicken katsu seems to be the dish of the day.”
The guide found conversations around mental health are now ingrained in the top schools with many offering mentoring systems, talks from motivational speakers and workshops offering study tips and techniques to help with stress and anxiety. The guide also discovered good schools embed careers advice into the curriculum and inspire pupils by inviting visiting speakers, from industry leaders to alumni.