The Big Debate 2014
Channel: TBSS Archive
Date: 09/11/2018

23 October 2018 
Decision in principle to close 
The Bath Studio School
It is with much sadness that
 Wellsway Multi Academy Trust
 (WMAT
/Trust
) is 
announcing 
that
, following its request,
 the Secretary of S
tate for Education 
has granted a ‘decision in principle’
 to close The Bath Studio School by 
mutual consent. Following this a
pproval
 in principle
 there 
will now be
 a five
week 
listenin
g period during which individuals and organisations can
 put 
forward their views
 on the proposed closure 
to RSC.SW@education.gov.uk
.  
The Bath S
tudio School (TBSS) 
was opened in 
September 2014 and has, 
despite 
consider
able effort, struggled to recruit students
. Although the 
school’s
 capacity is fo
r 300 students, aged from 14
-19, 
it cur
rently educates 
just 12
6 students
 and
 has never recruited more than 140 
students in any one 
of its five
 academic 
years
 of existence. 
This lack of demand has led to the 
situation where the school is not financially viable, or educationally 
sustainable, going forward.
The 
Trust has reviewed several
 options to keep TBSS open but none 
are 
likely to be
 achievable within the 
local 
educational lands
cape and, reluctantly, 
WMAT
 has 
therefore 
made the request for closure.
If the request is given formal approval
, TBSS 
will 
close at the end 
of the 
school year 2019/20
 - with no further students being admitted to the school 
from 
September 2019. This will enable all current students to complete the 
courses and qualif
ications they have enrolled on.
 During this period 
WMAT 
will
 work individually w
ith students to support their on-
going education and 
transition 
and will also be available to talk to their parents/carers
. WMAT
 will 
also 
provide 
advisory support for TBSS 
staff, 
and will look to 
identify other 
opportunities for them within other WMAT academies.
Aspire Academy
, which 
shares a site with TBSS
, will remain with
in the Trust
and plans
 are already underway to expand the school
 to provide more places
for children with social, emotional and mental health needs
. Alongside this 
expansion, 
WMAT
 is planning to work with the local authority to further 
develop special school provision on the site 
to meet the 
growing 
need for 
more special school places
 in Bath 
& North East Somerset
.