Admissions to the former academy

Looking for a school place now? BTE Academy closed in 2022. Use Olympus Academy Trust admissions for Abbeywood Community School, or the Olympus post-16 application process for sixth-form entry. The archive has no access to applications or pupil records.

Why pupils joined in Year 10 or Year 12

The former UTC was designed around two decision points. Year 10 entrants moved into a GCSE and engineering programme at about 14. In Year 12, sixth-formers could take engineering qualifications and A levels after GCSEs. The academy opened with these two year groups. By its 2015 inspection, Ofsted recorded pupils joining from more than 50 secondary schools, mainly in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

How the old application worked

The academy's instructions for the September 2015 intake describe two steps for prospective Year 10 pupils. Families applied through their own local authority, then sent a notification to BTEA so the academy could track the application. School-leavers applying for Year 12 used the academy's own sixth-form application. Existing BTEA pupils could also continue into the sixth form.

Arrangements changed towards the end of the school's life. The March 2021 provisional plan (PDF) proposed a pause in BTEA admissions. It also set out a way for sixth-form applicants to discuss places on Olympus partnership courses based at BTEA. By June, local reporting confirmed a pause to Year 10 entry for that September. The records describe different stages in the transition.

Engineering options at Abbeywood today

Abbeywood sets out its specialist subjects on its Year 10 engineering pathway page. If you are considering a transfer, ask Abbeywood which year groups it can admit, whether a separate engineering option needs selecting, and how a change would affect GCSE subjects already started. For sixth-form entry, check both the centre and the course in the trust's current information.