Pate's has been awarded 'State Secondary School of the Year' twice by The Sunday Times in their Good Schools Guide in 2012 and 2020.[1][2] In 2013, and again in 2024, the school was given an Outstanding judgement by Ofsted.
Academic achievements
At GCSE level in 2004, 100% of pupils entered earned five A* to C grades,[3] and the school came twelfth in the BBC table of performance in A-/AS-Level.[4] Again in 2005, 100% of pupils earned five A* to C grades at GCSE,[5] and in 2006, 100% of pupils passed in at least seven subjects with grades A* to C.[6] In 2008, more A* grades were achieved collectively than any other grade put together at GCSE level.
The physics department was recognised as the best in the country in a survey published by The Observer in May 2006.[7]
In 2012 Pate's achieved the fourth best state secondary school results in the United Kingdom. It was also awarded with 'State Secondary School of the Year'.[8] In 2019 the school was ranked as one of the top secondary state schools in the UK with 95.6% of grades at A*-B at A-level and 87.5% of grades at 9-7 at GCSE.[9]
Sporting achievements
The senior rugby team was coached by ex-England scrum-half Peter Kingston until his retirement in 2009.[10]
In 2007 Pate's senior rugby teams completed a season unbeaten for the first time in 21 years.[11]
The Old Patesians club has grounds and a clubhouse in Leckhampton, which was built when their previous premises were demolished to make way for Cheltenham's tallest building, Eagle Tower.
Community
The school competes in the Young Enterprise competition held amongst schools nationwide. The school was also named as one of the four winners of the annual BBC School's Question Time competition in 2009.[12] During the 1970s the school were winners of the BBC radio show Top of the Form.
Pate's is also involved with charity work and has a Charity Committee appointed each year; in 2007–2008, over £16,000 was raised.[citation needed] The school is situated in a deprived area of Cheltenham and under the headmaster Richard Kemp deprived students were encouraged to apply.
The current headmaster is James Richardson, who took over from Russel Ellicot in September 2023.[13]
Developments
The boys' school was established in 1586. The Gothic premises in the High Street were demolished in 1967 to make way for a concrete supermarket, at a time when many other historic buildings, which would now be listed and protected, were also lost.[citation needed] The school playing field existed quite remote from the school in Hesters Way, and a replacement school was built there, after the boundaries had been altered to make way for the Princess Elizabeth Way and Coronation Square council developments. The majority of pupils lived in more affluent areas on the opposite side of the town and needed to commute by public transport. The building opened in 1965 and was designed by the architects Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, and featured innovative use of concrete and brick construction, a copper-clad dome over the library and a moat, but its striking appearance was not universally popular, frequently drawing comparisons with a prison. By the 1980s the concrete had developed significant structural problems.[14] Following the merger with the girls grammar school in 1986, the school became multi-site for a time, utilising the former Monkscroft school buildings on a nearby site, predominantly for lower school pupils. The combination of the issues with running a split-site school, and the decaying condition of both buildings led to their replacement from 1994 with new buildings.[15] During this period the school somehow lost its nomenclature with Richard Pate, becoming known instead as Cheltenham Grammar School, and Pate's name instead became associated with the girls' school at Pittville.
The school raised funds in order to complete new fitness facilities. The £50,000 fitness suite was opened by Geoff Hurst in April 2010.
In summer 2012, Pate's Grammar completed the construction of a new refectory, costing £1.75 million. This also involved upgrading the school canteen to a cashless catering system operated by sQuid. It was opened by the Duke of Gloucester on 5 October 2012. The new sixth form block was built and completed in summer 2019.[18]
In spring 2019, a new sixth form block opened following a grant received in 2017. The three-storey building comprises study spaces and IT facilities on the lower two floors, whilst the upper floor houses the senior library. The building links directly to the George and Eve Tatum Block next to which it is constructed.[20]
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(January 2023)
