Head of Religious Education

The school is situated in Romsey, a very pleasant abbey town in the southern Test Valley. Opened in 1969 and built on land formerly in the ownership of Earl Mountbatten's Broadlands Estate, the school enjoyed the patronage of Lord Louis until his assassination. We are honoured that his great granddaughter, The Lady Alexandra Knatchbull, is our current patron.

The school is one of the largest and most successful co-educational comprehensives in Hampshire. Our intake is 300, and there are currently 1466 students on roll.

The school serves a predominantly rural catchment area extending from the boundary of Southampton to the boundary of Wiltshire. We are the larger of two secondary schools in the town. The school is very popular and heavily oversubscribed.

The school is a Single Academy Trust. Andrew Portas, the school’s Headmaster, has been in post since September 2022 and was formerly the Senior Deputy appointed in September 2010. The school is organised into eight faculties with approximately 80 FTE teaching staff, and the pastoral structure is based on five year groups.

The school is fortunate to have extensive grounds as it was built on land that was formerly part of Lord Mountbatten’s Broadlands Estate. Since the school became an academy on 1 April 2011, there has been an extensive refurbishment programme over many years. As a result, all departments are very well-resourced and accommodated.

The school is high achieving and GCSE outcomes are very good. Ofsted carried out an ungraded inspection of the school in January 2024; the school remained ‘good’ with many aspects of the school’s work being recognised as ‘first class’. There is a very strong international ethos and tangible links with schools in Africa, Asia and Europe. The school has a very strong focus on staff development. Career development is pursued in leadership, pedagogy and pastoral opportunities.