Sixth Form Handbook 2026/27
For Girls. For Life.
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Welcome Key Events Winfield Centre Dress Code
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Everything Else: Phones and laptops, Future skills, Driving, Thursday afternoon sport, Clubs and activities Leadership opportunities, Careers education and guidance Awards and Competitions, Activities week
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Welcome to our Sixth Form We are delighted to welcome you to the Royal High Bath Sixth Form community. Whether you’re joining us from Year 11 or coming from another school, this is a fresh start filled with new opportunities, challenges and experiences. Sixth Form is a time to grow not only academically, but personally – to explore your interests, develop independence, and prepare for life beyond school. This booklet is designed to help you settle in smoothly. It contains key information and answers to frequently asked questions. We hope you find it useful as you navigate your first days and weeks. Please do not hesitate to contact me, your Tutor, or any member of the Sixth Form Team if you have any questions or worries – we are here to help. There is so much to look forward to in Sixth Form, and we encourage you to make the most of all the opportunities – we are looking forward to working with you and can’t wait to see what you achieve! Mrs Ladbury-Webb Head of Sixth Form - Royal High School Bath, GDST
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Key Events Autumn Term: Our Year 12 Induction Day: Tuesday 8 September 9-3.50pm Year 12 Induction Trip to Dorset: Monday 14 – Tuesday 15 September 2026 Sixth Form ice skating trip: December 2026
Spring Term: Sixth Form Winter Ball: 29 January 2027 Year 12 Next Steps evening: 24 February 2027 Prefect Interviews: 1-5 March 2027
Summer Term: Year 12 Assessment Week: 8-14 June 2027 Year 7 - 13 Prize Giving: 28 June 2027 Sports Day: 2 July 2027 Year 12 Work Experience Week/Activities Week: 05 - 08 July 2027
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Winfield Centre The Winfield Centre is open from 8am to 5pm every weekday in term time. As well as classrooms there are various shared spaces for studying and socialising. Day students who need to stay in school after 5pm are welcome to go to SF Boarding until 6pm – students must sign in and out of boarding.
Study Spaces The Sixth Form Library The Silent Study Room The Quiet Study Room Collaboration space, bookable on the school system Classrooms that are not being used for a lesson can also be used for quiet study – check the timetables on the doors. Other than the collaboration room, spaces cannot be reserved – please take your belongings with you when you leave and avoid eating in study spaces.
Social Spaces The Common Room and Conservatory – you are welcome to eat in these areas but please clean up after yourself The Sixth Form Garden – picnic blankets and table tennis bats and balls are available to take outside – please return these to the conservatory after use. Sixth Form Café – open for drinks and snacks throughout the day. Serves a separate lunch to the main dining hall. All food and drink are purchased using your lanyard – money is added via Parent Pay.
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Dress Code Students in Sixth Form are allowed to wear their own clothes; aiming to give students the opportunity to express their individuality while preparing them for the world of work. Whilst we want students to feel comfortable and be able to express their individuality, school is a place of work, so we do expect the clothes worn by our students to be appropriate for school and in a good state of repair. Jewellery should be in keeping with our dress code and suitable for PE. Earrings and a small discreet nose stud are the only acceptable piercings. Where hair is concerned, no outlandish styles or unnatural colours are allowed. If coloured, hair should be one colour only and be of natural hue.
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Monday (and school events such as Open Days, Interviews, Speech Day) - Business Smart Jacket must be worn (could be as part of a suit). Smart trousers / skirt / dress. Smart shoes or boots that are practical for walking around school.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday - Business Casual: No jeans/leggings/ tracksuits/ loungewear. No excessively short skirts. No black Lycra mini skirts. No bare midriff or spaghetti straps on show. No hoodies and sweatshirts. No flipflops/sliders/ uggs/slippers. Smart trainers are permitted. Jackets are not required.
Thursday – RHB Sports Kit to be worn all day, including the following branded items, available from SchoolBlazer: RHB mid-layer RHB polo shirt RHB shorts, skort (a requirement for those playing hockey for the school), leggings and/or tracksuit bottoms. Suitable sports footwear for their sport/physical activity. Students who wish to be part of our termly sports teams will need additional sports specific equipment and/or protection. Non RHB Sports/lounge wear is not permitted.
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Everything Else... Phones and Laptops Sixth Form students are allowed mobile phones in School, but they may only be used in designated Sixth Form areas: The Common Room, Conservatory, Study spaces (without sound), garden and Café. Phones should not be used while in lessons, walking around school and in the Dining Hall / other spaces shared with younger students – inappropriate use of a phone may result in it being confiscated until the end of the school day. Students are not allowed to record other girls or staff without gaining permission first. All students are expected to bring a laptop for educational purposes. We highly recommend a Microsoft Windows touchscreen device to get the most from our school systems. We actively discourage the use of Chromebooks as they are difficult to connect to our network. Students must not bypass the School internet filtering system; this includes the use of VPNs or mobile hotspots. Any student found accessing websites with inappropriate content will be dealt with according to the Behaviour Policy.
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Students should only use their school account when communicating with members of staff and for logging in to educational resources. It is strongly advised that students save all work to their school OneDrive account.
Future Skills Sixth Form students have one Future Skills lesson per fortnight led by Mrs Whalley or Mrs Ladbury, and additional sessions during Sixth Form tutor times. Topics range from sexual heath to credit cards and voting – please let us know if there are topics or life skills that you would like covered.
Driving
Thursday Afternoon Sport
Occasionally, students may wish to use their own car to travel to a school event. In these cases, we require parental consent via email to Sixth Form or to the event organiser. Please note that students are not permitted to drive other students as passengers to school events, or during school hours.
Sixth Form Sport takes place on Thursday afternoons. Each term, a range of activities is offered, such as spinning, strength and conditioning, badminton, and tennis. All students are expected to attend their timetabled Thursday afternoon games session, and parental authorisation is required if a student needs to be excused.
There is no parking for students on site. The on-road parking outside the Sixth Form has a four-hour parking restriction.
For those interested in competitive sport and representing the school, we offer teams and competitions in hockey, cross country, netball, swimming, athletics, cricket, and tennis. For more information, please contact the Director of Sports, Miss Heidi Baber: h.baber@rhsb.gdst.net
Clubs and Activities There are lots to choose from and these change each term – look out for an email at the start of each term. Once you have signed up these will appear in your SOCs calendar.
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Leadership Opportunities There are many opportunities in Year 12 to develop highly sought-after leadership skills. These include becoming a Foreign Language Leader (FLLA), taking part in subject mentoring, and supporting Year 7 and 8 tutor groups during Thursday morning Tutor Time. In the Spring Term, all Year 12 students will be invited to apply for Prefect and Subject Leader roles. Every Prefect applicant will be interviewed, and several candidates will be shortlisted for the Head Girl Hustings in Assembly. The Head Girl, supported by two Deputies, leads the senior prefect team and meets with the Head every fortnight. Students who choose not to apply for a Prefect role will be offered the chance to take part in a mock job interview with members of the Sixth Form Team. In addition, students can set up clubs, participate in debates, and represent the school in events such as the Model United Nations competition and Bath Student Parliament.
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Careers Education and Guidance Our Head of Careers, Mrs Melanie Whalley, is available for individual careers guidance. Please contact her to book an appointment. Support includes exploring career and Higher Education pathways, drafting CVs, and finding work experience opportunities. Students considering applying to Oxford or Cambridge receive dedicated guidance, including the opportunity to attend the GDST Oxbridge Conference at the end of Year 12. Sixth Formers are encouraged to make use of personal networks and the wider GDST community to arrange work experience that will help inform future career decisions.
Awards and Competitions
Activities week
The GDST offers various awards and scholarships. We are proud that two RHB students were awarded GDST travel awards in 2026. Two of our students also had recent success in the GDST Creative Writing Prize.
During the final week of the school year in the summer term, Year 12 students have the option of completing the Gold DofE expedition on Dartmoor, undertaking work experience or attending trips / in school activities offered as part of the RHB Activities Week programme.
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Royal High Bath, GDST Lansdown Road Bath BA1 5SZ United Kingdom royalhigh@rhsb.gdst.net +44 (0)1225 313877
2026/27