King James I Academy


King James I Academy is a medium size academy school and sixth form centre for mixed gender aged 11–18 in the town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham in northeast England. It traces its history to the early 17th century. The site currently consists of two large two-storey buildings as well as a few small cabins, including the "Kings Feast" which is used to sell food at breaks, lunches and special occasions. The others are used as classrooms or form rooms similar to the rooms inside the other buildings.
WWW kingjames1academy.com

History

Opened in 1605, by King James I of England it went through multiple transformations and renaming. It was mainly known as King James 1st Grammar School and became the first secondary school in south-west Durham to be upgraded to academy status.
In an interview, Elizabeth Varley described how many years ago, students had to pass a test to be able to attend the academy since at the time it was a Grammar School where boys and girls were educated separately.
She also revealed that the current Art block was not part of the original Middle School building, and that it was added at a later date to house a school swimming pool.
In 2022 there were 944 students in the academy, with 136 of them being sixth formers. Its staff including representatives from Connexions and the NHS.

Ofsted inspections

As of the last inspection in 2022, Ofsted reports this in regards to attending the school:

Uniform

The uniform exists for students in years 7 to 11 and consists of:
  • Black trousers or skirt.
  • A blazer with the King James logo or a plain black v-neck jumper.
  • Smart, black shoes..
  • A plain white t-shirt or shirt.
  • A school tie.

Notable former pupils