Belfast Royal Academy 5-17 Cliftonville Road, Belfast BT14 6JL

"Great craic"

"My son gets bullied by one known as gonny"

"Very high standard educational School all my children study and left the legacy behind and known to all staff by there name"

"It’s decent, some good parts but also bad parts"

"As a pupil of B.R.A I can vouch that the school as a whole is definitely above average. A school with plenty of opportunities in the way of extra-curricular activities and one where the vast majority of staff are more than competent in handling their subjects and giving extra help when needed. With a huge success rate in the way of university attendees as well, to bash the legitimacy of the school would be ignorant and flippant. On the contrary the school (like every school to have ever existed) has its flaws and I feel it necessary to address these as well in the hope of them being approved and also being taken into consideration by future attendees of the school. One of these flaws is definitely the under-funding of some subjects and the over-funding of others. If you have a keen interest in sports then this school is for you. B.R.A has a long tradition of excellence in sports, rugby in particular, but this seems to be to the disadvantage of different departments in the curriculum that's funding could do with some of the same as rugby. In particular the Art, Latin and Music department which seem to be always struggling to provide students with the materials required all the time to teach properly. This however does not effect the staff of these departments as they are of a very high standard. The school is very traditional in its values but at times it seems to value its appearance to the outside world over the quality of life it provides for the students. The uniform are the same as every school to promote an atmosphere of equality between the pupils but at times it seems frazzled and chancy. The school have a New Life counselling facility that pupils can use which very useful if it is needed, but there have been numerous reports of requests to receive this counselling being lost and being offered again months or years later. I hope this is an issue that will be resolved. What is the point in having counselling if you can't be sure if your request will even be read. The hygiene in regards to the toilet facilities is appalling and it seems that instead of having a better hygiene system the school would rather resort to scolding the pupils constantly. The cafeteria is sub-par in its provision of specific foods for people with specific needs (Eg, vegetarian options), it is also very expensive which becomes ironic against the uniform policies which is supposed to equalize the playing field for a pupil from any background. It seems that all classes wear the same uniform but only some can afford to eat. All in all to give the school any less than three stars would be pessimistic and to give it anymore would be being generous. The school has its flaws and I feel it has to address them and recognise them before it can become an even better school but for the most part, Belfast Royal Academy is a good school academically but not so good when it comes to dealing with human beings sometimes."