Bournemouth School for Boys (known simply as Bournemouth School) and Bournemouth School for Girls (BSG) cohabit a large site located on the north-eastern boundary of Charminster and Muscliff . Although separate single gender schools, they utilize a common playing fields and co-operate in running some courses especially for the sixth-form who in some instances have mixed gender classes.

Both schools are grammar schools and have a long tradition in selective education, albeit not at their current location, which has itself been extensively expanded in recent years, including but not limited to a new Technology & Art block featuring CAD and CNC machinery in addition to the Sir David English sports centre, the legacy of a former headmaster, Alan Petrie.

Bournemouth School has five 'Houses': Darwin, Elgar, Newton, Turner and Scott. All forms but the lowest (Year 7, 11-12 year-olds) are delineated by House affiliation and as such pupils from Year 8 to Year 13 (Upper Sixth Form) remain in the same form, although their 'form tutor' and 'form room' usually changes each year.

Since the late 1990s, Bournemouth School has been designated a specialist language college.

The school also has an active Combined Cadet Force (CCF), which is a rarity for a state-funded school. It also has close links with the neighbouring St Francis of Assissi Church.

The Old Bournemouthians are an active alumni association.

Bournemouth School