According to my friend, whose son has joined the Academy this year as a pupil, before boys and girls are accepted into the Academy at 16, they have had to attain a certain academic level with their GCSE's results. For the next two years they spend most of their time in the classroom, where the uniform is a Bristol City tracksuit. There is more to the Academy than just being a good footballer. They are taught about all the aspects of being a footballer, including how to coach. This gives the kids a good grounding in case they don't make it as a professional, which, as we know, most won't. A lot of really good footballers don't make it as far as the Academy because they don't get good enough GCSE grades.