The charter granted the parishioners of St Mary Redcliffe Church the Chapel of the Holy Ghost for the establishment of the school; the building had previously belonged to the Hospital of St John the Baptist, a religious foundation in Redcliffe, but had been confiscated by the Crown during the dissolution of the monasteries.

The charter made the provision for one master and one under-master, supervised by twelve governors and for the 'education, teaching and instruction of boys and youth in grammar and learning'.

In 1711 Edward Colston endowed it with an annual fund of £80 for the education and clothing of forty boys of the parish and erected a schoolhouse.

In an 1841 report of the Charity Commission the teaching provided was said to be in reading, writing, ciphering and the Church catechism.

[13] The construction company Skanska began work on 1 May 2009 and the new school was formally opened to students on 5 November 2010.

[14][15] Over the course of the 18 months much of the existing site was demolished, with new facilities being built to house science, mathematics, English, design technology, music, art photography and physical education.

[15] The school's two mottos are "Steadfast in Faith" (historic) and "A Christian Community Committed To Excellence" (modern).

Both reflect the partnership with St Mary Redcliffe Church, and also the official faith of the school.

[18] As well as achieving 'Specialist Humanities College' status,[19] SMRT became a Beacon School in 2000,[20] and has also been part of the 'Excellence in Cities' scheme, incorporating 'Gifted & Talented' programmes.

[21] The table below shows the percentage of students achieving the government's target of 5 A*-C including English and Mathematics.

SMRT's on-site sports facilities include an indoor swimming pool, a new sports hall, a gym, an outdoor astroturf 'arena', now containing floodlights, which can be used by years 8–11 at break and lunch, and a new basketball and tennis court outside, which can be used by year 7s at break and lunch.