The proposal was to be submitted to the Secretary of State for Education and Science, Mark Carlisle, in 1980 with recommendation that the school be established in 1981.

On 11 December 1981, after the £750,000 joint venture by the government and churches had been agreed, the new school, to be established in September 1982, had been named.

The school was to be known as St. Augustine of Canterbury, Priorswood, after the Bishop of the same name sent by Pope St. Gregory I on a mission to England in 595AD.

On 27 August 1982, the school was established as one of the first in England to support both Anglican and Catholic faiths jointly.

Following the introduction of Universal Infant Free School Meals, Somerset County Council created a production kitchen in the grounds of the former St Augustine campus.