Balcarras School

Cheltenham · GL53 8QF

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1427 pupils, 6.4% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 6.1% on SEN support Behaviour 5.0% absence rate Staff 5.8% turnover Financials £8,405 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Balcarras School

General Information

Address: East End Road, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, GL53 8QF – View on map
Phone: 01242515881
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Dominic Burke
Age range: 11-18 years
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1427 pupils out of 1359 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 63
% eligible for free school meals: 6.4%
Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (less mixed than the Cheltenham average)
English as an additional language: 5% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 5.8% a year (Cheltenham 10.5%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 25% moved to another school, 75% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Gloucestershire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 49 (1.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 46 (1.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 30 (0.7 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Gloucestershire (the council area this school is in), not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 5.0%
Persistently absent pupils: 9.8%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 6.1%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.7%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Moderate learning difficulty: 45 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 20 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 11 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 3 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 16 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 9 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 9 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Hearing impairment: 2 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

No overall grade given 2025 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

Attainment 8 score: 58.5
Compared with the area: 4.9 points above the Cheltenham average (53.6)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (+7.7 points against an expected 50.8)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 84% (Cheltenham 73%, England 65%) Broadly steady
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolCheltenham averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 4.9 points above the Cheltenham average (53.6).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

2nd of 5 secondary schools in Cheltenham for Attainment 8

#1Pate's Grammar School82.7
#2Balcarras School58.5
#3Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre48.1
#4Pittville School47.5

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Pate's Grammar School82.7
#2Balcarras School58.5
#3Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre48.1
#4Pittville School47.5
#5All Saints' Academy, Cheltenham38.5

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 96.0%
Went into further education: 92.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
Science Double Award
English Literature
Business Studies
D & T
History
Geography
Sports Studies
Religious Studies
Art & Design
Food Technology
Russian
Speech & Drama
Spanish
French Language
Computer Science
Music Studies (General)
Italian
Chinese
Urdu
Statistics
Polish
Hebrew Language
Latin
German

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,405 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

4th of 6 secondary schools in Cheltenham for spending per pupil

#2All Saints' Academy, Cheltenham£8,542
#3Pate's Grammar School£8,421
#4Balcarras School£8,405
#5Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre£7,283
#6The High School Leckhampton£7,213

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Pittville School£9,187
#2All Saints' Academy, Cheltenham£8,542
#3Pate's Grammar School£8,421
#4Balcarras School£8,405
#5Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre£7,283
#6The High School Leckhampton£7,213

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Gloucestershire: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered