Fairlands Middle School

Somerset · BS27 3PG

General information Secondary School · 9-13 years Who goes here 405 pupils, 19% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 15.6% on SEN support Behaviour 6.4% absence rate Staff 33% turnover Financials £6,443 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Fairlands Middle School

General Information

Address: Masons Way, Cheddar, BS27 3PG – View on map
Phone: 01934743186
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Rebecca Bennett
Age range: 9-13 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

405 pupils out of 508 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 77
% eligible for free school meals: 19.0%
Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (less mixed than the Somerset average)
English as an additional language: 5% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 33% a year (Somerset 16.4%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 32% moved to another school, 68% 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.

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 Somerset: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 63 (2.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 2
Suspensions for bullying: 81 (2.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 29 (0.9 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 Somerset, 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: 6.4%
Persistently absent pupils: 16.4%
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: 15.6%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.0%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Moderate learning difficulty: 22 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 13 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 9 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 3 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Other difficulty or disability: 1 pupil

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 2024 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.

An Attainment 8 score for this school hasn't been added yet.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,443 (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.

25th of 27 secondary schools in Somerset for spending per pupil

#23Haygrove School£6,739
#24Hugh Sexey Church of England Middle School£6,539
#25Fairlands Middle School£6,443
#26Ansford Academy£5,472
#27Brymore Academy£3,890

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

#1Sexey's School£9,943
#2The Kings of Wessex Academy£9,525
#3The Blue School£9,077
#4Wadham School£8,825
#5Oakfield Academy£8,219
#6Bishop Fox's School£7,986
#7Huish Episcopi Academy£7,978
#8Westfield Academy£7,921
#9Court Fields School£7,912
#10St Dunstan's School£7,767
#11Frome Community College£7,732
#12Minehead Middle School£7,677
#13Whitstone£7,590
#14The Castle School£7,542
#15Holyrood Academy£7,317
#16Buckler's Mead School£7,312
#17Monkton Wood Academy£7,309
#18Chilton Trinity School£7,281
#19Preston School Academy£7,115
#20The King Alfred School an Academy£7,042
#21Selwood Academy£7,035
#22Crispin School Academy£6,793
#23Haygrove School£6,739
#24Hugh Sexey Church of England Middle School£6,539
#25Fairlands Middle School£6,443
#26Ansford Academy£5,472
#27Brymore Academy£3,890

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

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