Frome Vale Academy
General Information
- Address: Frenchay Road, Downend, Bristol, BS16 2QS – View on map
- Phone: 01173532902
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Dr Janet Saunders
- Age range: 4-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 29 families put it first for 29 places – 10 for every 10 places. 79% of them were offered a place. 4 of the 29 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 14 · 2024 13 · 2025 11 · 2026 10
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 59
- % eligible for free school meals: 29.1%
- Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Bristol, City of average)
- English as an additional language: 23% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 40.6% a year (Bristol, City of 18.3%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 60% moved to another school, 40% 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. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Bristol, City of: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 2 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 6 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 2 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in Bristol, City of, 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: 4.9%
- Persistently absent pupils: 12.6%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 17.2%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 5.4%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Speech, language and communications needs: 13 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 7 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 6 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 3 pupils
- Multi-sensory impairment: 2 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils
- Multi-sensory impairment: 1 pupil
- Profound and multiple learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Severe learning difficulty: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Ofsted report card March 2026
Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.
- Safeguarding Met
- Inclusion Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching Strong standard
- Achievement Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
- Early years Expected standard
- Leadership and governance Strong standard
Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Outstanding (2022). The report card above replaces that grade.
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 57% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 4 percentage points below the Bristol, City of average (61%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 73% against an expected 57%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 73%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 82% · Writing 82% · Maths 79% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 64%
- Average test scores: reading 106, maths 103
- Based on: 28 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
SATs results over time
Year 6 SATs: joint 52nd of 92 junior and primary schools in the area
- =52Ashton Gate Primary School57%
- =52Four Acres Academy57%
- =52Frome Vale Academy57%
- =55E-Act Barton Hill Academy56%
- =55St Joseph's Catholic Primary School56%
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £6,515 (2024-25)
53rd of 85 primary schools in Bristol, City of for spending per pupil
- #51Avanti Gardens School£6,528
- #52Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School, Bristol£6,524
- #53Frome Vale Academy£6,515
- #54Victoria Park Primary School£6,469
- #55Southville Primary School£6,442
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)