The Castle School

Somerset · TA1 5AU

General information Secondary School · 11-19 years Who goes here 1207 pupils, 13.3% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted: Outstanding

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 11% on SEN support Behaviour 7.2% absence rate Staff 9.2% turnover Financials £7,542 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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The Castle School

General Information

Address: Wellington Road, Taunton, TA1 5AU – View on map
Phone: 01823274073
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Jamie Wordsworth
Age range: 11-19 years
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1207 pupils out of 1188 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 161
% eligible for free school meals: 13.3%
Pupil mix: 4 in 10 (more mixed than the Somerset average)
English as an additional language: 14% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 9.2% a year (Somerset 16.4%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 27% moved to another school, 73% 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 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: 7.2%
Persistently absent pupils: 16.1%
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: 11.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.8%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 36 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 35 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 33 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 13 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 3 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 9 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 8 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 7 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 3 pupils
Severe learning difficulty: 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

Outstanding 2023 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 53.4
Compared with the area: 8.9 points above the Somerset average (44.5)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (+1.7 points against an expected 51.7)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 80% (Somerset 63%, England 65%) Improving
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 schoolSomerset 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 8.9 points above the Somerset average (44.5).

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.

1st of 27 secondary schools in Somerset for Attainment 8

#1The Castle School53.4
#2Sexey's School51.5
#3Huish Episcopi Academy50.6

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1The Castle School53.4
#2Sexey's School51.5
#3Huish Episcopi Academy50.6
#4The Blue School49.7
#5Haygrove School48.8
#6The Kings of Wessex Academy48.7
#7Bishop Fox's School46.9
#8Preston School Academy45.9
#9St Dunstan's School45.7
#10Buckler's Mead School44.5
#11Westfield Academy44.5
#12Brymore Academy44.0
#13Kingsmead Academy43.8
#14Ansford Academy43.7
#15Stanchester Academy43.7
#16Court Fields School42.8
#17Crispin School Academy42.7
#18Frome Community College42.7
#19Holyrood Academy42.4
#20Wadham School42.3
#21Chilton Trinity School42.0
#22Monkton Wood Academy41.4
#23West Somerset College41.2
#24King Arthur's School40.6
#25The King Alfred School an Academy40.5
#26Whitstone40.5
#27Bridgwater College Academy31.9

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 94.0%
Went into further education: 87.0%
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
English Literature
Science Double Award
Geography
History
Photography
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
Biology
Art & Design
Sports Studies
Spanish
Computer Science
Food Technology
German
D & T
French Language
Chinese
Speech & Drama
Dance: General
Music Studies (General)
Italian
Punjabi
Portuguese
Russian

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

1st of 20 secondary schools in Somerset for Ofsted rating

#1The Castle SchoolOutstanding
#2Bishop Fox's SchoolGood
#3Brymore AcademyGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1The Castle SchoolOutstanding
#2Bishop Fox's SchoolGood
#3Brymore AcademyGood
#4Buckler's Mead SchoolGood
#5Court Fields SchoolGood
#6Crispin School AcademyGood
#7Frome Community CollegeGood
#8Haygrove SchoolGood
#9Holyrood AcademyGood
#10Hugh Sexey Church of England Middle SchoolGood
#11Preston School AcademyGood
#12Selwood AcademyGood
#13Sexey's SchoolGood
#14St Dunstan's SchoolGood
#15The Blue SchoolGood
#16The King Alfred School an AcademyGood
#17Westfield AcademyGood
#18WhitstoneGood
#19Oakfield AcademyRequires improvement
#20Monkton Wood AcademyInadequate

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,542 (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.

14th of 27 secondary schools in Somerset for spending per pupil

#12Minehead Middle School£7,677
#13Whitstone£7,590
#14The Castle School£7,542
#15Holyrood Academy£7,317
#16Buckler's Mead School£7,312

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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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Somerset: 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 ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered