The Castle School

South Gloucestershire · BS35 1HT

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1416 pupils, 14.6% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 9.2% on SEN support Behaviour 7.8% absence rate Staff 9.1% turnover Financials £6,584 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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The Castle School

General Information

Address: Park Road, Thornbury, Bristol, BS35 1HT – View on map
Phone: 01454862100
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Ms Jo Cowper
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 235 families put it first for 256 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 1 of the 256 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 9 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1416 pupils out of 1733 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 173
% eligible for free school meals: 14.6%
Pupil mix: 5 in 10 (more mixed than the South Gloucestershire average)
English as an additional language: 16% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 9.1% a year (South Gloucestershire 14.2%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 44% moved to another school, 56% 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 South Gloucestershire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 37 (2.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 49 (2.8 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 27 (1.5 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 South Gloucestershire, 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: 7.8%
Persistently absent pupils: 22.3%
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: 9.2%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.1%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 49 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 27 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 18 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 13 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 13 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 16 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 15 pupils
Physical disability: 3 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 3 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 3 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

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 Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Sixth form (post-16) Expected standard
Leadership and governance Expected standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Attainment 8 score: 52.4
Compared with the area: 5.7 points above the South Gloucestershire average (46.7)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (+0.2 points against an expected 52.2)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 75% (South Gloucestershire 67%, 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 schoolSouth Gloucestershire 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 5.7 points above the South Gloucestershire average (46.7).

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 16 secondary schools in South Gloucestershire for Attainment 8

#1Yate Academy54.8
#2The Castle School52.4
#3John Cabot Academy52.1
#4Winterbourne Academy52.0

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Yate Academy54.8
#2The Castle School52.4
#3John Cabot Academy52.1
#4Winterbourne Academy52.0
#5Downend School51.0
#6Bradley Stoke Community School50.6
#7Abbeywood Community School46.0
#8Brimsham Green School44.9
#9Sir Bernard Lovell Academy44.5
#10Hanham Woods Academy44.1
#11Chipping Sodbury School43.7
#12Marlwood School43.2
#13King's Oak Academy42.0
#14Mangotsfield School41.3
#15Patchway Community School37.0
#16Digitech Studio School31.2

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 97.0%
Went into further education: 89.0%
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

English Language
Maths (General)
English Literature
Science Double Award
French Language
Geography
History
Art & Design
German
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
Photography
Business Studies
Sports Studies
Sociology
Food Technology
Computer Science
Media Studies
D & T
Music Studies (General)
Dance: General
Religious Studies
Speech & Drama
Chinese
Arabic
Spanish
Italian
Japanese Language
Polish

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: £6,584 (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.

13th of 16 secondary schools in South Gloucestershire for spending per pupil

#11King's Oak Academy£6,646
#12John Cabot Academy£6,618
#13The Castle School£6,584
#14Winterbourne Academy£6,564
#15Downend School£6,541

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

#1Abbeywood Community School£7,602
#2Yate Academy£7,577
#3Chipping Sodbury School£7,506
#4Marlwood School£7,464
#5Digitech Studio School£7,365
#6Patchway Community School£7,335
#7Hanham Woods Academy£7,116
#8Mangotsfield School£7,020
#9Brimsham Green School£7,008
#10Sir Bernard Lovell Academy£6,754
#11King's Oak Academy£6,646
#12John Cabot Academy£6,618
#13The Castle School£6,584
#14Winterbourne Academy£6,564
#15Downend School£6,541
#16Bradley Stoke Community School£6,296

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 South 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