The Castle School
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The Castle School is a converter academy in Bristol for boys and girls aged 11 to 18. It has 1,416 pupils and room for 1,733. About 15 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 68 out of 100. That puts it above schools like it, ahead of 57% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in March 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Park Road, Thornbury, Bristol, BS35 1HT01454 862100thecastleschool.org.ukMs Jo Cowper headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 31 March 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 25 November 2021 | Ungraded | School remains Good |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
223 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | South Gloucestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 223 | 259 | 263 | 212 | 255 | 267 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 52.4 | 50.6 | 52.5 | 57.5 | 48.5 | 51.6 | 43.6 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | +0.33 | +0.26 | +0.47 | -0.10 | +0.16 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 58% | 52% | 54% | 61% | 40% | 47% | 42% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 75% | 73% | 79% | 80% | 66% | 65% | 63% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 4.93 | 4.64 | 4.87 | 5.30 | 4.41 | 4.81 | 3.78 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 59% | 51% | 56% | 65% | 62% | 65% | 26% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 34.6 | 30.0 | 29.4 | 45.5 | 36.3 | 34.9 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 55.3 | 52.7 | 55.3 | 59.5 | 50.5 | 54.0 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 28.8 | 30.2 | 36.5 | 26.2 | 28.3 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 70.5 | 68.4 | 73.9 | 59.6 | 62.4 | – | – |
Subjects
Results came out for 24 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Strongest subjects
Subjects that did worse than the England average: Computer Science (40% here, 56% across England), Food Preparation & Nutrition (39% here, 52% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 223 | 22% | 61% | 74% | 54% | 882 of 3,210 |
| Mathematics | 222 | 31% | 64% | 80% | 53% | 693 of 3,211 |
| English Literature | 216 | 24% | 68% | 80% | 58% | 730 of 3,202 |
| Combined Science | 153 | 16% | 54% | 73% | 36% | 394 of 3,084 |
| Art and Design | 139 | 19% | 55% | 78% | 58% | 1,586 of 2,818 |
| French | 99 | 27% | 66% | 75% | 60% | 866 of 1,974 |
| Geography | 91 | 34% | 67% | 75% | 51% | 542 of 3,116 |
| History | 90 | 41% | 78% | 83% | 52% | 305 of 3,126 |
| German | 70 | 31% | 61% | 77% | 63% | 314 of 571 |
| Biology | 65 | 60% | 88% | 97% | 82% | 1,251 of 2,570 |
| Chemistry | 63 | 60% | 92% | 98% | 81% | 979 of 2,537 |
| Physics | 62 | 60% | 92% | 100% | 82% | 986 of 2,546 |
| Business | 54 | 13% | 56% | 72% | 51% | 671 of 1,806 |
| Physical Education | 48 | 13% | 50% | 63% | 56% | 946 of 1,559 |
| Social Studies | 41 | 17% | 51% | 73% | 54% | 584 of 1,043 |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 31 | 26% | 39% | 45% | 52% | 784 of 1,098 |
| Media / Film / TV | 25 | 36% | 56% | 68% | 55% | 269 of 580 |
| Computer Science | 25 | 28% | 40% | 52% | 56% | 1,343 of 1,861 |
| Design & Technology | 20 | 25% | 70% | 80% | 50% | 285 of 1,478 |
| Music | 17 | 71% | 94% | 94% | 61% | – |
| Other Modern Languages | 14 | 64% | 64% | 64% | 49% | – |
| Religious Studies | 13 | 15% | 46% | 69% | 60% | – |
| Dance | 13 | 23% | 62% | 92% | 58% | – |
| Drama | 12 | 42% | 83% | 92% | 60% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
A level and sixth-form results, 2025
148 students finished sixth-form courses.
All sixth-form measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students | 148 | 131 | 161 | 155 | 312 | 311 |
| Average A level points per entryA level APS per entry | 33.84 | 33.56 | 35.10 | 39.38 | 36.36 | 34.46 |
| Average A level grade | C+ | C+ | B- | B | B- | C+ |
| Best three A levelsBest 3 A levels APS | 34.24 | 32.79 | 34.84 | 39.48 | 35.45 | 33.67 |
| AAB or better in subjects universities likeAAB+ in two facilitating subjects | 17% | 13% | 16% | 22% | 17% | 11% |
| A level progressA level value added | -0.06 | -0.22 | – | – | +0.06 | +0.20 |
| Applied general courses: points per entry | 28.43 | 25.43 | 24.30 | 34.00 | – | – |
| Stayed and finishedRetained and assessed | 93% | 93% | 93% | 96% | 90% | 98% |
A level subjects
20 A level subjects had results in 2025. Each figure is the share of students who got an A* to B, next to the average for state sixth forms in England. When only a handful of students take a subject, its figures jump around from year to year.
Every A level subject against England, 2025
A levels only. BTECs, T levels and other courses are in the table above. Subjects with fewer than five students aren't published.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. None of the gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
270 places were empty (16% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 5% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to South Gloucestershire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 233 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for secondary schools with enough answers to publish.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (64), Autistic spectrum disorder (29), Other difficulty or disability (28), Specific learning difficulty (21), language and communications needs (14), Moderate learning difficulty (11).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 1,416 | 1,449 | 1,472 | 1,520 | 1,538 | 1,511 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 13% | 13% | 11% | 10% | 9% | 8% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 16% | 16% | 14% | 11% | 9% | 8% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 7% | 10% | 7% | 6% | 12% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 7.8% | 7.7% | 7.6% | 8.2% | 4.4% | 6.9% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 6.0% | 5.5% | 5.2% | 6.5% | 3.3% | 4.8% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.9% | 2.2% | 2.4% | 1.8% | 1.1% | 2.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 22.3% | 21.5% | 21.5% | 22.9% | 10.5% | 17.2% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 13.7 | 16.0 | 8.1 | 5.7 | 7.9 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 263 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 90%, compared with 98% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 97% | 98% | 98% | 96% |
| Education | 89% | 93% | 89% | 91% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 2% | 5% | 3% |
| Work | 3% | 3% | 5% | 2% |
| Not in education, work or training | 3% | 1% | 1% | 4% |
After sixth form
Where the 157 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 89%, compared with 93% for everyone else.
Where the ones heading for university went
Among students from low-income families, 38% went on to degree-level study or training.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 92% | 85% | 94% | – |
| Education | 57% | 51% | 57% | – |
| Apprenticeship | 8% | 3% | 4% | 3% |
| Work | 27% | 31% | 33% | – |
| Not in education, work or training | 5% | 11% | 5% | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marlwood School | Academy | 1.7 miles | 510 | Good 2023 | 24 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares The Castle School with the 47 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 68 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 68% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 60 to 75. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 20% | above | +0.10 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 223 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | below | -0.08 | Ofsted report card, 0.5 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | above | +0.12 | DfE progress measure; 223 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.04 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | +0.03 | 2024/25; 1,240 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | above | +0.05 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 223 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 5% | above | +0.05 | 263 pupils |
| What parents say | 5% | well above | +0.05 | Ofsted's Parent View survey, allowing for how many parents replied; 233 responses |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is The Castle School a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. The Castle School scores 68 out of 100. That is above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 57% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 60 to 75, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is The Castle School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 31 March 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.
How good are The Castle School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 58% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 52.4, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished about half a grade ahead of children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does The Castle School have?
1,416 pupils aged 11 to 18 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,733 places, so it is 82% full.
Is The Castle School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 270 places were empty in 2024/25 (16% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at The Castle School?
Pupils were in school 92.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 22% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about The Castle School?
94% of the 233 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 89% say their child is happy there. Across England, 77% of parents would recommend their child's school.
How big are the classes at The Castle School?
The average class had 22.1 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 16% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does The Castle School have a sixth form?
Yes. The average A level grade in 2025 was C+. 20 A level subjects had results in 2025; the full list is in the results section.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Park Road, Thornbury, Bristol, BS35 1HT
- Telephone
- 01454 862100
- Website
- www.thecastleschool.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Ms Jo Cowper
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-18, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Pathway Trust (20 schools)
- Local authority
- South Gloucestershire
- Ward
- Thornbury
- Constituency
- Thornbury and Yate
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 March 2013 (academy converter)
- URN
- 139348 · LAESTAB 8034120 · UKPRN 10040650
- Formerly
- The Castle School
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- A level subjects: DfE A level and other 16 to 18 results, subject entries and grades, 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.