St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School

St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School is a large voluntary aided Church of England secondary school in central Bristol with a large sixth form. Inspectors found the school performing well across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. Pupils are polite and achieve well, benefit from an ambitious curriculum, strong pastoral care, wide enrichment and clear careers guidance, and safeguarding is effective. The school is highly regarded locally and has clear governance and strong partnerships. The main areas for improvement concern assessment and support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. In a few curriculum areas, information about what pupils know and can recall is not used effectively to help them understand their next steps. Strategies to adapt learning for pupils with SEND are not consistently embedded in some lessons, so some pupils do not progress as quickly as they could. Some staff also raised concerns about workload following recent system changes, and a few pupils do not move around the school well, although behaviour overall is good. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection since 2015, when it was judged outstanding and later exempt from routine inspection until 2020. Under the current framework, no overall effectiveness grade is awarded. The headteacher took up post in September 2022, and the number of pupils with SEND has risen significantly.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well in published outcomes and are thoroughly prepared academically and personally
• The ambitious ‘Alive’ curriculum is carefully designed and sequenced over time
• Teachers use strategies such as demonstration and questioning to check pupils’ recall and application
• The school has a strong reading strategy, including tutor reading and phonics support for early readers
• Pupils are polite, courteous and benefit from high expectations
• Strong pastoral care supports pupils and families, including refugees and those facing challenging circumstances
• The large sixth form integrates students quickly and prepares them well for university or apprenticeships
• Personal development is comprehensive, with well-embedded learning about equality, respect and healthy relationships
• Careers guidance is clear and helps pupils and students make informed pathway choices
• Enrichment activities are wide-ranging and reflect the school’s diverse community
• Governance is clear about strengths and priorities, and the school has strong educational partnerships
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment information is not consistently used to help pupils understand what they need to do to improve
• Strategies to adapt learning for pupils with SEND are not well embedded in some lessons
• Some pupils do not progress as well as they could when SEND adaptation is missing
• A few pupils do not move around the school well during transitions
• Some staff feel recent system and process changes affect their workload

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 17.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 3.8% of pupils at St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School had 14.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 15.3% of pupils at St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School received £7,983 and spent £7,724 for each of its 1,793 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £1,226,000 (-£684 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bristol · Bristol, City of local authority: places and applications

What is St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School have?

St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School has 1,792 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School cover?

St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 52.6, and 61% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School?

St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School is at Somerset Square, Bristol, BS1 6RT.