Backwell School

Backwell School has been rated 'Good' in its recent inspection, following a period of six years since its last evaluation. The school, which had previously been graded 'Outstanding', demonstrates a solid performance across various domains, including education quality, behaviour, personal development, leadership, and sixth-form provision. The school has a positive environment where students feel safe, supported, and engage well with their learning, despite some challenges concerning consistency in subject leadership and curriculum implementation. Leaders are actively working to enhance areas identified for improvement, showing commitment to advancing educational standards and student well-being.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and well looked after.
• Positive changes to behaviour management have had a beneficial impact.
• Strong focus on personal development alongside high academic standards.
• Extensive and varied extra-curricular programme encourages resilience.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Areas for Improvement

• Not all subject leaders drive improvement in their areas effectively.
• In some subjects, planning is unclear, hindering knowledge development.
• Teachers do not always adapt plans to suit pupils' understanding.

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 Backwell School attended 93.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 15.1% 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, 3.6% of pupils at Backwell 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 Backwell School had 18.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.6% 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, 7.5% of pupils at Backwell School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.0% 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 2024–25 Backwell School received £7,442 and spent £7,379 for each of its 1,600 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £787,000 (£492 per pupil).

Across all 33 schools of Lighthouse Schools Partnership, income was £6,883 and spending £6,752 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bristol · North Somerset local authority: places and applications

Backwell School is part of Lighthouse Schools Partnership, which runs 33 schools. The nearest others:

• West Leigh Infant School Bristol
• Backwell Church of England Junior School Bristol
• Golden Valley Primary School Bristol
• Hannah More Infant School Nailsea
• Grove Junior School Nailsea
• Flax Bourton Church of England Primary School Bristol
• Wrington Church of England Primary School Bristol
• Yatton Church of England Junior School Bristol
• Northleaze Church of England Primary School Bristol
• Yatton Infant School Bristol

What is Backwell School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Backwell School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Backwell School last inspected by Ofsted?

Backwell School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Backwell School have?

Backwell School has 1,595 pupils on roll.

What age range does Backwell School cover?

Backwell School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Backwell School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 52.6, and 60% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Backwell School?

Backwell School is at Station Road, Backwell, Bristol, BS48 3BX.