Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre

Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre is performing well, maintaining a good quality of education and a supportive environment for its students. Leaders prioritize both the welfare and academic achievement of pupils, fostering a strong sense of community and positive relationships. With a harmonious school culture, most pupils feel safe and respected, contributing to high levels of engagement and retention into the sixth form. The curriculum is ambitious and designed to cater to a broad range of educational needs, although there are areas identified for improvement regarding knowledge retention in certain subjects and adaptations for pupils with special educational needs.

Strengths

• Strong community spirit among staff and pupils
• High levels of pupil engagement and respect
• Well-planned support systems for behavior management
• Ambitious and broad curriculum design
• Effective extracurricular activities that enrich student experience
• Positive initiatives for reading for pleasure

Areas for Improvement

• Need for closer focus on key concepts in some subjects
• Disadvantaged pupils struggling to retain key facts over time
• Inadequate adaptation of curriculum for pupils with special educational needs
• Some pupils struggle with reading fluency

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 Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre attended 90.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.8% 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, 3.4% of pupils at Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 pupils were 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 Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre had 17.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.5% 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, 11.5% of pupils at Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.7% 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 Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre received £7,753 and spent £7,283 for each of its 1,866 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,530,000 (£1,356 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 Cheltenham · Gloucestershire local authority: places and applications

What is Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre is Good, from an inspection in November 2022.

When was Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre last inspected by Ofsted?

Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre was last inspected in November 2022.

How many pupils does Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre have?

Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre has 1,846 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre cover?

Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 49.6, and 47% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre?

Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre is at Warden Hill Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL51 3EF.