Minehead Middle School

Minehead Middle School has stabilised after a period of rapid change and recruitment. Pupils and staff value the settling of staffing and the sharper routines introduced by leaders, and relationships between pupils and teachers are nurturing. Behaviour is calm and improved: pupils respond to clear expectations, engage well in lessons, and suspensions and reported bullying have fallen considerably. Personal development is a clear strength, with a well-sequenced PSHE curriculum, strong pastoral support, careers activity and a wide range of clubs, trips and enrichment opportunities. However, the quality of education is not yet consistently strong. The curriculum is broad and most subjects are appropriately designed, but recent changes in a few subjects mean some older pupils have gaps in knowledge or are not building on prior learning. In parts of key stage 3, leaders have not clearly identified the knowledge and skills pupils should remember, and adaptation for pupils with SEND is not always prompt or effective. Leadership has acted on priorities with trust support and external evaluation, but the extended leadership team lacks clear oversight and quality-assurance systems in their areas, so they are not always sure what needs to happen next. The inspection took place in the context of a school that had previously been judged inadequate but is no longer considered to require significant improvement. It is part of Beacon Education Trust, has a headteacher appointed in September 2023, and is now fully staffed after earlier vacancies. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Calm and orderly school culture with sharp routines and high expectations for conduct
• Pupils behave well in lessons and engage actively in their learning
• Suspensions have reduced considerably and reported bullying has decreased
• Nurturing relationships between pupils and teachers
• Strong personal development provision, including a well-sequenced PSHE curriculum
• Extensive pastoral support for pupils' physical and mental health
• Wide range of clubs, trips and enrichment opportunities, including enrichment week
• Pupils take on leadership roles with pride and act as role models
• Effective support for pupils in the early stages of learning to read, including daily phonics interventions
• Robust practices to identify SEND needs and strengthened work with parents and external agencies
• Good careers education and preparation for transition and options
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Staffing has stabilised and the school is fully staffed
• Trust and school collaborate to identify next steps and use external experts

Areas for Improvement

• Some older pupils have gaps in knowledge because of recent significant curriculum changes in a few subjects
• In parts of the key stage 3 curriculum, the knowledge and skills pupils should remember are not explicitly identified
• Pupils do not always build learning incrementally or remember it securely
• Adaptation for pupils with SEND is not always prompt or effective in lessons
• The extended leadership team lacks clear oversight of their areas of accountability
• Quality-assurance systems and evaluations are not in place for some leaders
• Some leaders do not know with clarity what needs to happen next to embed improvement

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 Minehead Middle School attended 91.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 21.9% 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, 4.8% of pupils at Minehead Middle School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 Minehead Middle School had 21.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 36.1% 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, 20.0% of pupils at Minehead Middle School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.9% 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 Minehead Middle School received £8,272 and spent £8,245 for each of its 566 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,083,000 (£1,913 per pupil).

Across all 41 schools of Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership, income was £8,730 and spending £8,608 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 Minehead · Somerset local authority: places and applications

Minehead Middle School is part of Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership, which runs 43 schools. The nearest others:

• Minehead First School Minehead
• St Michael's Church of England First School Minehead
• Old Cleeve Church of England First School Washford
• Danesfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Community Middle School Taunton
• St Peter's Church of England First School Taunton
• Pyrland School Taunton
• St Dunstan's School Glastonbury
• Dundry Church of England Primary School Bristol
• Preston School Academy Yeovil
• Buckler's Mead School Yeovil

What is Minehead Middle School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Minehead Middle School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Minehead Middle School last inspected by Ofsted?

Minehead Middle School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Minehead Middle School have?

Minehead Middle School has 570 pupils on roll.

What age range does Minehead Middle School cover?

Minehead Middle School for pupils aged 9 to 13.

What are Minehead Middle School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 27% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Minehead Middle School?

Minehead Middle School is at Ponsford Road, Minehead, Somerset, TA24 5RH.