Bristol Free School

Bristol Free School demonstrates strong overall performance, with sustained positive outcomes in national tests and examinations at both key stage 4 and key stage 5. The school has a proud record of pupil achievement, including for disadvantaged students, and is committed to addressing any areas where specific groups may not perform as well. The leadership team is highly effective, fostering a strong culture of safety and respect, and engaging actively with the community. The sixth form, in particular, is a point of pride, offering a broad range of qualifications and high levels of progress.

Strengths

• Strong academic performance across key stages.
• High-quality work produced by pupils, especially in the sixth form.
• Outstanding attendance and behaviour management.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Robust careers guidance and extensive extracurricular opportunities.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching occasionally fails to meet pupils' needs effectively, especially for disadvantaged students.
• The need for further strengthening of the reading support programme.

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 Bristol Free School attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 13.0% 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, 3.1% of pupils at Bristol Free 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 Bristol Free School had 18.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.5% 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, 19.0% of pupils at Bristol Free School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.4% 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 Bristol Free School received £7,017 and spent £7,205 for each of its 1,292 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £852,000 (£659 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Russell Education Trust, income was £7,154 and spending £7,208 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 · Bristol, City of local authority: places and applications

Bristol Free School is part of Russell Education Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Elmlea Junior School Bristol
• Elmlea Infant School Bristol
• Turing House School Twickenham
• St Andrew the Apostle Greek Orthodox School London
• King's School Hove
• Becket Keys Church of England Free School Brentwood

What is Bristol Free School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bristol Free School is Expected standard, from an inspection in May 2026.

When was Bristol Free School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bristol Free School was last inspected in May 2026.

How many pupils does Bristol Free School have?

Bristol Free School has 1,304 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bristol Free School cover?

Bristol Free School for pupils aged 11 to 19.

What are Bristol Free School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 59.3, and 70% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Bristol Free School?

Bristol Free School is at Concorde Drive, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, Bristol, BS10 6NJ.