Sir William Romney's School

Sir William Romney's School has effectively maintained the standards identified in its previous inspection, demonstrating a commitment to the academic and personal development of its pupils. The school fosters a strong community atmosphere where pupils feel supported in their learning and well-being. With rigorous expectations for pupil conduct and a broad enrichment program, the school encourages engagement beyond the classroom. However, the school faces challenges with attendance, as some pupils do not attend regularly, impacting their educational progress.

Strengths

• Pupils respond well to high expectations academically and for conduct.
• Strong community feel where staff care about pupils' well-being.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Broad range of clubs, trips, and enrichment opportunities.
• Thorough checking of pupils' reading progress.
• Intensive teaching approaches help early-stage readers.
• Well-designed personal development and careers program.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistency in implementing teaching strategies across parts of the curriculum.
• Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough.

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 Sir William Romney's School attended 90.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 28.1% 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, 9.6% of pupils at Sir William Romney's 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 Sir William Romney's School had 16.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.6% 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, 20.8% of pupils at Sir William Romney's School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 7.3% 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 Sir William Romney's School received £9,276 and spent £9,326 for each of its 500 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £227,000 (-£454 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of The Athelstan Trust, income was £7,641 and spending £7,380 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 Cotswold · Gloucestershire local authority: places and applications

Sir William Romney's School is part of The Athelstan Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Avening Primary School Tetbury
• Leighterton Primary School Tetbury
• Malmesbury School Malmesbury
• Chipping Sodbury School Bristol
• Bradon Forest School Swindon
• Charter Primary School Chippenham
• Abbeyfield School Chippenham
• Kings Lodge Primary School Chippenham
• The Dean Academy Lydney

What is Sir William Romney's School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sir William Romney's School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Sir William Romney's School last inspected by Ofsted?

Sir William Romney's School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Sir William Romney's School have?

Sir William Romney's School has 495 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sir William Romney's School cover?

Sir William Romney's School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Sir William Romney's School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 42.4, and 31% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Sir William Romney's School?

Sir William Romney's School is at Lowfield Road, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8AE.