The Castle School

The Castle School is a larger-than-average secondary school within the CSET multi-academy trust. Inspectors judged it to be meeting the expected standard across all evaluated areas, with safeguarding standards met. The school has a clear inclusive and caring ethos, strong leadership and governance, and effective support from the trust. Pupils are proud of their school, behave well, feel safe and benefit from a broad, ambitious curriculum. Outcomes are generally strong: key stage 4 results have risen and are above national averages in several subjects, post-16 attainment and progress are in line with national averages, and pupils move on to positive destinations. Leaders have prioritised attendance and behaviour, and their work is paying off: attendance is improving, persistent absence is reducing, and the school is calm and orderly. The 'bungalow' facility is helping pupils who have been absent to re-engage and complete qualifications. Personal development, careers education and extra-curricular provision are strengths, including for post-16 students, and older pupils act as positive role models. There are still areas to improve. Some pupils do not develop basic writing skills, such as handwriting and punctuation, as well as they should, and support for pupils with SEND is not consistently adapted from pupil profiles. Disadvantaged pupils do not achieve as well as their non-disadvantaged peers within the school, although the gap is closing and their outcomes are broadly in line with disadvantaged pupils nationally. Leaders' next step is to ensure the curriculum is consistently taught in a highly effective way so that all pupils, regardless of barriers to learning, achieve as well as possible.

Strengths

• Clear inclusive and caring vision shared by leaders and governance
• Broad and ambitious curriculum across all key stages
• Calm and orderly school with high expectations for behaviour
• Pupils feel safe and trust staff; bullying is rare and not tolerated
• Effective attendance work, including bespoke 'bungalow' support
• Strong outcomes at key stage 4, with results above national averages in many subjects
• Post-16 provision is ambitious, well taught and leads to outcomes in line with national averages
• Extensive careers education and guidance, including the 'Beyond The Castle' event
• Wide range of extra-curricular clubs, trips and leadership opportunities
• Effective support for pupils with barriers to learning, including reading interventions
• Strong staff development and trust collaboration
• Pupils develop citizenship, respect and tolerance through the personal development programme

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils do not improve basic writing skills, such as handwriting and punctuation, as well as they should
• SEND adaptations from pupil profiles are not consistently provided
• Disadvantaged pupils do not achieve as well as non-disadvantaged peers within the school, though the gap is closing
• Curriculum is not yet consistently taught in a highly effective way for all pupils
• Attendance, although improving, remains a priority for further 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 The Castle School attended 92.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.3% 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, 4.6% of pupils at The Castle 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 The Castle School had 18.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.6% 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, 9.2% of pupils at The Castle School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.1% 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 The Castle School received £7,175 and spent £7,168 for each of its 1,453 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £929,000 (£639 per pupil).

Across all 20 schools of Pathway Trust, income was £7,571 and spending £7,443 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 · South Gloucestershire local authority: places and applications

The Castle School is part of Pathway Trust, which runs 20 schools. The nearest others:

• Marlwood School Bristol
• Tortworth Primary School Wotton-Under-Edge
• Charfield Primary School Wotton-Under-Edge
• Severn Beach Primary School Bristol
• Lyde Green Primary School Bristol
• Downend School Bristol
• Mangotsfield School Bristol
• Cherry Garden Primary School Bristol
• St Anne's Church Primary School Weston Super Mare
• Castle Batch Primary School Weston-Super-Mare

What is The Castle School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Castle School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was The Castle School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Castle School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does The Castle School have?

The Castle School has 1,416 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Castle School cover?

The Castle School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are The Castle School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 52.0, and 51% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Castle School?

The Castle School is at Park Road, Thornbury, Bristol, Gloucestershire, BS35 1HT.