Sir Bernard Lovell Academy

Sir Bernard Lovell Academy is a large secondary school within the Futura Learning Partnership, judged overall to be working at the expected standard. Safeguarding is met and is a clear strength. Pupils are proud of their school, feel safe, behave well, and benefit from strong pastoral support, an ambitious curriculum, and improved attendance. Most pupils, including in key stage 4, achieve broadly in line with national expectations and are well prepared for their next steps, with effective reading support and a wide personal development offer. Leadership and governance are generally effective, with leaders understanding priorities and staff feeling well supported. Trustees and governors provide appropriate challenge and support in many areas, although their oversight of sixth-form improvement has been less robust. Inclusion is largely effective, particularly for mental health and reading, but SEND strategies are not used consistently. Teaching is often effective, but formative assessment is inconsistent across subjects, so gaps and misconceptions are not always addressed, and high standards of writing are not maintained across the curriculum. The main area of concern is post-16 provision, which is graded needs attention. Sixth-form students do not achieve as well as they should in their qualifications, and recent improvement work is too early to show impact. Leaders have identified this as a priority, and next steps focus on embedding post-16 improvements and ensuring consistent formative assessment across all subjects.

Strengths

• Strong safeguarding culture where concerns are actively identified and managed.
• Highly effective pastoral support that helps pupils feel safe and cared for.
• High expectations for behaviour, with a calm school and reduced suspensions.
• Significant improvements in attendance and reductions in persistent absence.
• Broad and ambitious curriculum across most key stages.
• Effective teaching in many areas, especially at key stage 4.
• Strong prioritisation of literacy and reading, with good support for pupils who need to catch up.
• Inclusive ethos with bespoke support, including for mental health and disadvantaged pupils.
• SEND support is typically effective when strategies are used well.
• High-quality personal development programme and wide extracurricular opportunities.
• Good careers education and preparation for adult life.
• Effective staff development and support for workload and wellbeing.
• Trustees and governors generally provide appropriate challenge and support, with safeguarding a strength.

Areas for Improvement

• Post-16 students do not achieve as well as they should in their qualifications.
• Sixth-form provision is graded needs attention and some students are not well prepared for next steps.
• Improvement work in the sixth form is recent and its impact is not yet evident.
• Governors have not provided robust oversight of sixth-form improvement actions.
• Formative assessment is not consistently used across all subjects, so gaps and misconceptions are not always addressed.
• Teaching is not always adjusted effectively to address what pupils know and can do.
• Strategies for pupils with SEND are used more effectively in some curriculum areas than others.
• Pupils are not consistently supported to maintain high standards of written work across the curriculum.

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 Bernard Lovell Academy attended 91.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 20.3% 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, 9.4% of pupils at Sir Bernard Lovell Academy 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 Sir Bernard Lovell Academy had 17.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.8% 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, 15.9% of pupils at Sir Bernard Lovell Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.1% 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 Sir Bernard Lovell Academy received £7,768 and spent £7,623 for each of its 1,261 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £412,000 (£327 per pupil).

Across all 26 schools of Futura Learning Partnership, income was £7,630 and spending £7,598 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

Sir Bernard Lovell Academy is part of Futura Learning Partnership, which runs 26 schools. The nearest others:

• The Meadows Primary School Bristol
• IKB Academy Bristol
• Two Rivers Church of England Primary Bristol
• Wellsway School Bristol
• Chandag Primary School Bristol
• St John's Church of England Primary School Bristol
• Saltford CofE Primary School Bristol
• Bridge Farm Primary School Bristol
• Wansdyke Primary School Bristol
• Cheddar Grove Primary School Bristol

What is Sir Bernard Lovell Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sir Bernard Lovell Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in March 2026.

When was Sir Bernard Lovell Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Sir Bernard Lovell Academy was last inspected in March 2026.

How many pupils does Sir Bernard Lovell Academy have?

Sir Bernard Lovell Academy has 1,268 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sir Bernard Lovell Academy cover?

Sir Bernard Lovell Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Sir Bernard Lovell Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.6, and 38% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Sir Bernard Lovell Academy?

Sir Bernard Lovell Academy is at North Street, Oldland Common, Bristol, BS30 8TS.