Polden Bower School
Foundation special school · Mixed · Somerset
Bower Lane, Bridgwater, TA6 4GU
–
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 21/05/2024
Application demand
—
No council data
Attendance
89.5%
27.3% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
260
Capacity used
Over capacity130%
200 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Details
- Type
- Foundation special school
- Age range
- 4–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Helen Farnell (Executive Headteacher) Ryan Parker-Binns (Head of School)
- Address
- Bower Lane, Bridgwater, TA6 4GU
- Phone
- 01278496386
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Ward / constituency
- Bridgwater East & Bawdrip · Bridgwater
- Area
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 123938
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 42% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 10% | — | — |
| SEN support | 0% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
260 pupils · 200 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
21 May 2024
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Early years Good Personal development Outstanding Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 216 pupils
Attendance
89.5%
Share of sessions attended · England 94.5%
Overall absence
10.5%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 5.5%
Persistent absence
27.3%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 14.6%
Severe absence
3.2%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.9%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
Primary results by subject (SATs)
Year 6 pupils meeting each standard, against England
Reading, writing & maths combined
Reading
Writing
Maths
Grammar, punctuation & spelling
Science
England average · Scaled scores run 80–120 (100 = expected standard).
Primary results over time
Expected standard (RWM) by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Expected standard (RWM) | 0% | 61% |
| Higher standard | 0% | 8% |
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 0.5 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 0% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 0% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 0% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 0 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 17 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
No Cambridge applications recorded for this school in 2020–2025.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.