Holyrood Academy
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Somerset
Zembard Lane, Chard, TA20 1JL
64
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 07/02/2023
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
90.0%
25.2% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,282
Capacity used
Nearly full99%
1,300 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
193 of 193 families who put it first got an offer
203
Places offered
220
Total applications
1.1
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 193 | 193 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 26 | 5 | ● 19% |
| 3rd preference | 1 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 220 | 198 | 90% |
1st preference success by year
Somerset lets families list 3 preferences. 8 applications came from outside the council area (3 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Joseph Bispham
- Address
- Zembard Lane, Chard, TA20 1JL
- Phone
- 01460260100
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Ward / constituency
- Chard North · Yeovil
- Area
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 136295
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 27% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 10% | — | — |
| SEN support | 14% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 3 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: BLACKDOWN EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
1,282 pupils · 1,300 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
07 February 2023
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,209 pupils
Attendance
90.0%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.9%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
25.2%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
5.6%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.3%
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.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 44.8 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.16 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 42% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 63% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.85 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 30.59 | — | — |
Average grade: C (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 42.4 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 29.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 56% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 21.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.65 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 232 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 26.97 | 35 |
| Average grade | C- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 12.9% | 17% |
| A-level students | 58 | — |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 17736: Holyrood Academy
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | 0 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 41% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 5% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 42% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
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.