West Somerset College
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Somerset
Bircham Road, Minehead, TA24 6AY
57
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Requires improvement
Graded 16/05/2023
Application demand
—
No council data
Attendance
86.2%
37.6% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
745
Capacity used
Has space49%
1,509 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 13–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Zoe Stucki
- Address
- Bircham Road, Alcombe, Minehead, TA24 6AY
- Phone
- 01643706061
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Ward / constituency
- Dunster · Tiverton and Minehead
- Area
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 136791
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 26% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 4% | — | — |
| SEN support | 10% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 3 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: BRIDGWATER & TAUNTON COLLEGE TRUST
745 pupils · 1,509 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 26
20 January 2026
S5 Inspection · report card
Inclusion Expected standard Achievement Needs attention Safeguarding standards Met Curriculum and teaching Needs attention Attendance and behaviour Needs attention Leadership and governance Needs attention Early years Not applicable Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard Post-16 provision Needs attention - 23
16 May 2023
Full graded inspection
Requires improvement overall effectivenessSixth form Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Quality of education Requires improvement Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement - 20
04 March 2020
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 663 pupils
Attendance
86.2%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
13.8%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
37.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
8.4%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
6.5%
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 | 39.7 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.50 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 34% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 57% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.40 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 26.46 | — | — |
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 | 41.2 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 32.6% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 54.9% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 25.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.41 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 215 | — |
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 | 28.37 | 35 |
| Average grade | C | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 3.3% | 17% |
| A-level students | 53 | — |
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+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 212 | 13% | 40% | 62% | |
| English Language | 212 | 13% | 48% | 67% | |
| English Literature | 212 | 9% | 43% | 59% | |
| Combined Science | 165 | 1% | 10% | 31% | |
| Art and Design | 125 | 32% | 58% | 77% | |
| History | 116 | 18% | 42% | 53% | |
| Business | 102 | 9% | 46% | 60% | |
| Geography | 97 | 9% | 41% | 54% | |
| Design & Technology | 63 | 13% | 43% | 59% | |
| Biology | 47 | 19% | 68% | 91% | |
| Physics | 47 | 19% | 62% | 91% | |
| Chemistry | 47 | 17% | 64% | 83% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Studies | 22 | 0% | 0% | 32% | |
| Media / Film / TV Studies | 16 | 6% | 6% | 31% | |
| Mathematics | 14 | 0% | 14% | 21% | |
| Psychology | 12 | 0% | 0% | 17% | |
| Sociology | 10 | 0% | 0% | 50% | |
| Fine Art | 8 | 13% | 50% | 63% | |
| Biology | 7 | 0% | 14% | 14% | |
| Economics | 7 | 0% | 0% | 29% | |
| Textiles | 6 | 17% | 50% | 67% | |
| History | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Photography | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Computer Science | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 12632: The West Somerset College
| 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) | 30% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 10% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 32% | — | — |
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…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Somerset council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
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.