The Castle School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Somerset
Wellington Road, Taunton, TA1 5AU
79
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Outstanding
Graded 03/10/2023
Application demand
64%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
92.8%
16.1% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,207
Capacity used
Over capacity102%
1,188 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
64%
1st preference success rate
234 of 365 families who put it first got an offer
237
Places offered
583
Total applications
2.5
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 365 | 234 | ● 64% |
| 2nd preference | 179 | 3 | ● 2% |
| 3rd preference | 39 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 583 | 237 | 41% |
1st preference success by year
Somerset lets families list 3 preferences. 2 applications came from outside the council area (1 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
- 11–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Jamie Wordsworth
- Address
- Wellington Road, Taunton, TA1 5AU
- Phone
- 01823274073
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Ward / constituency
- Bishop's Hull & Taunton West · Taunton and Wellington
- Area
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 136916
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 13% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 12% | — | — |
| SEN support | 9% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: BLACKDOWN EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
1,207 pupils · 1,188 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
03 October 2023
Full graded inspection
Outstanding overall effectivenessPersonal development Outstanding Quality of education Outstanding Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,221 pupils
Attendance
92.8%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.2%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
16.1%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.9%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.2%
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 | 55.3 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.60 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 59% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 84% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.84 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 53.4 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 57.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 79.5% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 30.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.72 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 239 | — |
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.
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 | 238 | 29% | 64% | 84% | |
| English Language | 237 | 23% | 65% | 82% | |
| English Literature | 232 | 29% | 69% | 86% | |
| Combined Science | 173 | 10% | 50% | 73% | |
| Art and Design | 122 | 19% | 64% | 83% | |
| Geography | 111 | 37% | 65% | 80% | |
| History | 77 | 38% | 64% | 74% | |
| Biology | 62 | 71% | 100% | 100% | |
| Physics | 62 | 58% | 100% | 100% | |
| Chemistry | 62 | 60% | 100% | 100% | |
| Physical Education | 54 | 19% | 81% | 96% | |
| Spanish | 48 | 40% | 65% | 77% |
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…
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.