Cotham School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Bristol, City of
Cotham Lawn Road, Bristol, BS6 6DT
66
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
91.0%
28.8% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,654
Capacity used
Over capacity101%
1,642 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
165 of 165 families who put it first got an offer
260
Places offered
670
Total applications
2.6
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 165 | 165 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 231 | 47 | ● 20% |
| 3rd preference | 274 | 48 | ● 18% |
| Total | 670 | 260 | 39% |
1st preference success by year
Bristol, City of lets families list 3 preferences. 11 applications came from outside the council area (5 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
- Joanne Butler
- Address
- Cotham Lawn Road, Cotham, Bristol, BS6 6DT
- Phone
- 01179198000
- Local authority
- Bristol, City of
- Ward / constituency
- Cotham · Bristol Central
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 137440
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 40% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 47% | — | — |
| SEN support | 21% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: COTHAM SCHOOL
1,654 pupils · 1,642 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
18 October 2023
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,299 pupils
Attendance
91.0%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.0%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
28.8%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
4.2%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.4%
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 | 46.2 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.10 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 46% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 65% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.24 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 33.84 | — | — |
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 | 51.8 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 54.1% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 71.9% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 47.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.85 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 231 | — |
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 | 35.06 | 35 |
| Average grade | B- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 24.1% | 17% |
| A-level students | 187 | — |
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 | 229 | 24% | 60% | 76% | |
| Mathematics | 228 | 30% | 62% | 79% | |
| English Literature | 222 | 25% | 60% | 76% | |
| Combined Science | 162 | 18% | 59% | 75% | |
| Geography | 97 | 24% | 49% | 62% | |
| History | 75 | 43% | 68% | 83% | |
| Spanish | 66 | 35% | 65% | 74% | |
| Biology | 62 | 87% | 100% | 100% | |
| Physics | 62 | 84% | 100% | 100% | |
| Chemistry | 62 | 87% | 100% | 100% | |
| Business | 61 | 10% | 46% | 61% | |
| French | 49 | 41% | 80% | 80% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 66 | 5% | 15% | 27% | |
| Mathematics | 39 | 23% | 56% | 69% | |
| History | 38 | 11% | 24% | 58% | |
| Sociology | 33 | 12% | 30% | 36% | |
| Computer Science | 28 | 4% | 14% | 36% | |
| Physics | 26 | 12% | 50% | 69% | |
| Biology | 25 | 16% | 44% | 64% | |
| Media / Film / TV Studies | 24 | 4% | 29% | 46% | |
| Chemistry | 23 | 17% | 43% | 74% | |
| Spanish | 20 | 15% | 40% | 70% | |
| Economics | 18 | 6% | 11% | 28% | |
| Film Studies | 17 | 0% | 29% | 65% |
Oxbridge
No Cambridge applications recorded for this school in 2020–2025.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 44% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 4% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 48% | — | — |
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 Bristol, City of 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.