Downend School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · South Gloucestershire
Westerleigh Road, Bristol, BS16 6XA
70
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Standards maintained
No graded inspection
Application demand
68%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
91.6%
20.8% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,415
Capacity used
Nearly full99%
1,425 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
68%
1st preference success rate
229 of 336 families who put it first got an offer
230
Places offered
619
Total applications
2.7
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 336 | 229 | ● 68% |
| 2nd preference | 199 | 1 | ● 1% |
| 3rd preference | 83 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Later preferences | 1 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 619 | 230 | 37% |
1st preference success by year
South Gloucestershire lets families list 3 preferences. 56 applications came from outside the council area (0 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
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Rachael Corns
- Address
- Westerleigh Road, Downend, Bristol, BS16 6XA
- Phone
- 01454862300
- Local authority
- South Gloucestershire
- Ward / constituency
- Frenchay & Downend · Filton and Bradley Stoke
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 139345
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 11% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 6% | — | — |
| SEN support | 8% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: PATHWAY TRUST
1,415 pupils · 1,425 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
23 October 2024
Ungraded inspection
Standards maintained
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,269 pupils
Attendance
91.6%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.4%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
20.8%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.4%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.7%
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 | 48.8 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.10 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 49% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 76% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.27 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 32.23 | — | — |
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 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 53.6% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 75.5% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 34.8% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.61 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 233 | — |
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 | 31.84 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 21.3% | 17% |
| A-level students | 97 | — |
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 | 232 | 27% | 63% | 81% | |
| English Language | 232 | 19% | 59% | 77% | |
| English Literature | 227 | 15% | 59% | 78% | |
| Combined Science | 184 | 18% | 52% | 73% | |
| History | 140 | 41% | 62% | 77% | |
| Geography | 127 | 24% | 58% | 72% | |
| Business | 104 | 23% | 50% | 68% | |
| French | 81 | 36% | 78% | 93% | |
| Art and Design | 64 | 16% | 72% | 86% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 55 | 24% | 64% | 76% | |
| Media / Film / TV | 52 | 8% | 42% | 58% | |
| Biology | 42 | 64% | 90% | 93% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 33 | 6% | 18% | 52% | |
| History | 29 | 3% | 17% | 34% | |
| Geography | 23 | 4% | 13% | 35% | |
| Mathematics | 23 | 13% | 30% | 39% | |
| Biology | 20 | 5% | 20% | 35% | |
| Physics | 17 | 6% | 18% | 24% | |
| Chemistry | 17 | 12% | 35% | 65% | |
| Sociology | 16 | 6% | 6% | 63% | |
| English Language | 13 | 0% | 0% | 31% | |
| English Literature | 9 | 11% | 22% | 33% | |
| Art and Design | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Media / Film / TV Studies | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
No Cambridge applications recorded for this school in 2020–2025.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 42% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 9% | — | — |
| 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…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through South Gloucestershire 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.