The Castle School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · South Gloucestershire
Park Road, Bristol, BS35 1HT
72
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
92.2%
22.3% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,416
Capacity used
Has space82%
1,733 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
210 of 210 families who put it first got an offer
220
Places offered
351
Total applications
1.6
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 210 | 210 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 86 | 6 | ● 7% |
| 3rd preference | 54 | 2 | ● 4% |
| Later preferences | 1 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 351 | 218 | 62% |
1st preference success by year
South Gloucestershire lets families list 3 preferences. 16 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
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Jo Cowper
- Address
- Park Road, Thornbury, Bristol, BS35 1HT
- Phone
- 01454862100
- Local authority
- South Gloucestershire
- Ward / constituency
- Thornbury · Thornbury and Yate
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 139348
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 15% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 14% | — | — |
| SEN support | 10% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: PATHWAY TRUST
1,416 pupils · 1,733 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 26
31 March 2026
S5 Inspection · report card
Inclusion Expected standard Achievement Expected standard Safeguarding standards Met Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Attendance and behaviour Expected standard Leadership and governance Expected standard Early years Not applicable Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard Post-16 provision Expected standard - 21
25 November 2021
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,240 pupils
Attendance
92.2%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.8%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
22.3%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.1%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.9%
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 | 50.6 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.33 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 52% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 73% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.64 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 33.56 | — | — |
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 | 52.4 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 58.3% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 74.9% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 58.7% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.93 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 223 | — |
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 | 33.84 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 17.3% | 17% |
| A-level students | 133 | — |
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 | 223 | 22% | 61% | 74% | |
| Mathematics | 222 | 31% | 64% | 80% | |
| English Literature | 216 | 24% | 68% | 80% | |
| Combined Science | 153 | 16% | 54% | 73% | |
| Art and Design | 139 | 19% | 55% | 78% | |
| French | 99 | 27% | 66% | 75% | |
| Geography | 91 | 34% | 67% | 75% | |
| History | 90 | 41% | 78% | 83% | |
| German | 70 | 31% | 61% | 77% | |
| Biology | 65 | 60% | 88% | 97% | |
| Chemistry | 63 | 60% | 92% | 98% | |
| Physics | 62 | 60% | 92% | 100% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 44 | 18% | 36% | 52% | |
| Psychology | 33 | 9% | 15% | 36% | |
| Biology | 31 | 13% | 29% | 48% | |
| History | 26 | 4% | 8% | 54% | |
| Business Studies | 25 | 0% | 8% | 28% | |
| Physics | 24 | 17% | 42% | 58% | |
| Chemistry | 24 | 21% | 46% | 54% | |
| Economics | 24 | 4% | 17% | 58% | |
| Geography | 24 | 0% | 17% | 46% | |
| Graphics | 17 | 12% | 35% | 59% | |
| English Literature | 15 | 7% | 27% | 40% | |
| Fine Art | 12 | 0% | 17% | 42% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 14184: The Castle School, Thornbury
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| 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) | 46% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 3% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 50% | — | — |
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.