The Island Free School
Secondary · Free schools · Mixed · Isle of Wight
Newport Road, Ventnor, PO38 1BG
70
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
57%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
93.1%
18.2% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
613
Capacity used
Nearly full98%
625 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
57%
1st preference success rate
112 of 195 families who put it first got an offer
114
Places offered
276
Total applications
2.4
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 195 | 112 | ● 57% |
| 2nd preference | 47 | 1 | ● 2% |
| 3rd preference | 34 | 1 | ● 3% |
| Total | 276 | 114 | 41% |
1st preference success by year
Isle of Wight lets families list 3 preferences. 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
- Free schools
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Steph Boyd
- Address
- Newport Road, Ventnor, PO38 1BG
- Phone
- 01983857641
- Local authority
- Isle of Wight
- Ward / constituency
- Wroxall, Lowtherville & Bonchurch · Isle of Wight East
- Area
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 140691
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 22% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 2% | — | — |
| SEN support | 13% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: ISLAND COMMUNITY SCHOOL
613 pupils · 625 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
15 June 2023
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 632 pupils
Attendance
93.1%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
6.9%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
18.2%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.2%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.2%
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 | 49.1 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.24 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 51% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 74% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.60 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
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 | 56.2% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 72.7% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 93.4% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.78 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 121 | — |
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 | 121 | 26% | 73% | 84% | |
| English Language | 121 | 23% | 53% | 72% | |
| English Literature | 121 | 21% | 59% | 70% | |
| Combined Science | 98 | 6% | 38% | 67% | |
| Geography | 70 | 23% | 47% | 61% | |
| Spanish | 68 | 13% | 35% | 43% | |
| History | 51 | 39% | 73% | 82% | |
| Art and Design | 49 | 43% | 69% | 94% | |
| Latin | 44 | 16% | 30% | 50% | |
| Physical Education | 35 | 11% | 46% | 63% | |
| Media / Film / TV | 31 | 32% | 61% | 87% | |
| Computer Science | 30 | 10% | 40% | 63% |
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 Isle of Wight 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.