Schools around here

The Sir John Colfox Academy

Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Dorset

Ridgeway, Bridport, DT6 3DT

Website 01308422291

62

headline score

Ranking (England)

—

No ranked results

Ofsted

School remains Good

No graded inspection

Application demand

100%

1st preference success · Not oversubscribed

Attendance

90.9%

22.6% persistently absent

Above averageAround averageBelow averagecompared with the England average for state-funded schools.

At a glance

Pupils on roll

756

Capacity used

Has space

74%

1,024 places

GCSE rank (England)

—

KS2 rank (England)

—

Application demand

Secondary entry · official council applications and offers

Not oversubscribed

100%

1st preference success rate

118 of 118 families who put it first got an offer

122

Places offered

160

Total applications

1.3

Applications per place

Preference (Sept 2025 entry)ApplicationsOffersSuccess
1st preference118118● 100%
2nd preference384● 11%
3rd preference40● 0%
Total16012276%

1st preference success by year

100%
2020
100%
2021
99%
2022
100%
2023
100%
2024
100%
2025

Dorset lets families list 3 preferences. 1 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
Adam Shelley
Address
Ridgeway, Bridport, DT6 3DT
Phone
01308422291
Local authority
Dorset
Ward / constituency
Bridport · West Dorset
Area
Urban: Further from a major town or city
URN
141735

Pupils

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Free school meals23%——
English as additional language3%——
SEN support15%——
49% boys (370)51% girls (386)

Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)

1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.

Academy trust: INITIO LEARNING TRUST

756 pupils · 1,024 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.

Ofsted inspections

  1. 23

    13 September 2023

    Ungraded inspection

    School remains Good
View all Ofsted reports

Attendance

2024/2025 school year · 707 pupils

Attendance

90.9%

Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%

Overall absence

9.1%

Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%

Persistent absence

22.6%

Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%

Severe absence

5.0%

Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%

Unauthorised absence

2.9%

Absences the school didn't approve

Persistent absence by year

17%
20/21
37%
21/22
26%
22/23
27%
23/24
23%
24/25

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

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Attainment 8 score43.7——
Progress 8 score0.01—0.00
Grade 5+ in English & maths33%——
Grade 4+ in English & maths62%——
EBacc average point score3.90——

Progress 8 band

Well below
5% of schools
Below
26% of schools
Average
43% of schools
Above
21% of schools
Well above
5% of schools

A-level results

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Average points per entry28.85——

Average grade: C (England B-)

GCSE results over time

46.9201946.1202241202343.72024432025

Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)

ResultSchoolEngland (approx.)
Attainment 84346
Grade 5+ English & maths34.3%46%
Grade 4+ English & maths62%65%
Entering EBacc64.2%40%
EBacc average point score3.964.1
Pupils in cohort137—

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.

Disadvantaged pupils
-0.76
Other pupils
+0.29
Low prior attainers
-0.09
Middle prior attainers
-0.01
High prior attainers
+0.25
Girls
+0.15
Boys
-0.20

A-level results over time

35.39201936.32202229.82202328.85202423.42025

Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)

ResultSchoolEngland (approx.)
Average points per entry23.435
Average gradeD+—
AAB or better (2 facilitating)5.7%17%
A-level students36—

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.

SubjectEntriesGrade 7+Grade 5+Grade 4+
Mathematics13417%54%75%
English Language1335%44%69%
English Literature1267%46%68%
Combined Science1050%30%59%
Geography7011%44%59%
Physical Education5924%56%78%
History5516%35%45%
French526%37%52%
Food Preparation & Nutrition4922%63%88%
Statistics474%77%89%
Spanish378%46%68%
Art and Design3324%58%73%

A level

SubjectEntriesA*A*–AA*–B
Psychology157%7%20%
Biology1010%20%20%
Sociology90%0%11%
Mathematics813%13%38%
History50%0%0%
Business Studies50%0%0%
Religious Studies50%0%0%
English Literature50%0%0%
Drama and Theatre Studies50%0%0%
Physics40%0%0%
Fine Art40%0%0%
English Language40%0%0%

Oxbridge

<32020<32022<32023

Cambridge offers by year

Ranked #361 of 1,824 UK schools with Cambridge offers2

UCAS apply centre 10506: Sir John Colfox School

Cambridge admissions12023
Applications<3
Offers<3
Success rate—
Accepted offers<3

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

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Higher education (university)37%——
Apprenticeships8%——
Any education or training41%——

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 Dorset council, not the school.

EntryDeadlineOffer day
Year 7 (secondary)31 October1 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.