Cantell School
Violet Road, Bassett, Southampton, SO16 3GJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- Aspire Community Trust
- Headteacher
- Mr Harry Kutty
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
- Constituency
- Romsey and Southampton North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,250
- Pupils on roll
- 1,313
- URN
- 116469
- Local authority
- Southampton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02380323111
About this school
Cantell School is a foundation secondary school in Southampton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,313 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 229 | 240 | 248 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.1 | 45.6 | 46.9 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.09 -0.11 to +0.28 | +0.21 +0.02 to +0.39 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41% | 45.8% | 49.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 64% | 66.3% | 64.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15% | 21.7% | 36.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.2 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Cantell School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Southampton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 45.1 | 38 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.6 | 34.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.9 | 34 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,241 |
| 2023/24 | 1,268 |
| 2024/25 | 1,288 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Cantell School compares
Cantell School ranked 4th of 11 secondary schools in Southampton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 19% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.9 | 7.6% | 43.5% | 1,313 | — |
| Saint George Catholic Voluntary Aided College Southampton | 60 | 5% | 18.9% | 1,031 | 0.8 miles |
| Upper Shirley High School | 47 | 8.3% | 29.8% | 1,062 | 1.4 miles |
| Bitterne Park School | 43.1 | 10.6% | 30.5% | 2,036 | 1.5 miles |
| St Anne's Catholic School | 55.6 | 7.2% | 33.2% | 1,189 | 1.9 miles |
| Regents Park Community College | — | — | — | 812 | 2.3 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
- 26 March 2024
-
Ungraded inspection report3 February 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 43.48%
- English as an additional language
- 41.7%
- Overall absence
- 7.64%
- Persistent absence
- 18.7%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Saint George Catholic Voluntary Aided College Southampton0.8 miles
Secondary · Southampton
-
Upper Shirley High School1.4 miles
Secondary · Southampton
-
Bitterne Park School1.5 miles
Secondary · Southampton
-
St Anne's Catholic School1.9 miles
Secondary · Southampton
-
Regents Park Community College2.3 miles
Secondary · Southampton
Other schools in Southampton
Cantell School ranks 8th of the 20 ranked secondary schools in Southampton.
- Applemore College Secondary
- Bitterne Park School Secondary
- Brookfield Community School Secondary
- Deer Park School Secondary
- Hounsdown School Secondary
- Lift New Forest Secondary
- Noadswood School Secondary
- Oasis Academy Lord's Hill Secondary
- Oasis Academy Mayfield Secondary
- Oasis Academy Sholing Secondary
- Redbridge Community School Secondary
- Regents Park Community College Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Cantell School teach?
- Cantell School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Southampton.
- Who is the headteacher of Cantell School?
- The headteacher of Cantell School is Mr Harry Kutty, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Cantell School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Cantell School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Cantell School?
- Cantell School has 1,313 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Cantell School full?
- Cantell School has capacity for 1,250 pupils and 1,313 on roll (105%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Cantell School a faith school?
- No. Cantell School has no designated religious character.
- Is Cantell School a selective school?
- No. Cantell School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Cantell School?
- Cantell School is part of Aspire Community Trust. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Cantell School have?
- The schools register lists Cantell School's special educational needs provision as: OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Cantell School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.1 in 2022/23 and 46.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Cantell School rank locally?
- Cantell School ranked 4th of 11 secondary schools in Southampton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 19% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Cantell School's absence rate?
- Cantell School's overall absence rate is 7.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Cantell School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Cantell School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.