The Community College, Bishop's Castle
Brampton Road, Bishops Castle, SY9 5AY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Reuben Thorley
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- South Shropshire
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 604
- Pupils on roll
- 507
- URN
- 123564
- Local authority
- Shropshire
- Telephone
- 01588638257
About this school
The Community College, Bishop's Castle is a foundation secondary school in Bishops Castle. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 507 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Community College, Bishop's Castle, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 8 June 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 87 | 104 | 102 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.5 | 45.1 | 43.4 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.17 -0.18 to +0.52 | -0.22 -0.56 to +0.12 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 48% | 46.2% | 35.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 72% | 68.3% | 54.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 38% | 30.8% | 31.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.8 |
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 The Community College, Bishop's Castle has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Shropshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 47.5 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.1 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.4 | 34 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 520 |
| 2023/24 | 523 |
| 2024/25 | 526 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Community College, Bishop's Castle compares
The Community College, Bishop's Castle ranked 11th of 20 secondary schools in Shropshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43.4 | 8.9% | 13.3% | 507 | — |
| Church Stretton School | 46 | 7.5% | 17.8% | 539 | 8.9 miles |
| Bishops Castle Primary School | — | 7% | 24.3% | 128 | 0.4 miles |
| Lydbury North Church of England Primary School | — | 4.1% | 37.9% | 37 | 2.2 miles |
| Norbury Primary School and Nursery | — | 3.6% | 3.7% | 70 | 3.7 miles |
| Stiperstones CofE Primary School | — | 3.6% | 21.1% | 25 | 3.7 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 13.31%
- English as an additional language
- 1.5%
- Overall absence
- 8.86%
- Persistent absence
- 25.65%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Church Stretton School8.9 miles
Secondary · Church Stretton
-
Bishops Castle Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Bishops Castle
- 2.2 miles
-
Norbury Primary School and Nursery3.7 miles
Primary · Bishops Castle
-
Stiperstones CofE Primary School3.7 miles
Primary · Bishops Castle
Other schools in Bishops Castle
- Bishops Castle Primary School Primary
- Norbury Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Stiperstones CofE Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Community College, Bishop's Castle teach?
- The Community College, Bishop's Castle teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bishops Castle.
- Who is the headteacher of The Community College, Bishop's Castle?
- The headteacher of The Community College, Bishop's Castle is Mr Reuben Thorley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Community College, Bishop's Castle been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Community College, Bishop's Castle, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at The Community College, Bishop's Castle?
- The Community College, Bishop's Castle has 507 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Community College, Bishop's Castle full?
- The Community College, Bishop's Castle has capacity for 604 pupils and 507 on roll (84%), so it has space against 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 The Community College, Bishop's Castle a faith school?
- No. The Community College, Bishop's Castle has no designated religious character.
- Is The Community College, Bishop's Castle a selective school?
- No. The Community College, Bishop's Castle is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have The Community College, Bishop's Castle's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.5 in 2022/23 and 43.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Community College, Bishop's Castle compare with other schools in Shropshire?
- The Community College, Bishop's Castle ranked 11th of 20 secondary schools in Shropshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Community College, Bishop's Castle's absence rate?
- The Community College, Bishop's Castle's overall absence rate is 8.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Community College, Bishop's Castle's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Community College, Bishop's Castle'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.