Robert Blake School
Hamp Avenue, Bridgwater, TA6 6AW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Miss Deb Loveridge
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Bridgwater
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,030
- Pupils on roll
- 1,014
- URN
- 123878
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01278456243
About this school
Robert Blake School is a foundation secondary school in Bridgwater. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,014 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Robert Blake School, 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
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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 163 | 191 | 185 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.7 | 38.6 | 42.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.79 -1.01 to -0.56 | -0.53 -0.74 to -0.33 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25% | 33% | 37.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 50% | 53.4% | 60% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 44% | 36.6% | 36.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.4 | 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 Robert Blake 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 | Somerset average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 37.7 | 36.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.6 | 34 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.9 | 32.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 973 |
| 2023/24 | 1,046 |
| 2024/25 | 1,042 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Robert Blake School compares
Robert Blake School ranked 16th of 28 secondary schools in Somerset for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.9 | 10.1% | 34.4% | 1,014 | — |
| Haygrove School | 48.8 | 10.3% | 22.1% | 1,051 | 0.8 miles |
| Chilton Trinity School | 42 | 9.5% | 29% | 990 | 1.4 miles |
| Brymore Academy | 44 | 10% | 14.2% | 327 | 3.8 miles |
| Monkton Wood Academy | 41.4 | 11.3% | 22.9% | 1,267 | 6.4 miles |
| Pyrland School | — | — | — | — | 7.1 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)
- 34.36%
- English as an additional language
- 19.1%
- Overall absence
- 10.1%
- Persistent absence
- 29.95%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Haygrove School0.8 miles
Secondary · Bridgwater
-
Chilton Trinity School1.4 miles
Secondary · Bridgwater
-
Brymore Academy3.8 miles
Secondary · Bridgwater
-
Monkton Wood Academy6.4 miles
Secondary · Taunton
-
Pyrland School7.1 miles
Secondary · Taunton
Other schools in Bridgwater
Robert Blake School ranks 3rd of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Bridgwater.
- Brymore Academy Secondary
- Chilton Trinity School Secondary
- Haygrove School Secondary
- Ashcott Primary School Primary
- Cannington Church of England Primary School Primary
- Catcott Primary School Primary
- Eastover Primary School Primary
- Enmore Church of England Primary School Primary
- Hamp Academy Primary
- Hamp Nursery and Infants' School Primary
- Kingsmoor Primary School Primary
- Middlezoy Primary School Primary
Recorded changes at this school
- Capacity changed from 990 to 1030 recorded 21 Jul 2026
Common questions
- What ages does Robert Blake School teach?
- Robert Blake School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bridgwater.
- Who is the headteacher of Robert Blake School?
- The headteacher of Robert Blake School is Miss Deb Loveridge, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Robert Blake School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Robert Blake 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 many pupils are at Robert Blake School?
- Robert Blake School has 1,014 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Robert Blake School full?
- Robert Blake School has capacity for 1,030 pupils and 1,014 on roll (98%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Robert Blake School a faith school?
- No. Robert Blake School has no designated religious character.
- Is Robert Blake School a selective school?
- No. Robert Blake School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Robert Blake School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.7 in 2022/23 and 42.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Robert Blake School compare with other schools in Somerset?
- Robert Blake School ranked 16th of 28 secondary schools in Somerset for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Robert Blake School's absence rate?
- Robert Blake School's overall absence rate is 10.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Robert Blake School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Robert Blake 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 21 July 2026.