The Cotswold Academy
The Avenue, Bourton-on-the-Water, Cheltenham, GL54 2BD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE COTSWOLD SCHOOL ACADEMY TRUST
- Principal
- Mr W Morgan
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- North Cotswolds
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,530
- Pupils on roll
- 1,564
- URN
- 136292
- Local authority
- Gloucestershire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01451820554
About this school
The Cotswold Academy is a secondary academy in Cheltenham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,564 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 205 | 241 | 206 |
| Attainment 8 score | 56.9 | 55.2 | 53.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.67 +0.47 to +0.87 | +0.49 +0.30 to +0.67 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 62% | 61.8% | 54.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 82% | 80.1% | 78.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 34% | 53.9% | 46.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.0 | 5.1 | 4.8 |
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 Cotswold Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Gloucestershire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 56.9 | 43.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 55.2 | 44.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 53 | 44.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,414 |
| 2023/24 | 1,472 |
| 2024/25 | 1,500 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Cotswold Academy compares
The Cotswold Academy ranked 10th of 39 secondary schools in Gloucestershire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 83% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53 | 7% | 16.2% | 1,564 | — |
| Burford School | 52.4 | 7.8% | 13.9% | 1,452 | 7.7 miles |
| Chipping Norton School | 49.3 | 10.4% | 18% | 1,035 | 9.7 miles |
| Winchcombe School | 42.8 | 9.8% | 21.8% | 515 | 10.2 miles |
| Carterton Community College | 33.8 | 9.7% | 21.6% | 774 | 10.9 miles |
| Bourton-on-the-Water Primary School | — | 5.4% | 17.9% | 341 | 0.1 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)
- 16.16%
- English as an additional language
- 3.4%
- Overall absence
- 6.95%
- Persistent absence
- 17.71%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Burford School7.7 miles
Secondary · Burford
-
Chipping Norton School9.7 miles
Secondary · Chipping Norton
-
Winchcombe School10.2 miles
Secondary · Cheltenham
-
Carterton Community College10.9 miles
Secondary · Carterton
-
Bourton-on-the-Water Primary School0.1 miles
Primary · Cheltenham
Other schools in Cheltenham
The Cotswold Academy ranks 3rd of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Cheltenham.
- All Saints' Academy, Cheltenham Secondary
- Balcarras School Secondary
- Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre Secondary
- Cleeve School Secondary
- Pate's Grammar School Secondary
- Pittville School Secondary
- The High School Leckhampton Secondary
- Winchcombe School Secondary
- Andoversford Primary School Primary
- Benhall Infant School Primary
- Bishops Cleeve Primary Academy Primary
- Bourton-on-the-Water Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Cotswold Academy teach?
- The Cotswold Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Cheltenham.
- Who is the principal of The Cotswold Academy?
- The principal of The Cotswold Academy is Mr W Morgan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Cotswold Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Cotswold Academy, 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 The Cotswold Academy?
- The Cotswold Academy has 1,564 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Cotswold Academy full?
- The Cotswold Academy has capacity for 1,530 pupils and 1,564 on roll (102%), 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 The Cotswold Academy a faith school?
- No. The Cotswold Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Cotswold Academy a selective school?
- No. The Cotswold Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Cotswold Academy?
- The Cotswold Academy is part of THE COTSWOLD SCHOOL ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Cotswold Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 56.9 in 2022/23 and 53 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 Cotswold Academy rank locally?
- The Cotswold Academy ranked 10th of 39 secondary schools in Gloucestershire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 83% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% 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 Cotswold Academy's absence rate?
- The Cotswold Academy's overall absence rate is 7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Cotswold Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Cotswold Academy'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 1 July 2026.