Somervale Secondary School
Redfield Road, Midsomer Norton, Radstock, BA3 2JD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- MIDSOMER NORTON SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Ms Joanna Postlethwaite
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership
- Constituency
- Frome and East Somerset
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 839
- Pupils on roll
- 781
- URN
- 136311
- Local authority
- Bath and North East Somerset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01761414276
About this school
Somervale Secondary School is a secondary academy in Radstock. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 781 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 29 June 2022, 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 | 109 | 89 | 131 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.8 | 43.3 | 45.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.28 +0.01 to +0.55 | +0.01 -0.28 to +0.31 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43% | 39.3% | 39.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 64% | 63.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 44% | 53.9% | 44.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
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 Somervale Secondary 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 | Bath and North East Somerset average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 45.8 | 36.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.3 | 37.7 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45 | 34.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 713 |
| 2023/24 | 773 |
| 2024/25 | 794 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Somervale Secondary School compares
Somervale Secondary School ranked 9th of 14 secondary schools in Bath and North East Somerset for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 57% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 45 | 6.4% | 23.8% | 781 | — |
| Norton Hill Academy | 50.2 | 6.5% | 18.3% | 1,757 | 0.3 miles |
| Somerset Studio School | 30.5 | 16.2% | 23.9% | 152 | 2.4 miles |
| Writhlington School | 40.3 | 9.3% | 28.6% | 894 | 2.4 miles |
| Saint Gregory's Catholic College | 46.6 | 8.6% | 19.3% | 987 | 6.6 miles |
| Whitstone | 40.5 | 10% | 24.6% | 545 | 7.0 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)
- 23.82%
- English as an additional language
- 2.1%
- Overall absence
- 6.41%
- Persistent absence
- 15.32%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Norton Hill Academy0.3 miles
Secondary · Radstock
-
Somerset Studio School2.4 miles
Secondary · Radstock
-
Writhlington School2.4 miles
Secondary · Radstock
-
Saint Gregory's Catholic College6.6 miles
Secondary · Bath
-
Whitstone7.0 miles
Secondary · Shepton Mallet
Other schools in Radstock
- Norton Hill Academy Secondary
- Somerset Studio School Secondary
- Writhlington School Secondary
- Bishop Henderson Church of England Primary School Primary
- Chewton Mendip Church of England VA Primary School Primary
- Hemington Primary School Primary
- Kilmersdon Church School Primary
- Leigh On Mendip School Primary
- Longvernal Primary School Primary
- Midsomer Norton Primary School Primary
- Oakhill Church School Primary
- St Benedict's Catholic Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Somervale Secondary School teach?
- Somervale Secondary School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Radstock.
- Who is the headteacher of Somervale Secondary School?
- The headteacher of Somervale Secondary School is Ms Joanna Postlethwaite, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Somervale Secondary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Somervale Secondary 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 Somervale Secondary School?
- Somervale Secondary School has 781 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Somervale Secondary School full?
- Somervale Secondary School has capacity for 839 pupils and 781 on roll (93%), 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 Somervale Secondary School a faith school?
- No. Somervale Secondary School has no designated religious character.
- Is Somervale Secondary School a selective school?
- No. Somervale Secondary School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Somervale Secondary School?
- Somervale Secondary School is part of MIDSOMER NORTON SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Somervale Secondary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.8 in 2022/23 and 45 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Somervale Secondary School rank locally?
- Somervale Secondary School ranked 9th of 14 secondary schools in Bath and North East Somerset for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 57% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Somervale Secondary School's absence rate?
- Somervale Secondary School's overall absence rate is 6.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Somervale Secondary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Somervale Secondary 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 1 July 2026.