The Kings of Wessex Academy
Station Road, Cheddar, BS27 3AQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 13 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- WESSEX LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr David Wiltshire
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Bath and Wells
- Constituency
- Wells and Mendip Hills
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,194
- Pupils on roll
- 1,043
- URN
- 136783
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01934742608
About this school
The Kings of Wessex Academy is a Church of England secondary academy in Cheddar. It teaches children aged 13 to 18 and has 1,043 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
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 6 November 2024, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. 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 | 225 | 246 | 268 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.3 | 49.7 | 48.7 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.19 +0.01 to +0.38 | +0.34 +0.16 to +0.52 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 56% | 52% | 53.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 77% | 73.2% | 74.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 52% | 45.1% | 37.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.3 |
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 Kings of Wessex 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 | Somerset average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.3 | 36.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 49.7 | 34 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.7 | 32.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,033 |
| 2023/24 | 1,045 |
| 2024/25 | 1,050 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Kings of Wessex Academy compares
The Kings of Wessex Academy ranked 6th of 28 secondary schools in Somerset for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 71% 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 | 48.7 | 8.9% | 11.7% | 1,043 | — |
| Churchill Academy & Sixth Form | 50.3 | 8.3% | 13.6% | 1,488 | 4.5 miles |
| The Blue School | 49.7 | 10.1% | 18.8% | 1,362 | 6.9 miles |
| Winterstoke Hundred Academy | 40.1 | 11.7% | 24.5% | 870 | 8.1 miles |
| Priory Community School | 44.2 | 8.4% | 18.1% | 1,486 | 8.4 miles |
| Worle Community School | 40.4 | 12.2% | 27.6% | 1,244 | 8.5 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)
- 11.67%
- English as an additional language
- 3.5%
- Overall absence
- 8.94%
- Persistent absence
- 23.19%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Churchill Academy & Sixth Form4.5 miles
Secondary · Winscombe
-
The Blue School6.9 miles
Secondary · Wells
-
Winterstoke Hundred Academy8.1 miles
Secondary · Weston-Super-Mare
-
Priory Community School8.4 miles
Secondary · Weston-Super-Mare
-
Worle Community School8.5 miles
Secondary · Weston-Super-Mare
Other schools in Cheddar
- Cheddar First School Primary
- Fairlands Middle School Middle deemed secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Kings of Wessex Academy teach?
- The Kings of Wessex Academy teaches children aged 13 to 18. It is a secondary school in Cheddar.
- Who is the headteacher of The Kings of Wessex Academy?
- The headteacher of The Kings of Wessex Academy is Mr David Wiltshire, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Kings of Wessex Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Kings of Wessex 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 Kings of Wessex Academy?
- The Kings of Wessex Academy has 1,043 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 13 to 18.
- Is The Kings of Wessex Academy full?
- The Kings of Wessex Academy has capacity for 1,194 pupils and 1,043 on roll (87%), 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 Kings of Wessex Academy a faith school?
- Yes. The Kings of Wessex Academy is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Bath and Wells.
- Is The Kings of Wessex Academy a selective school?
- No. The Kings of Wessex Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Kings of Wessex Academy?
- The Kings of Wessex Academy is part of WESSEX LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Kings of Wessex Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.3 in 2022/23 and 48.7 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 Kings of Wessex Academy rank locally?
- The Kings of Wessex Academy ranked 6th of 28 secondary schools in Somerset for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 71% 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 Kings of Wessex Academy's absence rate?
- The Kings of Wessex Academy's overall absence rate is 8.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Kings of Wessex Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Kings of Wessex 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.