Bristol Free School
Concorde Drive, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, BS10 6NJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- RUSSELL EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Susan King
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Russell Education Trust
- Constituency
- Bristol North West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,090
- Pupils on roll
- 1,304
- URN
- 136822
- Local authority
- Bristol, City of
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01179597200
About this school
Bristol Free School is a secondary academy in Bristol. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,304 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 196 | 199 | 202 |
| Attainment 8 score | 57.8 | 58.0 | 56.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.33 +0.13 to +0.54 | +0.43 +0.23 to +0.63 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 65% | 66.3% | 66.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 81% | 84.4% | 83.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 37% | 47.7% | 48% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.2 |
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 Bristol Free 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 | Bristol, City of average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 57.8 | 36.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 58 | 34.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 56.3 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,217 |
| 2023/24 | 1,277 |
| 2024/25 | 1,292 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bristol Free School compares
Bristol Free School ranked 4th of 22 secondary schools in Bristol, City of for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 89% 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 | 56.3 | 6.5% | 14.5% | 1,304 | — |
| Blaise High School | 45 | 10.2% | 44.3% | 914 | 0.9 miles |
| Orchard School Bristol | 44.7 | 10.4% | 44.7% | 942 | 1.4 miles |
| St Bede's Catholic College | 57.1 | 6.4% | 12.8% | 1,324 | 1.9 miles |
| Redland Green School | 59 | 6.6% | 8.6% | 1,652 | 2.0 miles |
| Trinity Academy | 52.1 | 9.9% | 35.6% | 1,062 | 2.3 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report31 March 2026
- 8 March 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 14.48%
- English as an additional language
- 7.4%
- Overall absence
- 6.47%
- Persistent absence
- 13%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Blaise High School0.9 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
Orchard School Bristol1.4 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
St Bede's Catholic College1.9 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
Redland Green School2.0 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
Trinity Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Bristol
Other schools in Bristol
Bristol Free School ranks 4th of the 44 ranked secondary schools in Bristol.
- Abbeywood Community School Secondary
- Ashton Park School Secondary
- Backwell School Secondary
- Bedminster Down School Secondary
- Blaise High School Secondary
- Brimsham Green School Secondary
- Bristol Brunel Academy Secondary
- Bristol Cathedral Choir School Secondary
- Bristol Metropolitan Academy Secondary
- Chew Valley School Secondary
- Chipping Sodbury School Secondary
- Cotham School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Bristol Free School teach?
- Bristol Free School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Bristol.
- Who is the headteacher of Bristol Free School?
- The headteacher of Bristol Free School is Susan King, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Bristol Free School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bristol Free 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 Bristol Free School?
- Bristol Free School has 1,304 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Bristol Free School full?
- Bristol Free School has capacity for 1,090 pupils and 1,304 on roll (120%), 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 Bristol Free School a faith school?
- No. Bristol Free School has no designated religious character.
- Is Bristol Free School a selective school?
- No. Bristol Free School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Bristol Free School?
- Bristol Free School is part of RUSSELL EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Bristol Free School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 57.8 in 2022/23 and 56.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bristol Free School rank locally?
- Bristol Free School ranked 4th of 22 secondary schools in Bristol, City of for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 89% 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 Bristol Free School's absence rate?
- Bristol Free School's overall absence rate is 6.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bristol Free School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bristol Free 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.