Ansford Academy
Maggs Lane, Castle Cary, BA7 7JJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- MIDSOMER NORTON SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP
- Principal
- Mr Karl Musson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership
- Constituency
- Glastonbury and Somerton
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 760
- Pupils on roll
- 469
- URN
- 136839
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01963350895
About this school
Ansford Academy is a secondary academy in Castle Cary. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 469 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 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- 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 | 117 | 114 | 102 |
| Attainment 8 score | 40.4 | 37.8 | 43.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.43 -0.69 to -0.18 | -0.42 -0.69 to -0.16 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 32% | 25.4% | 45.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 54% | 47.4% | 59.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 9% | 14.9% | 16.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.7 |
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 Ansford 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 | 40.4 | 36.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 37.8 | 34 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.7 | 32.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 567 |
| 2023/24 | 543 |
| 2024/25 | 516 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ansford Academy compares
Ansford Academy ranked 15th of 28 secondary schools in Somerset for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% 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 | 43.7 | 8.8% | 18.8% | 469 | — |
| Sexey's School | 51.5 | 10.3% | 11.1% | 633 | 2.3 miles |
| King Arthur's School | 40.6 | 8.9% | 26.1% | 450 | 4.7 miles |
| Whitstone | 40.5 | 10% | 24.6% | 545 | 6.6 miles |
| The Gryphon School | 46.7 | 7.9% | 20.5% | 1,569 | 9.4 miles |
| St Dunstan's School | 45.7 | 11.1% | 31% | 529 | 9.7 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
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.8%
- English as an additional language
- 2.3%
- Overall absence
- 8.8%
- Persistent absence
- 26.45%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sexey's School2.3 miles
Secondary · Bruton
-
King Arthur's School4.7 miles
Secondary · Wincanton
-
Whitstone6.6 miles
Secondary · Shepton Mallet
-
The Gryphon School9.4 miles
Secondary · Sherborne
-
St Dunstan's School9.7 miles
Secondary · Glastonbury
Other schools in Castle Cary
Common questions
- What year groups does Ansford Academy teach?
- Ansford Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Castle Cary.
- Who is the principal of Ansford Academy?
- The principal of Ansford Academy is Mr Karl Musson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ansford Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ansford 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 Ansford Academy?
- Ansford Academy has 469 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Ansford Academy full?
- Ansford Academy has capacity for 760 pupils and 469 on roll (62%), 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 Ansford Academy a faith school?
- No. Ansford Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Ansford Academy a selective school?
- No. Ansford Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Ansford Academy?
- Ansford Academy 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 Ansford Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 40.4 in 2022/23 and 43.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ansford Academy rank locally?
- Ansford Academy ranked 15th of 28 secondary schools in Somerset for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% 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 Ansford Academy's absence rate?
- Ansford Academy's overall absence rate is 8.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ansford Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ansford 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.