The Castle School
Wellington Road, Taunton, TA1 5AU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- BLACKDOWN EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mr James Lamb
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Blackdown Education Partnership
- Constituency
- Taunton and Wellington
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,188
- Pupils on roll
- 1,207
- URN
- 136916
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01823274073
About this school
The Castle School is a secondary academy in Taunton. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,207 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Castle School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 239 | 234 | 239 |
| Attainment 8 score | 53.1 | 55.3 | 53.4 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.21 +0.03 to +0.40 | +0.60 +0.42 to +0.79 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 54% | 58.5% | 57.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 74% | 84.2% | 79.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 23% | 21.4% | 30.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.7 |
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 The Castle 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 | Somerset average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 53.1 | 36.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 55.3 | 34 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 53.4 | 32.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,199 |
| 2023/24 | 1,204 |
| 2024/25 | 1,202 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Castle School compares
The Castle School ranked 1st of 28 secondary schools in Somerset for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 84% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53.4 | 7.2% | 13% | 1,207 | — |
| Bishop Fox's School | 46.9 | 7.4% | 22.2% | 1,123 | 1.3 miles |
| Pyrland School | — | — | — | — | 1.6 miles |
| Monkton Wood Academy | 41.4 | 11.3% | 22.9% | 1,267 | 2.7 miles |
| Court Fields School | 42.8 | 9% | 23% | 861 | 5.8 miles |
| Haygrove School | 48.8 | 10.3% | 22.1% | 1,051 | 8.4 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)
- 12.98%
- English as an additional language
- 13.2%
- Overall absence
- 7.21%
- Persistent absence
- 16.05%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bishop Fox's School1.3 miles
Secondary · Taunton
-
Pyrland School1.6 miles
Secondary · Taunton
-
Monkton Wood Academy2.7 miles
Secondary · Taunton
-
Court Fields School5.8 miles
Secondary · Wellington
-
Haygrove School8.4 miles
Secondary · Bridgwater
Other schools in Taunton
- Bishop Fox's School Secondary
- Kingsmead Academy Secondary
- Monkton Wood Academy Secondary
- Pyrland School Secondary
- Bishop Henderson Church of England Primary School, Taunton Primary
- Bishops Hull Primary School Primary
- Bishops Lydeard Church School Primary
- Blackbrook Primary School Primary
- Cheddon Fitzpaine Church School Primary
- Churchstanton Primary School Primary
- Cotford St Luke Primary School Primary
- Creech St Michael Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Castle School teach?
- The Castle School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Taunton.
- Who is the headteacher of The Castle School?
- The headteacher of The Castle School is Mr James Lamb, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Castle School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Castle 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 many pupils are at The Castle School?
- The Castle School has 1,207 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is The Castle School full?
- The Castle School has capacity for 1,188 pupils and 1,207 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 Castle School a faith school?
- No. The Castle School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Castle School a selective school?
- No. The Castle School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Castle School part of an academy trust?
- The Castle School is part of BLACKDOWN EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Castle School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 53.1 in 2022/23 and 53.4 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 Castle School compare with other schools in Somerset?
- The Castle School ranked 1st of 28 secondary schools in Somerset for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 84% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% 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 Castle School's absence rate?
- The Castle School's overall absence rate is 7.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Castle School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Castle 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.