Whitstone
Charlton Road, Shepton Mallet, BA4 5PF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- WHITSTONE SCHOOL ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Matthew Pike
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Wells and Mendip Hills
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 625
- Pupils on roll
- 545
- URN
- 137192
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01749345555
About this school
Whitstone is a secondary academy in Shepton Mallet. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 545 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
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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 98 | 96 | 111 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.9 | 43.6 | 40.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.30 -0.58 to -0.01 | +0.06 -0.24 to +0.36 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 38% | 42.7% | 35.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 53% | 63.5% | 65.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 19% | 18.8% | 25.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.9 | 3.6 |
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 Whitstone 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 | 43.9 | 36.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.6 | 34 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 40.5 | 32.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 555 |
| 2023/24 | 584 |
| 2024/25 | 578 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Whitstone compares
Whitstone ranked 26th of 28 secondary schools in Somerset for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 40% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 40.5 | 10% | 24.6% | 545 | — |
| The Blue School | 49.7 | 10.1% | 18.8% | 1,362 | 5.1 miles |
| Ansford Academy | 43.7 | 8.8% | 18.8% | 469 | 6.6 miles |
| Sexey's School | 51.5 | 10.3% | 11.1% | 633 | 6.7 miles |
| Norton Hill Academy | 50.2 | 6.5% | 18.3% | 1,757 | 6.9 miles |
| Somervale Secondary School | 45 | 6.4% | 23.8% | 781 | 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)
- 24.57%
- English as an additional language
- 15.4%
- Overall absence
- 10.04%
- Persistent absence
- 27.38%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Blue School5.1 miles
Secondary · Wells
-
Ansford Academy6.6 miles
Secondary · Castle Cary
-
Sexey's School6.7 miles
Secondary · Bruton
-
Norton Hill Academy6.9 miles
Secondary · Radstock
-
Somervale Secondary School7.0 miles
Secondary · Radstock
Other schools in Shepton Mallet
- Bowlish Infant School Primary
- Ditcheat Primary School Primary
- Evercreech Church of England Primary School Primary
- Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery Primary
- St Aldhelms Church School Primary
- St Paul's Church of England VC Junior School Primary
- Upton Noble CofE VC Primary School Primary
- The Mendip School Free Schools
- All Hallows School Independent schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Whitstone teach?
- Whitstone teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Shepton Mallet.
- Who is the headteacher of Whitstone?
- The headteacher of Whitstone is Mr Matthew Pike, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Whitstone last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Whitstone, 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 Whitstone?
- Whitstone has 545 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Whitstone full?
- Whitstone has capacity for 625 pupils and 545 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 Whitstone a faith school?
- No. Whitstone has no designated religious character.
- Is Whitstone a selective school?
- No. Whitstone is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Whitstone?
- Whitstone is part of WHITSTONE SCHOOL ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Whitstone's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.9 in 2022/23 and 40.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Whitstone rank locally?
- Whitstone ranked 26th of 28 secondary schools in Somerset for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 40% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Whitstone's absence rate?
- Whitstone's overall absence rate is 10% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Whitstone's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Whitstone'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.