Bedminster Down School
Donald Road, Bedminster Down, Bristol, BS13 7DQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- FUTURA LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mrs Louise Davies
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Futura Learning Partnership
- Constituency
- Bristol South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,080
- Pupils on roll
- 1,022
- URN
- 138204
- Local authority
- Bristol, City of
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01173532800
About this school
Bedminster Down School is a secondary academy in Bristol. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,022 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 did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 202 | 194 | 181 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.3 | 39.9 | 41.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.43 -0.63 to -0.24 | -0.30 -0.50 to -0.10 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 31% | 32.5% | 38.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 54% | 55.2% | 60.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 6% | 6.7% | 2.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
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 Bedminster Down 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 | 39.3 | 36.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.9 | 34.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.7 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,047 |
| 2023/24 | 1,040 |
| 2024/25 | 1,029 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bedminster Down School compares
Bedminster Down School ranked 18th of 22 secondary schools in Bristol, City of for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.7 | 13.3% | 40% | 1,022 | — |
| Ashton Park School | 45.8 | 10.9% | 24.5% | 1,272 | 1.4 miles |
| Oasis Academy Temple Quarter | — | 8.1% | 45.7% | 391 | 2.2 miles |
| Oasis Academy Daventry Road | — | 18.2% | 65.1% | 362 | 2.2 miles |
| St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School | 54.2 | 7.2% | 23.8% | 1,792 | 2.2 miles |
| Bristol Cathedral Choir School | 54.6 | 8.4% | 25.9% | 1,192 | 2.2 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)
- 40.04%
- English as an additional language
- 6%
- Overall absence
- 13.3%
- Persistent absence
- 39.76%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ashton Park School1.4 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
Oasis Academy Temple Quarter2.2 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
Oasis Academy Daventry Road2.2 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School2.2 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
Bristol Cathedral Choir School2.2 miles
Secondary · Bristol
Other schools in Bristol
Bedminster Down School ranks 36th of the 44 ranked secondary schools in Bristol.
- Abbeywood Community School Secondary
- Ashton Park School Secondary
- Backwell School Secondary
- Blaise High School Secondary
- Brimsham Green School Secondary
- Bristol Brunel Academy Secondary
- Bristol Cathedral Choir School Secondary
- Bristol Free School Secondary
- Bristol Metropolitan Academy Secondary
- Chew Valley School Secondary
- Chipping Sodbury School Secondary
- Cotham School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Bedminster Down School teach?
- Bedminster Down School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bristol.
- Who is the headteacher of Bedminster Down School?
- The headteacher of Bedminster Down School is Mrs Louise Davies, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Bedminster Down School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bedminster Down 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 Bedminster Down School?
- Bedminster Down School has 1,022 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Bedminster Down School full?
- Bedminster Down School has capacity for 1,080 pupils and 1,022 on roll (95%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Bedminster Down School a faith school?
- No. Bedminster Down School has no designated religious character.
- Is Bedminster Down School a selective school?
- No. Bedminster Down School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Bedminster Down School?
- Bedminster Down School is part of FUTURA LEARNING PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Bedminster Down School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39.3 in 2022/23 and 41.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bedminster Down School rank locally?
- Bedminster Down School ranked 18th of 22 secondary schools in Bristol, City of for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bedminster Down School's absence rate?
- Bedminster Down School's overall absence rate is 13.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bedminster Down School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bedminster Down 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.