The Castle School
Park Road, Thornbury, Bristol, BS35 1HT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- CASTLE SCHOOL EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Jessica Lobbett
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Castle School Education Trust
- Constituency
- Thornbury and Yate
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,733
- Pupils on roll
- 1,416
- URN
- 139348
- Local authority
- South Gloucestershire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01454862100
About this school
The Castle School is a secondary academy in Bristol. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,416 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
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
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 263 | 259 | 223 |
| Attainment 8 score | 52.5 | 50.6 | 52.4 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.26 +0.08 to +0.43 | +0.33 +0.15 to +0.50 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 54% | 52.1% | 58.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 79% | 72.6% | 74.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 56% | 51.4% | 58.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.9 |
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 | South Gloucestershire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 52.5 | 40 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.6 | 38.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 52.4 | 38.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,520 |
| 2023/24 | 1,472 |
| 2024/25 | 1,449 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Castle School compares
The Castle School ranked 2nd of 16 secondary schools in South Gloucestershire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 82% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 52.4 | 7.8% | 15% | 1,416 | — |
| Marlwood School | 43.2 | 11.2% | 18% | 510 | 1.7 miles |
| SGS Berkeley Green UTC | 41.2 | 10.2% | 22% | 391 | 5.3 miles |
| Patchway Community School | 37 | 11.6% | 27.3% | 854 | 5.5 miles |
| Brimsham Green School | 44.9 | 10.2% | 21.2% | 1,095 | 6.1 miles |
| Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre | 45.8 | 9.7% | 17.7% | 1,024 | 6.1 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)
- 15.01%
- English as an additional language
- 15.8%
- Overall absence
- 7.83%
- Persistent absence
- 22.26%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Marlwood School1.7 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
SGS Berkeley Green UTC5.3 miles
Secondary · Berkeley
-
Patchway Community School5.5 miles
Secondary · Almondsbury
-
Brimsham Green School6.1 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre6.1 miles
Secondary · Chepstow
Other schools in Bristol
The Castle School ranks 9th 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 Free School Secondary
- Bristol Metropolitan Academy Secondary
- Chew Valley School Secondary
- Chipping Sodbury School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does The Castle School teach?
- The Castle School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Bristol.
- Who is the headteacher of The Castle School?
- The headteacher of The Castle School is Ms Jessica Lobbett, 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 1,416 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Castle School full?
- The Castle School has capacity for 1,733 pupils and 1,416 on roll (82%), 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 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 CASTLE SCHOOL EDUCATION TRUST. 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 52.5 in 2022/23 and 52.4 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 South Gloucestershire?
- The Castle School ranked 2nd of 16 secondary schools in South Gloucestershire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 82% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% 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 7.8% 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 15 July 2026.