Sir Bernard Lovell Academy
North Street, Oldland Common, Bristol, BS30 8TS
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- FUTURA LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
- Principal
- Dr Robin Bassford
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Futura Learning Partnership
- Constituency
- North East Somerset and Hanham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,409
- Pupils on roll
- 1,268
- URN
- 141665
- Local authority
- South Gloucestershire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01174565900
About this school
Sir Bernard Lovell Academy is a secondary academy in Bristol. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,268 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Sir Bernard Lovell Academy, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit 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
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 180 | 192 | 204 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.1 | 48.3 | 44.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.37 +0.16 to +0.57 | +0.08 -0.13 to +0.28 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 54% | 47.4% | 43.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 73% | 70.3% | 66.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 14% | 26% | 19.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 4.2 | 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 Sir Bernard Lovell 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 | South Gloucestershire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.1 | 40 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.3 | 38.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.5 | 38.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,192 |
| 2023/24 | 1,244 |
| 2024/25 | 1,261 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sir Bernard Lovell Academy compares
Sir Bernard Lovell Academy ranked 9th of 16 secondary schools in South Gloucestershire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% 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 | 44.5 | 8.9% | 18.2% | 1,268 | — |
| Digitech Studio School | 31.2 | 16.4% | 29.7% | 608 | 1.0 miles |
| Hanham Woods Academy | 44.1 | 9.4% | 16.9% | 825 | 2.1 miles |
| John Cabot Academy | 52.1 | 9.5% | 29.6% | 1,244 | 2.1 miles |
| IKB Academy | 38.3 | 16.8% | 26.4% | 136 | 2.3 miles |
| Wellsway School | 50.5 | 8.2% | 13.9% | 1,325 | 2.4 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report13 January 2026
- 4 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.16%
- English as an additional language
- 1.4%
- Overall absence
- 8.87%
- Persistent absence
- 20.28%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Digitech Studio School1.0 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
Hanham Woods Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
John Cabot Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
IKB Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Bristol
-
Wellsway School2.4 miles
Secondary · Bristol
Other schools in Bristol
Sir Bernard Lovell Academy ranks 28th 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 Sir Bernard Lovell Academy teach?
- Sir Bernard Lovell Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Bristol.
- Who is the principal of Sir Bernard Lovell Academy?
- The principal of Sir Bernard Lovell Academy is Dr Robin Bassford, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Sir Bernard Lovell Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sir Bernard Lovell 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 many pupils are at Sir Bernard Lovell Academy?
- Sir Bernard Lovell Academy has 1,268 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Sir Bernard Lovell Academy full?
- Sir Bernard Lovell Academy has capacity for 1,409 pupils and 1,268 on roll (90%), 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 Sir Bernard Lovell Academy a faith school?
- No. Sir Bernard Lovell Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Sir Bernard Lovell Academy a selective school?
- No. Sir Bernard Lovell Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Sir Bernard Lovell Academy part of an academy trust?
- Sir Bernard Lovell Academy 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 Sir Bernard Lovell Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.1 in 2022/23 and 44.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Sir Bernard Lovell Academy compare with other schools in South Gloucestershire?
- Sir Bernard Lovell Academy ranked 9th of 16 secondary schools in South Gloucestershire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% 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 Sir Bernard Lovell Academy's absence rate?
- Sir Bernard Lovell Academy's overall absence rate is 8.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sir Bernard Lovell Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sir Bernard Lovell 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.