The Sir John Colfox Academy
Ridgeway, Bridport, DT6 3DT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- INITIO LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Adam Shelley
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Wimborne Academy Trust
- Constituency
- West Dorset
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,024
- Pupils on roll
- 756
- URN
- 141735
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01308422291
About this school
The Sir John Colfox Academy is a secondary academy in Bridport. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 756 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Sir John Colfox 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 13 September 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 155 | 145 | 137 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.0 | 43.7 | 43.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.33 -0.56 to -0.11 | +0.01 -0.22 to +0.25 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 33.1% | 34.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 56% | 62.1% | 62% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 14% | 33.1% | 64.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.9 | 4.0 |
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 Sir John Colfox 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 | Dorset average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 41 | 36.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.7 | 36.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43 | 35.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 854 |
| 2023/24 | 818 |
| 2024/25 | 792 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Sir John Colfox Academy compares
The Sir John Colfox Academy ranked 10th of 19 secondary schools in Dorset for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43 | 9.1% | 24.1% | 756 | — |
| Beaminster School | 47 | 8.4% | 22.4% | 673 | 4.7 miles |
| The Woodroffe School | 51.4 | 9.9% | 18.7% | 886 | 8.9 miles |
| Wadham School | 42.3 | 9.7% | 19.2% | 763 | 9.9 miles |
| Holyrood Academy | 42.4 | 10% | 25.7% | 1,282 | 13.0 miles |
| St Catherine's Roman Catholic School | — | 7.9% | 22% | 100 | 0.5 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)
- 24.1%
- English as an additional language
- 4.4%
- Overall absence
- 9.14%
- Persistent absence
- 22.63%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Beaminster School4.7 miles
Secondary · Beaminster
-
The Woodroffe School8.9 miles
Secondary · Lyme Regis
-
Wadham School9.9 miles
Secondary · Crewkerne
-
Holyrood Academy13.0 miles
Secondary · Chard
-
St Catherine's Roman Catholic School0.5 miles
Primary · Bridport
Other schools in Bridport
- Bridport Primary School Primary
- Bridport, St Mary's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Burton Bradstock Church of England Voluntary Controlled School Primary
- Charmouth Primary School Primary
- Loders CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Marshwood CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Powerstock Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Salway Ash Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- St Catherine's Roman Catholic School Primary
- Symondsbury Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Sir John Colfox Academy teach?
- The Sir John Colfox Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Bridport.
- Who is the headteacher of The Sir John Colfox Academy?
- The headteacher of The Sir John Colfox Academy is Mr Adam Shelley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Sir John Colfox Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Sir John Colfox 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 The Sir John Colfox Academy?
- The Sir John Colfox Academy has 756 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Sir John Colfox Academy full?
- The Sir John Colfox Academy has capacity for 1,024 pupils and 756 on roll (74%), 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 Sir John Colfox Academy a faith school?
- No. The Sir John Colfox Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Sir John Colfox Academy a selective school?
- No. The Sir John Colfox Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Sir John Colfox Academy part of an academy trust?
- The Sir John Colfox Academy is part of INITIO LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Sir John Colfox Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41 in 2022/23 and 43 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 Sir John Colfox Academy compare with other schools in Dorset?
- The Sir John Colfox Academy ranked 10th of 19 secondary schools in Dorset for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% 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 Sir John Colfox Academy's absence rate?
- The Sir John Colfox Academy's overall absence rate is 9.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Sir John Colfox Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Sir John Colfox 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.