The Mendip School
Edmund Rack Road, Prestleigh, Shepton Mallet, BA4 4FZ
- Phase
- Free Schools
- School type
- Free schools special
- Ages
- 4 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE PARTNERSHIP TRUST
- Executive Principal
- Mrs Natalie Hanna
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- The Partnership Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Frome and East Somerset
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 152
- Pupils on roll
- 151
- URN
- 142118
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01749838040
About this school
The Mendip School is a special academy in Shepton Mallet. It teaches children aged 4 to 19 and has 151 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 5 October 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good and saw signs of improvement; a full inspection will follow. 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 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 10 | 10 | 16 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 10% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 10% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 91.0 | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 86.0 | 84.0 |
| Reading progress | -4.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -5.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -10.40 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 24 | 22 | 11 |
| Attainment 8 score | 12.8 | 16.3 | 15.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -2.13 -2.73 to -1.52 | -1.87 -2.48 to -1.27 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 8% | 4.5% | 18.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 25% | 27.3% | 27.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
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 Mendip 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 | Somerset average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0% | 54.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 57.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Somerset average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.8 | 36.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 16.3 | 34 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 15.4 | 32.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 35.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 35.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 39.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 160 |
| 2023/24 | 164 |
| 2024/25 | 142 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 37.59%
- English as an additional language
- 5.6%
- Overall absence
- 39.07%
- Persistent absence
- 61.66%
Location
Nearby schools
-
All Hallows School3.9 miles
Independent schools · Shepton Mallet
-
King's Bruton4.4 miles
Independent schools · Bruton
-
Wells Cathedral School6.4 miles
Independent schools · Wells
-
Downside School6.9 miles
Independent schools · Radstock
-
Millfield Preparatory School7.2 miles
Independent schools · Glastonbury
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
- Whitstone Secondary
- All Hallows School Independent schools
Common questions
- What year groups does The Mendip School teach?
- The Mendip School teaches children aged 4 to 19. It is a special school in Shepton Mallet.
- Who is the executive principal of The Mendip School?
- The executive principal of The Mendip School is Mrs Natalie Hanna, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Mendip School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Mendip 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 The Mendip School?
- The Mendip School has 151 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 19.
- Is The Mendip School full?
- The Mendip School has capacity for 152 pupils and 151 on roll (99%), 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 The Mendip School a faith school?
- No. The Mendip School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs The Mendip School?
- The Mendip School is part of THE PARTNERSHIP TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Mendip School have?
- The schools register lists The Mendip School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Mendip School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is The Mendip School's absence rate?
- The Mendip School's overall absence rate is 39.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Mendip School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Mendip 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 2 July 2026.