Fairlands Middle School
Masons Way, Cheddar, BS27 3PG
- Phase
- Middle deemed secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 9 to 13
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- WESSEX LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Rebecca Bennett
- Constituency
- Wells and Mendip Hills
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 508
- Pupils on roll
- 405
- URN
- 147825
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01934743186
About this school
Fairlands Middle School is a middle academy in Cheddar. It teaches children aged 9 to 13 and has 405 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
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 117 | 100 | 104 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 44% | 51% | 54% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 6% | 8% |
| Expected standard in reading | 65% | 75% | 74% |
| Expected standard in maths | 60% | 64% | 65% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 59% | 63% | 67% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 105.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 102.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -4.00 | - | - |
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.
Trends over time
How Fairlands Middle 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 | 44% | 54.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 51% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 54% | 57.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 472 |
| 2023/24 | 434 |
| 2024/25 | 411 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Fairlands Middle School compares
Fairlands Middle School ranked 104th of 155 primary schools in Somerset for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 28% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54% | 6.4% | 16.1% | 405 | — |
| Hugh Sexey Church of England Middle School | 72% | 6.2% | 14.8% | 595 | 4.7 miles |
| The Kings of Wessex Academy | — | 8.9% | 11.7% | 1,043 | 0.3 miles |
| Cheddar First School | — | 6.3% | 18.6% | 358 | 0.5 miles |
| Draycott & Rodney Stoke Church of England First School | — | 7.2% | 12.3% | 70 | 1.4 miles |
| Axbridge Church of England First School Academy | — | 3% | 16.6% | 177 | 2.1 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 16.06%
- English as an additional language
- 6.1%
- Overall absence
- 6.43%
- Persistent absence
- 16.43%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hugh Sexey Church of England Middle School4.7 miles
Middle deemed secondary · Wedmore
-
The Kings of Wessex Academy0.3 miles
Secondary · Cheddar
-
Cheddar First School0.5 miles
Primary · Cheddar
-
Draycott & Rodney Stoke Church of England First School1.4 miles
Primary · Draycott
-
Axbridge Church of England First School Academy2.1 miles
Primary · Axbridge
Other schools in Cheddar
- Cheddar First School Primary
- The Kings of Wessex Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Fairlands Middle School teach?
- Fairlands Middle School teaches children aged 9 to 13. It is a middle school in Cheddar.
- Who is the headteacher of Fairlands Middle School?
- The headteacher of Fairlands Middle School is Mrs Rebecca Bennett, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Fairlands Middle School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Fairlands Middle 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 Fairlands Middle School?
- Fairlands Middle School has 405 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 9 to 13.
- Is Fairlands Middle School full?
- Fairlands Middle School has capacity for 508 pupils and 405 on roll (80%), 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 Fairlands Middle School a faith school?
- No. Fairlands Middle School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Fairlands Middle School?
- Fairlands Middle School is part of WESSEX LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Fairlands Middle School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 44% in 2022/23 and 54% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Fairlands Middle School rank locally?
- Fairlands Middle School ranked 104th of 155 primary schools in Somerset for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 28% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Fairlands Middle School's absence rate?
- Fairlands Middle School's overall absence rate is 6.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Fairlands Middle School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Fairlands Middle 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 10 July 2026.