Castle EAST School
Hillside Road East, Bungay, NR35 1JS
- Phase
- Free Schools
- School type
- Free schools special
- Ages
- 9 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- EAST ANGLIAN SCHOOLS TRUST LTD
- Headteacher
- Mrs Nicky Coman
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- East Anglian Schools Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Waveney Valley
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 120
- Pupils on roll
- 130
- URN
- 148541
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01986808651
About this school
Castle EAST School is a special academy in Bungay. It teaches children aged 9 to 16 and has 130 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- 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 | 3 | 7 | 12 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | - | 0% | 17% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | - | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | - | 29% | 58% |
| Expected standard in maths | - | 14% | 33% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | - | 29% | 50% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | 98.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | 94.0 | 96.0 |
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 8 | 7 |
| Attainment 8 score | 19.1 | 9.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.97 -2.11 to +0.16 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 37.5% | 14.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 1.0 | 0.3 |
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 Castle EAST 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 | Suffolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 54.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 55.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 17% | 57.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Suffolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 19.1 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 9 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 17.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 16.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 15.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 48 |
| 2023/24 | 78 |
| 2024/25 | 120 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 44.17%
- English as an additional language
- 0%
- Overall absence
- 15.64%
- Persistent absence
- 41.6%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Turnstone House School3.1 miles
Special schools · Bungay
-
Avocet House5.9 miles
Special schools · Heckingham
-
Langley School7.0 miles
Independent schools · Norfolk
-
The Old School9.4 miles
Independent schools · Beccles
-
Sunrise Academy10.0 miles
Free Schools · Lowestoft
Other schools in Bungay
- Turnstone House School Special schools
- Bungay Primary School Primary
- Ditchingham Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Ellingham VC Primary School Primary
- St Edmund's Catholic Primary School Primary
- Woodton Primary School Primary
- Bungay High School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Castle EAST School teach?
- Castle EAST School teaches children aged 9 to 16. It is a special school in Bungay.
- Who is the headteacher of Castle EAST School?
- The headteacher of Castle EAST School is Mrs Nicky Coman, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Castle EAST School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Castle EAST 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 Castle EAST School?
- Castle EAST School has 130 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 9 to 16.
- Is Castle EAST School full?
- Castle EAST School has capacity for 120 pupils and 130 on roll (108%), so it is at or above 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 Castle EAST School a faith school?
- No. Castle EAST School has no designated religious character.
- Is Castle EAST School a selective school?
- No. Castle EAST School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Castle EAST School?
- Castle EAST School is part of EAST ANGLIAN SCHOOLS TRUST LTD. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Castle EAST School have?
- The schools register lists Castle EAST School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Castle EAST School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2023/24 and 17% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Castle EAST School's absence rate?
- Castle EAST School's overall absence rate is 15.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Castle EAST School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Castle EAST 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.