Buckler's Mead School
1 St. Johns Road, Yeovil, BA21 4NH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- MIDSOMER NORTON SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mark Lawrence
- Sponsor
- Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership
- Constituency
- Yeovil
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,020
- Pupils on roll
- 812
- URN
- 148830
- Local authority
- Somerset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01935424454
About this school
Buckler's Mead School is a secondary academy in Yeovil. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 812 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Buckler's Mead School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 144 | 136 | 150 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.2 | 40.0 | 44.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.16 -0.08 to +0.39 | -0.36 -0.60 to -0.12 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 46% | 35.3% | 42% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 61% | 63.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 44% | 44.1% | 42% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
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 Buckler's Mead 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 | 47.2 | 36.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40 | 34 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.5 | 32.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 734 |
| 2023/24 | 759 |
| 2024/25 | 797 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Buckler's Mead School compares
Buckler's Mead School ranked 10th of 28 secondary schools in Somerset 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 17% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.5 | 8% | 31.6% | 812 | — |
| Westfield Academy | 44.5 | 7.8% | 21.7% | 1,013 | 1.2 miles |
| Preston School Academy | 45.9 | 7.7% | 20.7% | 1,003 | 1.6 miles |
| Stanchester Academy | 43.7 | 9.1% | 19.6% | 829 | 4.5 miles |
| The Gryphon School | 46.7 | 7.9% | 20.5% | 1,569 | 4.7 miles |
| Wadham School | 42.3 | 9.7% | 19.2% | 763 | 8.5 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)
- 31.62%
- English as an additional language
- 16.4%
- Overall absence
- 7.98%
- Persistent absence
- 20.74%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Westfield Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Yeovil
-
Preston School Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Yeovil
-
Stanchester Academy4.5 miles
Secondary · Stoke-sub-Hamdon
-
The Gryphon School4.7 miles
Secondary · Sherborne
-
Wadham School8.5 miles
Secondary · Crewkerne
Other schools in Yeovil
- Preston School Academy Secondary
- Westfield Academy Secondary
- All Saints Church School Primary
- Barwick and Stoford Community Primary School Primary
- Birchfield Community Primary School Primary
- Chilthorne Domer Church School Primary
- Countess Gytha Primary School Primary
- East Coker Community Primary School Primary
- Holy Trinity Church School Primary
- Huish Primary School Primary
- Ilchester Community School Primary
- Kingfisher Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Buckler's Mead School teach?
- Buckler's Mead School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Yeovil.
- Who is the headteacher of Buckler's Mead School?
- The headteacher of Buckler's Mead School is Mark Lawrence, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Buckler's Mead School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Buckler's Mead 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 many pupils are at Buckler's Mead School?
- Buckler's Mead School has 812 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Buckler's Mead School full?
- Buckler's Mead School has capacity for 1,020 pupils and 812 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 Buckler's Mead School a faith school?
- No. Buckler's Mead School has no designated religious character.
- Is Buckler's Mead School part of an academy trust?
- Buckler's Mead School is part of MIDSOMER NORTON SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Buckler's Mead School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.2 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 Buckler's Mead School compare with other schools in Somerset?
- Buckler's Mead School ranked 10th of 28 secondary schools in Somerset 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 17% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Buckler's Mead School's absence rate?
- Buckler's Mead School's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Buckler's Mead School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Buckler's Mead 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.