The Castle School

General Info

Education Phase
Secondary, 16 plus
Ofsted rating
Good
Nov 25 2021 Ofsted report
Gender
Mixed
Age range
11 - 18 y.o.
Type
Academies
Funding
State-funded secondary
Admissions policy
Non-selective
Religious Character
Does not apply
Sixth Form
Has a sixth form
Local authority
South Gloucestershire
Unique reference
139348
Address
Park Road, Thornbury, BS35 1HT

Pupils

Number of Pupils
1449 (85% of total capacity)
Boys
47.9%
Girls
52.1%
First language not English
15.8%
Free school meals (FSM)
12.5%
Persistent absence
20.0%
Special education needs (SEN)
7.2%
Pupil ethnicities
White British 73%
Other White 7.5%
Mixed 5.7%
Chinese 4.1%
Indian 3.7%
African 2.2%
Other Asian 1.9%
Other 0.7%
Pakistani 0.4%
Other Black 0.3%
Irish 0.1%
Irish Traveller 0.1%
Bangladeshi 0.1%
Unclassified 0.1%
Capacity %: Year 2023-2024 Persistent absence and other Pupils data: Year 2024-2025

Exam Results

GCSE Results

Entering EBacc

School 59%
Local authority average 25%
England average 41%

Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs

School 58%
Local authority average 43%
England average 45%

Attainment 8 score

School 52.4
Local authority average 42.8
England average 45.9

EBacc average point score

School 4.92
Local authority average 3.72
England average 4.08
Year 2024-2025

Subjects

GCSE Subjects

SubjectQualificationNumber of entries
Health StudiesTechnical Award18
ArabicGCSE2
Art & DesignGCSE81
Art & Design (Fine Art)GCSE2
Art & Design (Textiles)GCSE1
BiologyGCSE65
Business Studies:SingleGCSE54
ChemistryGCSE63
ChineseGCSE10
Computer Studies/ComputingGCSE25
Year 2024-2025

Admissions

The Castle School

Admission Policy
Non-selective
Total available places
220
Status
Not oversubscribed
This school is Not Oversubscribed because there were fewer 1st preference applications than available places.

Applications

1st preference
210
2nd preference
86
3rd preference
54
From another Local Authority
16
Breakdown of applications made to this school within the deadline (in-year applications are excluded)

Offers

1st preference
210
2nd preference
6
3rd preference
2
To another Local Authority
3
Breakdown of offers made on National Offer Day (in-year applications are excluded)
Year 2025-2026

Class sizes

Class typeClass size
Average size of one-teacher classes21.2
Year 2024-2025

Cohort sizes

Class type
Total
Boys
Girls
Year 7
264
100
164
Year 8
225
104
121
Year 9
233
117
116
Year 10
253
120
133
Year 11
224
124
100
Year 12
110
63
47
Year 13
140
66
74
Year 2024-2025

Participation in Education, Training, Employment

Destinations after GCSEs
School
LA
England
Staying in education
88.0%
81.9%
85.5%
Further education
30.0%
33.9%
36.9%
School sixth form
57.0%
36.5%
35.2%
Sixth form college
0.0%
11.2%
12.9%
Other education destinations
1.0%
0.4%
0.5%
Entering employment
3.0%
3.8%
2.6%
Entering apprenticeships
6.0%
7.4%
3.3%
Not in education or employment
3.0%
4.5%
5.7%
Destination unknown
1.0%
2.5%
3.0%
School: Year 2024-2025 Local authority: Year 2022-2023 England: Year 2022-2023

Progression to Higher Education or Training

Destinations after A‑levels
School
LA
England
Degrees
66.0%
44.9%
60.1%
Top third higher education institutions
26.0%
8.9%
18.9%
Other study at level 4 or 5
1.0%
3.1%
2.5%
Higher apprenticeships
1.0%
2.6%
2.4%
School: Year 2024-2025 Local authority: Year 2021-2022 England: Year 2021-2022

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