Local authority · South West
South Gloucestershire has 19 secondary schools in this dataset — 18 state-funded and 1 independent. 1 has a religious character; 16 have a sixth form.
The typical school here posts a three-year Progress 8 of -0.05 (average) — which is level with the national median — as an area it is neither ahead of nor behind the country. That is the middle of the 17 schools in this area with a published score.
The spread inside the area is wider than the gap between areas: from -2.92 to +0.45. Which school a child goes to matters more here than which area you move to.
For 2026 entry the typical school here drew 0.92 first preferences per place — less pressure than the national median of 0.95×. 5 of the 15 schools with published figures were named first by more families than they had places for. A high figure means popular, not good, and it is not your chance of a place — that depends on where you live.
Overall absence runs at 9.4% for the typical school here, above the national median of 8.7%. Absence is a plainer signal of whether pupils are turning up and engaged than any grade average.
Ordered on the three-year average Progress 8, which is steadier than any single year. Read the confidence interval beside each score before you read the order: it is the range the school's true figure is likely to sit in, and a wide one means a small year group rather than an unpredictable school.
| School | Progress 8 | 95% interval | Attainment 8 | Pressure | Ofsted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yate AcademyAcademy converter | +0.45above average | -0.21 to +0.272023–24 | 50.5 | 0.92× | Strong standard (achievement) |
| 2 | John Cabot AcademyAcademy sponsor led | +0.38above average | +0.21 to +0.672023–24 | 51.0 | 0.69× | — |
| 3 | The Castle SchoolAcademy converter | +0.35above average | +0.15 to +0.502023–24 | 53.5 | 0.92× | Expected standard (achievement) |
| 4 | Sir Bernard Lovell AcademyAcademy sponsor led | +0.24above average | -0.13 to +0.282023–24 | 49.1 | 1.08× | Expected standard (achievement) |
| 5 | Bradley Stoke Community SchoolAcademy converter | +0.21above average | +0.12 to +0.552023–24 | 50.8 | 1.00× | Good (ungraded) |
| 6 | Downend SchoolAcademy converter | +0.14average | -0.09 to +0.282023–24 | 51.0 | 1.21× | Standards maintained (ungraded) |
| 7 | Brimsham Green SchoolCommunity school | +0.05average | +0.04 to +0.492023–24 | 46.9 | 1.04× | Standards maintained (ungraded) |
| 8 | Hanham Woods AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.04average | -0.49 to -0.042023–24 | 44.4 | 0.78× | Good |
| 9 | Abbeywood Community SchoolAcademy sponsor led | -0.05average | -0.16 to +0.242023–24 | 46.4 | 1.09× | — |
| 10 | Winterbourne AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.05average | -0.32 to +0.012023–24 | 50.1 | 0.87× | Expected standard (achievement) |
| 11 | Marlwood SchoolAcademy sponsor led | -0.23below average | -0.52 to +0.092023–24 | 47.7 | 0.96× | Good |
| 12 | Mangotsfield SchoolAcademy sponsor led | -0.23below average | -0.50 to -0.102023–24 | 43.7 | 0.85× | Needs attention (achievement) |
| 13 | King's Oak AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.30below average | -0.53 to -0.032023–24 | 40.9 | 0.78× | Good (Concerns) (ungraded) |
| 14 | Chipping Sodbury SchoolAcademy converter | -0.49below average | -0.71 to -0.172023–24 | 40.8 | 1.03× | Good |
| 15 | Patchway Community SchoolAcademy converter | -0.53well below average | -0.97 to -0.492023–24 | 35.8 | 0.82× | — |
| 16 | Digitech Studio SchoolStudio schools | -0.85well below average | -0.96 to -0.342023–24 | 34.7 | — | Expected standard (achievement) |
| 17 | South Gloucestershire and Stroud CollegeFurther education | -2.92well below average | -3.23 to -2.612023–24 | 12.6 | — | — |
13 of the 16 other schools ranked here have a confidence interval that overlaps Yate Academy's. On these figures they cannot be told apart from the school at the top of the table, and the order between them is not a finding. 6 schools here have an interval that includes zero (shaded above) — those cannot be told apart from an average school nationally.
These are not bottom of the table — they are not in it. A school with no published score has not done badly; the measure was not calculated for it, and the reason differs.
| Immanuel Christian School | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
|---|---|
| Lyde Green Community School | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
The most sought-after school in South Gloucestershire for 2026 entry was Downend School at 1.21 first preferences per place — 276 families named it first for 229 places.
Pressure is not a chance of admission. A school with two applicants per place can still admit every family living near it, while a less popular school further away turns you down. Distance from the gate is usually what decides it, and no national figure can tell you that for your own address.
See South Gloucestershire on the map →The same schools on a map, with every filter: results, admissions pressure, Ofsted, faith and selection — or sorted by distance from your own postcode.Admissions do not stop at an authority line. If you live near one, your realistic list of schools spans both sides of it.
The results here are for 2023–24 and earlier, so they describe pupils who have already left. Nothing on this page covers sixth-form results, pastoral care, music, sport or drama, or how a school feels to walk around — which is what parents most often say settled it. The ranking is a starting point for a shortlist, not a verdict on a school.
Nor is it a prediction of a place. Admission depends on each school's criteria and, most often, on how far you live from it — and in South Gloucestershire you apply for a state-funded place through the council's coordinated scheme, naming several schools in order of preference.