Bridgwater College Academy

About Bridgwater College Academy

Bridgwater College Academy is a large all-through state school in Somerset, catering for pupils from age 3 to 16. In the local authority’s secondary school rankings, it sits 25th out of 26 schools when measured by Progress 8, placing it in the bottom tier nationally. The top-performing peers in the same local authority include The Kings of Wessex Academy, Brymore Academy, and Sexey's School, all of which achieve positive Progress 8 scores. The school is led by headteacher Gregg Mockridge and has no religious character. With 1,576 pupils on roll against a capacity of 1,880, it is not at full capacity, though it was oversubscribed for 2025/26 secondary entry, receiving 148 applications for 112 places and making 104 offers to first-preference families. Over a third of pupils (36.1%) are eligible for free school meals, which is significantly above the national average and gives a clear indication of the school’s intake profile.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 rated it Requires Improvement overall, a downgrade from its previous Good rating in 2016. However, several individual areas were judged Good, including early years provision, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management. The quality of education was the key area flagged as Requires Improvement. Exam results for 2023/24 show a Progress 8 score of -0.8, which is well below average and considerably lower than the Somerset LA average of -0.2. The Attainment 8 score stands at 33, and just 21.1% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths. The EBacc average point score is 3.07, with 84.9% of pupils entered for the EBacc combination but only 7.8% achieving a strong pass in it. These figures place the school in the bottom 50 nationally by Progress 8.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including art studios, a swimming pool, astro turf, ICT suites, and a sports hall. Sports provision is strong, with options such as hockey, rugby, martial arts, cross country, rounders, football, badminton, swimming, and cricket. There is also a good selection of clubs including debate, orchestra, Duke of Edinburgh, chess, choir, Model UN, and book club. The school has a nursery provision but no official sixth form, so pupils must transfer elsewhere after Year 11. SEND support is comprehensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, hearing impairment, physical disability, autistic spectrum disorder, and a resourced provision. This school may suit families who value a wide extracurricular offer and strong pastoral support, but who are aware that academic outcomes are currently below local and national averages.

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