Somervale Secondary School

About Somervale Secondary School

Somervale Secondary School’s headline Progress 8 score of 0.01 sits below the Bath and North East Somerset local authority average of 0.15, placing it in the middle of the pack for a mixed state secondary. That difference is modest — roughly one month’s less progress per subject than the typical pupil across the LA — but it’s worth noting that the school’s score is still positive, meaning pupils on average make slightly more progress than the national baseline. Where Somervale really stands out is in its sixth form: the value-added score of 0.76 is rated ‘well above average’, and the average points per entry of 37.27 equates to a B- grade. That suggests students who stay on post-16 make significantly stronger progress than their GCSE results would predict, which is a useful counterpoint to the more middling KS4 picture.

At GCSE level, the school’s Attainment 8 score of 43.3 is around the national average, and 64% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths. The EBacc average point score of 3.79 reflects a solid but not outstanding performance across the core academic subjects, and only 9% of pupils entered the full EBacc combination. The Progress 8 breakdown shows some variation: maths progress is slightly positive at 0.09, while English is slightly negative at -0.16. In the local authority ranking, Somervale sits 9th out of 14 schools on Progress 8, which puts it in the lower half but not at the bottom. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022 confirmed it remains Good, with leadership and management also rated Good. That’s an improvement from its previous inspection in 2013, when overall effectiveness was Requires Improvement, so the trajectory has been upward.

Somervale is a popular school — for 2025/26 entry it received 281 applications for 141 places, with 138 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of nearly 2:1. The school has a strong set of facilities including a swimming pool, astro turf, tennis courts, and a dedicated sixth form centre, plus a wide range of sports from rugby to gymnastics. It offers a good number of clubs including the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Model UN, and Young Enterprise. For families with children who have additional needs, the school lists provisions for dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language challenges, hearing impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 23.3% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the intake is slightly above the national average in terms of disadvantage. This is a school that suits families looking for a solid all-round state option with a particularly strong sixth form, set in a popular Bath and North East Somerset catchment.

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