Writhlington School

About Writhlington School

Writhlington School is a mixed secondary and sixth form in Bath and North East Somerset, currently educating 925 pupils against a capacity of 1,547, meaning it has room to grow. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 27.8%, which is significantly above the national average and suggests the school serves a community with higher-than-average levels of disadvantage. Demand for places is strong: for the 2025/26 academic year, the school received 215 applications for 145 places, making it officially oversubscribed. Of those applications, 137 were first-preference choices, and all 137 first-preference applicants were offered a place. The oversubscription ratio of 1.48 indicates that for every place available, nearly one and a half families wanted it, a clear signal of local confidence in the school. The school has no religious character and is led by headteacher Keith Howard.

Academically, Writhlington delivers solid, if not spectacular, results. Its Progress 8 score of 0.08 is rated as 'Average' and sits just below the Bath and North East Somerset local authority average of 0.15. Within the LA, it ranks 8th out of 14 secondary schools, placing it in the middle of the pack. Attainment 8 stands at 46.5, and 64.2% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, though this drops to 43.6% at the stronger grade 5 threshold. The EBacc entry rate is relatively low at 22.4%, and only 15.8% of pupils entered the full EBacc. In the sixth form, outcomes are more mixed: the value-added score is -0.25, rated 'Below average', and the average points per entry is 30.14, equivalent to a grade C. The best three A-levels averaged a C+ grade. Ofsted visited in September 2023 and rated the school Good across all categories, a notable improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2019.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including science labs, music rooms, a theatre, an astro turf pitch, and a dedicated sixth form centre. Sports provision covers tennis, gymnastics, martial arts, basketball, hockey, and badminton, while extracurricular clubs include orchestra, chess, Young Enterprise, drama, Model UN, choir, and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. SEND support is extensive, with provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. This makes Writhlington a practical choice for families whose children need targeted support within a mainstream setting. The school is oversubscribed but first-preference applicants have historically secured places, so families who rank it highly stand a good chance. It suits parents looking for a large, inclusive secondary with improving Ofsted grades and a sixth form, set in a semi-rural area of Bath and North East Somerset.

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