With the new year underway, many parents will be starting to look forward to receiving confirmation as to whether or not their youngsters have secured places at their first-choice secondary schools.
Offers of school places for applications sent on time will begin to arrive on March 1 before pupils make the move to ‘big’ school in September. With this in mind, we’ve put together a list of the highest-rated secondary schools in the Bristol area, according to Ofsted.
Ofsted’s rating system is made up of four rankings, ‘Outstanding’ is the top rating a school can receive, ‘good’ is second, ‘requires improvement’ is the third and ‘inadequate’ is the worst.
Below are the 13 schools currently rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ by the education watchdog to help you make the best choice.
1. Redland Green School - Outstanding
The most recent Bristol secondary school to be graded Outstanding by Ofsted, Redland Green maintained its rating during a March 2022 inspection. The accompanying report stated: ‘Pupils enjoy coming to school. Respect is one of the values of the school. It is evident in relationships between staff and pupils and within peer groups. Pupils say that staff know how to help them with work or with how they are feeling.' | Google
2. Bristol Cathedral Choir School - Outstanding
Bristol Cathedral Choir School was most recently inspected during September 2021 when it maintained its Outstanding mark by Ofsted. The report highlighted that ‘Pupils enjoy attending Bristol Cathedral Choir School. There is a deep sense of community. Pupils enjoy strong friendships with each other and have positive relationships with adults. Most pupils are confident that if bullying occurs staff deal with it well. Pupils are respectful and are interested in the world around them, particularly in social justice and climate change. ' | Google
3. St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School - Outstanding
St Mary Redcliffe and Temple was judged to be Outstanding by Ofsted during a 2015 visit. In its report, the education watchdog noted that the proportion of students gaining five good GCSEs, including English and mathematics, was well above the national average | Google
4. Cotham School - Good
Cotham School was graded Good by Ofsted during a visit in May 2018. This was its first visit since converting from its previous entity of the same name. One of the positives from the report noted that ‘Pupils are keen to take part in lessons. They answer teachers’ questions enthusiastically and they want to do their best. They are keen to respond to teachers’ advice and correct and improve their work where they can. ' | Google