Bitterne Park School
Foundation school · sixth form · 2,036 pupils
87% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.1
Foundation school
Cantell School
- Pupils on roll
- 1,313of 1,250 places
- Free school meals
- 44.1%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 248
- Ofsted
- Outstanding, 26 March 2024Read the Ofsted report
What the data says
Cantell School has no sixth form. Of the 229 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 61% moved to a sixth form college, 21% to a further education college and 2% started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 61% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
Business Studies is unusually popular at GCSE: 47% of the year group took it, against 18% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were in line with the national picture: Attainment 8 of 46.9 against 46.1 across England and 41.9 in Southampton, with 49% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Southampton and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Cantell School | Southampton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 229 | 2,315 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 87% | 90% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 83% | 84% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 1% | 5% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 61% | 53% | 13% |
| — further education college | 21% | 24% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 9% | 7% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 4% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Cantell School | Southampton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 46.9 | 41.9 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 49% | 39% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 65% | 57% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 36% | 36% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.16 | 3.71 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 44% | 39% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 37.0 | 31.1 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 54.6 | 48.8 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 37% | 30% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 248 | 100% | 88% | 24% | 22% | 75% |
| English Language | 247 | 100% | 89% | 13% | 20% | 64% |
| English Literature | 247 | 100% | 86% | 11% | 21% | 65% |
| Combined Science | 203 | 82% | 65% | 15% | 9% | 60% |
| Business Studies | 116 | 47% | 18% | 20% | 20% | 59% |
| History | 114 | 46% | 41% | 22% | 26% | 60% |
| Geography | 96 | 39% | 41% | 40% | 25% | 78% |
| Religious Studies | 64 | 26% | 31% | 30% | 32% | 64% |
| Spanish | 63 | 25% | 19% | 16% | 27% | 59% |
| Computer Science | 46 | 19% | 13% | 37% | 30% | 72% |
| Chemistry | 45 | 18% | 23% | 49% | 47% | 96% |
| Biology | 45 | 18% | 23% | 51% | 45% | 98% |
| Statistics | 45 | 18% | 5% | 47% | 20% | 96% |
| Physics | 45 | 18% | 23% | 51% | 46% | 93% |
| Art and Design | 35 | 14% | 7% | 17% | 24% | 54% |
| French | 21 | 8% | 18% | 38% | 29% | 95% |
| Photography | 16 | 6% | 6% | 0% | 19% | 75% |
| Media Studies | 15 | 6% | 4% | 13% | 20% | 60% |
| Music | 10 | 4% | 5% | 40% | 33% | 80% |
| Drama | 9 | 4% | 7% | 33% | 27% | 78% |
| Arabic | 7 | 3% | 1% | 57% | 47% | 57% |
| Textiles | 7 | 3% | 2% | 14% | 27% | 100% |
| Polish | 6 | 2% | 1% | 67% | 84% | 83% |
| Latin | 5 | 2% | 1% | — | 74% | — |
| Russian | 3 | 1% | 0% | — | 87% | — |
| Punjabi | 3 | 1% | 0% | — | 48% | — |
| Persian | 3 | 1% | 0% | — | 77% | — |
| Chinese | 2 | 1% | 1% | — | 75% | — |
| Italian | 2 | 1% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| German | 1 | 0% | 5% | — | 33% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports Studies | 49 | — | — |
| Engineering Studies | 32 | — | — |
| Tourism | 29 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 29 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 25 | — | — |
| Childcare Skills | 13 | — | — |
| Beauty Care / Services | 10 | — | — |
| Music performance: Group | 8 | — | — |
Where Cantell School is
Other secondary schools in Southampton are shown for comparison; darker blue means more Year 11 leavers stayed in education. The last distance at which this school offered places is not yet on file — it comes from Southampton’s allocation statistics.
Other secondary schools in Southampton
Oasis Academy Lord's Hill
Academy sponsor led · 667 pupils
69% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.0
Oasis Academy Mayfield
Academy sponsor led · 884 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.0
Oasis Academy Sholing
Academy sponsor led · 1,030 pupils
81% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.3
Redbridge Community School
Foundation school · 1,106 pupils
67% stayed in education · Attainment 8 32.2
Regents Park Community College
Academy converter · 812 pupils
88% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.0
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.