Taunton School

Independent school · Mixed · ages 8–19 · with sixth form · ChristianSomerset, Taunton TA2school website

Fewer than one in five pupils got grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE — well below the England rate. Destination figures are not published for independent schools.

GCSE results
2%

grade 5 or above in English and maths · England 45% · DfE performance tables, 2025; Attainment 8 is not comparable for independent schools, which often enter pupils for IGCSEs

Knowledge sphere of Taunton School: fields of knowledge mapped by the subjects taken here, by ISCED levelLanguage & Communication · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Language & Communication · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Language & Communication · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 23%Language & Communication · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Language & Communication · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Language & Communication · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Language & Communication · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Language & Communication · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%Mathematics & Statistics · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Mathematics & Statistics · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Mathematics & Statistics · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 13%Mathematics & Statistics · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Mathematics & Statistics · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Mathematics & Statistics · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Mathematics & Statistics · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Mathematics & Statistics · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%Natural Sciences · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Natural Sciences · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Natural Sciences · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 29%Natural Sciences · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Natural Sciences · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Natural Sciences · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Natural Sciences · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Natural Sciences · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%Digital & ICT Skills · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Digital & ICT Skills · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Digital & ICT Skills · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 2%Digital & ICT Skills · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Digital & ICT Skills · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Digital & ICT Skills · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Digital & ICT Skills · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Digital & ICT Skills · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%Engineering & Manufacturing · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Engineering & Manufacturing · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Engineering & Manufacturing · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 20%Engineering & Manufacturing · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Engineering & Manufacturing · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Engineering & Manufacturing · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Engineering & Manufacturing · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Engineering & Manufacturing · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%Health & Safety · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Health & Safety · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Health & Safety · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 28%Health & Safety · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Health & Safety · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Health & Safety · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Health & Safety · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Health & Safety · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%Business & Administration · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Business & Administration · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Business & Administration · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 4%Business & Administration · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Business & Administration · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Business & Administration · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Business & Administration · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Business & Administration · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%Law & Public Administration · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Law & Public Administration · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Law & Public Administration · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 1%Law & Public Administration · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Law & Public Administration · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Law & Public Administration · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Law & Public Administration · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Law & Public Administration · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%Social & Cultural Skills · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Social & Cultural Skills · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Social & Cultural Skills · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 4%Social & Cultural Skills · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Social & Cultural Skills · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Social & Cultural Skills · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Social & Cultural Skills · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Social & Cultural Skills · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%Arts & Humanities · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Arts & Humanities · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Arts & Humanities · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 4%Arts & Humanities · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Arts & Humanities · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Arts & Humanities · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Arts & Humanities · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Arts & Humanities · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%Transversal Skills · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Transversal Skills · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Transversal Skills · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 20%Transversal Skills · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Transversal Skills · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Transversal Skills · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Transversal Skills · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Transversal Skills · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%Green & Sustainability · ISCED 1 Primary: 0%Green & Sustainability · ISCED 2 Lower secondary (Key Stage 3): 100%Green & Sustainability · ISCED 3 Upper secondary (GCSE, A level): 27%Green & Sustainability · ISCED 4 Post-secondary: 0%Green & Sustainability · ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary: 0%Green & Sustainability · ISCED 6 Bachelor's: 0%Green & Sustainability · ISCED 7 Master's: 0%Green & Sustainability · ISCED 8 Doctoral: 0%LanguageMathsScienceICTEngineeringHealthBusinessLawSocialArtsTransversalGreen
Ofsted
—
Places
—
Pupils
667

Ofsted: Not covered by Ofsted school inspections. Places: the last distance at which places were offered is not on file (it comes from Somerset’s allocation statistics). Pupils: of 780 places, including the sixth form.

After Year 11 · age 16

Where do pupils go at 16?

The Department for Education has not published destination figures for this school (new school, small cohort or not a state-funded school).

After sixth form · age 18

Where do sixth-formers go at 18?

No published destinations for sixth-form leavers yet.

Universities · named

Which universities did they go to?

1university has told us how many applied, were offered a place and enrolled

Named universities — most schools do not publish this; the official DfE figures above only say how many went to university and how selective those universities were.

universities’ answers to sch.today’s Freedom of Information requests · request tracker

What universities’ own admissions data say3

For each entry year: how many of this school’s students applied, received an offer and enrolled. Counts under five are shown as “<5” to protect individuals. Applications exclude Clearing; enrolments are students who completed registration.

UniversityEntry yearAppliedOffersEnrolled
University of Bristol20252212<5
2024166—
2023147<5

A university’s enrolment count and a school’s own destinations list can differ: the school counts places accepted in the summer, the university counts students registered in the autumn.

GCSE · Year 11 · 2025

How do GCSE results compare?

18.4Attainment 8 score, out of 90
This school18.4
Somerset43.5
England46.1

Attainment 8 — average GCSE points across eight subjects, English and maths counted twice; grade 5 in everything scores 50. Not comparable for independent schools, which often enter pupils for IGCSEs that the Department for Education does not count.

DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · 184 pupils in Year 11

2% got grade 5 or above in both English and maths (Somerset 40%, England 45%).

Grade 5 — a “strong pass”; grade 4 is a “standard pass”. Progress 8 is not published for 2025: this cohort had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020–21, so there is no baseline.

All GCSE measures10
MeasureTaunton SchoolSomersetEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)18.443.546.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths2%40%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths2%61%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects0%31%41%
EBacc average point score1.583.784.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort—21%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils—30.534.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils—47.050.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)———
English as an additional language—9%19%
Subjects · 2025

What do pupils study?

25.71%of the Key Stage 3, GCSE and A level curriculum mapped by the subjects taken here

Mapped — the share of the 3,288 learning outcomes the Department for Education sets for these stages that the subjects taken here cover, weighted by how many pupils take each.

DfE subject entries 2025 · curriculum catalogue by sch.today

Natural Sciences29%
Health & Safety28%
Green & Sustainability27%
Language & Communication23%
Engineering & Manufacturing20%

Fields of knowledge — twelve fields the curriculum catalogue sorts every learning outcome into; the bars show the GCSE and A level ring.

GCSE subjects27

Entries 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.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEnglandGrades 7–9EnglandGrades 4–9
English Language11563%89%29%20%93%
Combined Science7440%65%39%9%91%
Biology3318%23%82%45%100%
Physics3217%23%81%46%100%
Chemistry3217%23%81%47%100%
Physical Education3117%11%45%24%90%
Psychology179%3%12%22%71%
Fine Art179%9%35%28%100%
Mathematics95%88%0%22%78%
Russian95%0%100%87%100%
Music95%5%100%33%100%
Classical Civilisation95%1%33%40%89%
Latin74%1%100%74%100%
English Literature63%86%0%21%67%
Geography63%41%17%25%67%
Japanese63%0%100%53%100%
Media Studies53%4%—20%—
History32%41%—26%—
Religious Studies21%31%—32%—
Classical Greek21%0%—92%—
Computer Science21%13%—30%—
Portuguese11%0%—50%—
Italian11%0%—53%—
Ancient History11%0%—37%—
Chinese11%1%—75%—
Business Studies11%18%—20%—
Statistics11%5%—20%—
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications5
SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Additional Mathematics FSMQ1615%—
Computer Appreciation / Introduction66%—
Music performance: Group22%—
Music performance: Group11%—
Music performance: Group11%—
A level subjects24

Entries as a share of A level students, compared with the share across England.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Mathematics2927%31%
Psychology2422%23%
Biology1817%20%
Geography1817%10%
Chemistry1514%17%
English Literature1413%11%
History109%13%
Physics98%12%
Business Studies98%13%
Classical Civilisation87%1%
Economics87%13%
Physical Education76%3%
Religious Studies66%4%
Latin——0%
Law——4%
Fine Art——3%
Further Mathematics——5%
Music——0%
Arabic——0%
Russian——0%
Product Design——2%
French——1%
Chinese——0%
Photography——3%
Applied, technical and other level 3 courses12
SubjectQualificationEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Sports / Movement ScienceBTEC National Extended Diploma L3 - Band N - PPP-D*D*D*1514%—
BaccalaureateInternational Baccalaureate98%—
Business StudiesBTEC National Diploma L3 - Band J - PP-D*D*87%—
Study SkillsExtended Project (Diploma)87%—
EconomicsGCE AS level (Not continued to A2)———
MathematicsGCE AS level (Not continued to A2)———
Further MathematicsGCE AS level (Not continued to A2)———
Business StudiesGCE AS level (All)———
EconomicsGCE AS level (All)———
MathematicsGCE AS level (All)———
Further MathematicsGCE AS level (All)———
Business StudiesGCE AS level (Not continued to A2)———
A level results8
MeasureTaunton SchoolSomersetEngland
Students at the end of 16–18 study290——
— of whom A level students1081,831261,341
Average A level gradeBC+B-
Average points per A level entry39.8033.8135.00
Average grade, best 3 A levelsB+C+B-
AAB or better with two facilitating subjects25%12%18%
Average grade, applied general courses———
Average grade, T levels———
Fields of knowledge, all stages12
Natural Sciences43%
Health & Safety40%
Green & Sustainability40%
Language & Communication40%
Transversal Skills32%
Engineering & Manufacturing27%
Mathematics & Statistics23%
Digital & ICT Skills17%
Arts & Humanities13%
Social & Cultural Skills9%
Law & Public Administration8%
Business & Administration7%

Ideas pupils meet most, weighted by the share of the cohort taking the subjects that teach them:

vocabulary 7.2fraction 6.7particle model 6.3energy transfer 5.1audience 5.0percentage 5.0grammar 4.9change of state 4.9photosynthesis 4.8graph 4.3force 4.3observation 4.1adaptation 4.0ratio 3.9scale 3.8reflection 3.7purpose 3.7measurement 3.6power 3.6standard english 3.6poetry 3.5standard form 3.5translation 3.5diffusion 3.5

Coverage counts a subject’s outcomes in proportion to the share of the cohort entered for it; Combined Science counts as two thirds of the three separate sciences. Levels follow ISCED 2011 as UNESCO maps it for the UK: Key Stage 3 is ISCED 2; GCSE and A level are both ISCED 3. Methodology: about the data.

Careers

Which jobs use what’s taught here?

12apprenticeship standards closely match the subjects pupils take

A match of what’s taught, not of entry requirements: the standards whose knowledge and skills share the most ideas with the GCSEs and A levels taken here, weighted by how many pupils take each subject.

Level 3 / Level 6 — England’s qualification levels: 3 is A level standard, 4–5 are higher apprenticeships, 6 is a bachelor’s degree.

Skills England apprenticeship standards (Open Government Licence v3.0) · ESCO occupations, © European Union, matched by sch.today · how the match works

Process industry manufacturing technicianLevel 3 (advanced) apprenticeship · engineering and manufacturing · uses conservation of mass, energy change, unit conversion from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and 4 more · jobs: chemical engineering technician, chemical manufacturing quality technician, chemical production manager
Water industry asset maintenance technicianLevel 3 (advanced) apprenticeship · engineering and manufacturing · uses unit conversion, ratio, data collection from Business Studies, Economics, Geography and 13 more · jobs: consumer electronics repair technician, industrial electrician, electrician
ScientistLevel 6 degree apprenticeship · health and science · uses experimental design, conclusion, sampling technique from Biology, Chemistry, Geography and 9 more · jobs: physicist, analytical chemist, geneticist
More apprenticeships9
Geoscientist (integrated degree)Level 6 degree apprenticeship · health and science · uses climate change, data collection, conduct field work from Business Studies, Geography, Physical Education and 7 more · jobs: geologist, geological engineer, exploration geologist
Science manufacturing technician 2023Level 3 (advanced) apprenticeship · engineering and manufacturing · uses unit conversion, dna, mixture from Biology, Biology, Chemistry and 3 more · jobs: pharmaceutical engineer, chemical manufacturing quality technician, pharmacy technician
Battery manufacturing technicianLevel 3 (advanced) apprenticeship · engineering and manufacturing · uses unit conversion, resistance, area from Chemistry, Physics, Chemistry and 4 more · jobs: battery test technician
Junior visual effects - VFX artist or assistant technical director - ATDLevel 4 (higher) apprenticeship · creative and design · uses scale, data collection, data structure from Psychology, Art and Design, Chemistry and 6 more · jobs: 3D modeller, technical director, animation layout artist
Artificial intelligence (AI) data specialistLevel 7 degree apprenticeship · digital · uses data presentation, experimental design, scientific method from Business Studies, Economics, Geography and 11 more · jobs: ICT intelligent systems designer
Production assistant - screen and audioLevel 3 (advanced) apprenticeship · creative and design · uses spelling, punctuation, grammar from English Literature, Media Studies, English and 1 more · jobs: factory hand, supply chain assistant, management assistant
Water industry network technicianLevel 3 (advanced) apprenticeship · engineering and manufacturing · uses unit conversion, standard form, ph scale from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and 3 more · jobs: sewerage network operative, product quality inspector, sewerage maintenance technician
Keeper and aquaristLevel 3 (advanced) apprenticeship · agriculture, environmental and animal care · uses adaptation, sampling technique, temperature from Biology, Psychology, Biology and 2 more · jobs: animal care attendant, zookeeper, zoo section leader
Manufacturing engineer (degree)Level 6 degree apprenticeship · engineering and manufacturing · uses force, data presentation, conclusion from Biology, Mathematics, Design and Technology and 1 more · jobs: maintenance and repair engineer, industrial engineer, production engineer
Admissions

How do you get a place?

Independent schools admit directly and set their own dates and entrance tests; council allocation statistics do not cover them.

  1. Year 6Register with the school; entrance assessments are usually in the autumn or January, offers in February
  2. Dec–FebYear 11: apply directly to the sixth form; most close applications in these months
Somerset

Compare with nearby schools

Stayed in education at 16 · Attainment 8 · pupils

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.