Ansford Academy
Academy converter · 469 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.7
Foundation special school
Polden Bower School
- Pupils on roll
- 260of 200 places
- Free school meals
- 42.4%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 17
- Ofsted
- Good, 21 May 2024Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Penrose School (URN 123942, until 31 August 2021).
What the data says
Of the 13 pupils who finished Year 11 at Polden Bower School in 2023, 0% stayed on in Polden Bower School’s own sixth form (Somerset average 17%), 38% went to a further education college and none started an apprenticeship.
Every pupil in the 2023 cohort went on to a sustained destination, against 92% across England.
Almost every leaver found a sustained destination: only 0% were not in education, work or training six months on, against 6% nationally.
Almost nobody goes straight into an apprenticeship or a job: none took an apprenticeship and none went into work, against 3% and 3% across England.
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 Somerset and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Polden Bower School | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 13 | 5,178 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 100% | 92% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 100% | 81% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 0% | 17% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | 17% | 13% |
| — further education college | 38% | 47% | 37% |
| — other education | 62% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 6% | 3% |
| Employment | 0% | 5% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 0% | 6% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 0% | 2% | 3% |
Where students went after sixth form
Destinations of students who finished 16–18 study in 2023, measured the following year.
No published destinations for sixth-form leavers yet.
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Polden Bower School | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 0.5 | 43.5 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 40% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 61% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 0% | 31% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 0.00 | 3.78 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 71% | 21% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | — | 30.5 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | — | 47.0 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 12% | 9% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 2 | 12% | 89% | — | 20% | — |
Other secondary schools in Somerset
Bishop Fox's School
Academy converter · 1,123 pupils
88% stayed in education · Attainment 8 46.9
Bridgwater College Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,561 pupils
83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 31.9
Brymore Academy
Academy sponsor led · 327 pupils
74% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.0
Buckler's Mead School
Academy converter · 812 pupils
83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.5
Chilton Trinity School
Academy converter · 990 pupils
86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.0
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.