Cotham School is a mixed secondary academy in Bristol, Bristol City Council, teaching 1,654 pupils aged 11 to 18. Its last Ofsted inspection in October 2023 found the school remains Good. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 51.8 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 1 September 2025 to 1 June 2026.

Ofsted inspection

The latest published Ofsted judgement for Cotham School.

Latest inspection
Good Ungraded inspection
Outcome: School remains Good. Ungraded (short) inspections confirm whether standards are maintained since the last full graded inspection — they don’t assign new category grades.
Ungraded inspection · Inspected 18 Oct 2023 · Published 29 Nov 2023
Read full Ofsted report ↗

Term dates & holidays 2025–2026

Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Cotham School.

Cotham School term dates calendar 2025–2026
Official term-dates calendar · 2025–2026 · source

Interactive Calendar

September 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1 Autumn Term 1
  • 1 INSET Days
October 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 27 Autumn Half Term
November 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 3 Autumn Term 2
December 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 22 Christmas Holiday
  • 25 Christmas Day
  • 26 Boxing Day
January 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1 New Year’s Day
  • 5 Spring Term 3
February 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
  • 16 Spring Half Term
  • 23 Spring Term 4
March 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
April 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 3 Easter Holiday
  • 3 Good Friday
  • 6 Easter Monday
  • 20 Summer Term 5
May 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 4 Early May Bank Holiday
  • 25 Summer Half Term
  • 25 Spring Bank Holiday
June 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1 Summer Term 6
July 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 18 Summer Holiday
August 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 31 Summer Bank Holiday

Key dates (2025–2026)

  • Autumn Term 1 1 September 2025 to 24 October 2025 Term
  • Autumn Term 2 3 November 2025 to 19 December 2025 Term
  • Spring Term 3 5 January 2026 to 13 February 2026 Term
  • Spring Term 4 23 February 2026 to 2 April 2026 Term
  • Summer Term 5 20 April 2026 to 22 May 2026 Term
  • Summer Term 6 1 June 2026 to 17 July 2026 Term
  • Autumn Half Term 27 October 2025 to 31 October 2025 Holiday
  • Spring Half Term 16 February 2026 to 20 February 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Half Term 25 May 2026 to 29 May 2026 Holiday
  • Christmas Holiday 22 December 2025 to 2 January 2026 Holiday
  • Easter Holiday 3 April 2026 to 17 April 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Holiday 18 July 2026 to 31 August 2026 Holiday
  • INSET Days 1 September 2025, 26 September 2025, 14 November 2025, 30 March 2026, 20 April 2026 Inset Day
  • New Year’s Day 1 January 2026 Event
  • Good Friday 3 April 2026 Event
  • Easter Monday 6 April 2026 Holiday
  • Early May Bank Holiday 4 May 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Bank Holiday 25 May 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Bank Holiday 31 August 2026 Holiday
  • Christmas Day 25 December 2025 Holiday
  • Boxing Day 26 December 2025 Event

Exam results & performance

DfE performance tables Official results, 2024–2025 GOV.UK ↗
51.8 Attainment 8 England 46.1 Top 20%
54.1% Grade 5+ English & maths England 45.4% Top 23%
35.06 A level average score England 35 Top 42%
28.8% Persistent absence England 17.8%

The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Cotham School with Bristol City Council and England.

Key stage 4 (GCSE) 51.8 Attainment 8 score

Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.

This school Bristol City Council England

Attainment 8 score · Average across 8 GCSEs, out of 90 51.8
Bristol City Council 46.4 England 46.1 +5.7 vs England
Grade 5+ in English & maths · A strong pass 54.1%
Bristol City Council 45.9% England 45.4% +8.7 vs England
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils 40.8
Bristol City Council 33.8 England 34.9 +5.9 vs England
Disadvantage gap · Attainment 8 points; smaller is better 17.2
Bristol City Council 18.7 England 15.5 +1.7 vs England
Disadvantaged pupils in the year group · Context for the scores above 35.9%
Bristol City Council 32.8% England 28.2%
Pupils in the year group · Small cohorts swing wildly 231
16 to 18 (A level & sixth form) 35.06 A level average point score

Results for students finishing post-16 study.

This school Bristol City Council England

A level average point score · Per entry, 50 = A* 35.06
Bristol City Council 34.29 England 35 in line with England
A level students · Small cohorts swing wildly 187
Attendance 28.8% Persistently absent pupils

Absence across the whole school year.

This school Bristol City Council England

Persistently absent pupils · Missed 10%+ of sessions; lower is better 28.8%
Bristol City Council 21.8% England 17.8% +11 vs England
Overall absence · Lower is better 9%
Bristol City Council 7.9% England 6.8% +2.2 vs England
What pupils do after GCSEs 94% In education, apprenticeship or work

Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.

This school Bristol City Council England

In education, apprenticeship or work 94%
Bristol City Council 90% England 92% +2 vs England
Same, for disadvantaged pupils 94%
Bristol City Council 83% England 83% +11 vs England
What students do after 16 to 18 study 78% In education, apprenticeship or work

Destinations the year after finishing post-16 study.

This school Bristol City Council England

In education, apprenticeship or work 78%
Bristol City Council 77% England 79% -1 vs England
Went to higher education 43%
Bristol City Council 26% England 37% +6 vs England
About this data source & caveats

Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.

We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.

Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for Cotham School. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.

Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Location & catchment area

Indicative catchment Other secondary schools

Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Cotham School than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.