Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School

Academy converter·Secondary school Salisbury, Wiltshire·SP1 2ED
Composite score
91.4
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#85
National rank
#9
In South West
#2
In Wiltshire
Top 3%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
73.1
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
97%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
99%
% EBacc grade 5+
52%
EBacc average points score
6.85

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Outstanding
Quality of education
Outstanding
Behaviour and attitudes
Outstanding
Personal development
Outstanding
Leadership and management
Outstanding
Safeguarding effective?
Yes
Sixth form provision
Outstanding

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
74%
213 first choices, 157 places
First choices per place
1.36
more first choices than places
Applications naming the school
249
any preference, for 157 places
Applications from another council area
43%
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.01
00.511.52
1 per place
1.2820221.3320231.3620241.3620251.362026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Wiltshire does not publish how far from the school the last child offered a Year 7 place lived, so there is no cut-off distance to show for Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School. Ask the school or the council how places were allocated this year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–18
Pupils on roll
1,188
Gender
Boys
Religious character
Church of England
Admissions
Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
5.2%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
8.7%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
0.9%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
0.3%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
5.7%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
17.5%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
19.7
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£7,471
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
99%
155 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
98%
Apprenticeship
0%
Employment
1%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School at a glance

Located in Salisbury, Wiltshire, Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School is a boys' secondary school, classified by the DfE as a converter academy with a Church of England religious character. The school educates roughly 1,188 pupils aged 11 to 18. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Outstanding' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 73.1, well above the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 0.8 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it among the top 3% of secondary schools in England.

97% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well above the national average of about 45%. 99% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Competition for places is real here - 74% of first-choice applicants were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026 (213 first choices for 157 places). After Year 11, 99% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 5.7%. There are about 19.7 pupils per teacher. Its intake is relatively advantaged, with around 5% of pupils eligible for free school meals in the last six years versus about 24% nationally. When comparing schools, it is still worth visiting in person to see whether the atmosphere and approach suit your child. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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