Bridgwater College Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 10 March 2026

Pupils attending this school do not receive an acceptable standard of education. Pupils’ achievement in national tests and examinations at the end of key stages 2 and 4 is well below national averages across the assessed subjects. Teachers do not have high enough expectations for what pupils should know or be able to do. Consequently, the work pupils produce is not of a high enough quality to prepare them well for their next steps. Children attending Reception and Nursery benefit from the recent improvements in the curriculum and setting. Many pupils enjoy being in school with their friends. However, too many pupils do not attend school frequently enough. This means that they miss a significant amount of learning. Pupils are not sufficiently supported to catch up when they return to school. Many pupils have a positive relationship with a trusted adult. This means that they feel safe. However, pupils have shared significant concerns about the behaviour of other pupils. This behaviour regularly disrupts their learning. For some pupils, bullying is frequent. Pupils are reluctant to report incidents as they are not sure that adults will help them to resolve issues. Leaders have not ensured that systems are in place to accurately identify pupils’ barriers to learning or wellbeing. While new practices are now in place within the primary phase, this has not been replicated in the secondary phase. Consequently, these pupils are not as successful in their learning as they should be. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe and about the values that underpin life in modern Britain, for example tolerance and respect for others. However, this is not always reflected in their behaviour towards each other. Pupils enjoy extra-curricular activities such as clubs and trips. Increasingly, leaders encourage a greater number of pupils to participate in these opportunities.

What the school should improve

• Those responsible for governance should ensure that they have a robust oversight of the improvement work taking place so that they can appropriately support and challenge leaders.
• Leaders should put effective systems in place to accurately and swiftly identify pupils' barriers to learning and share this information with staff so that pupils can receive effective support and be successful in their learning.
• Leaders should ensure that teachers have the expertise they need to teach the curriculum effectively so that attainment rises for all pupils across all key stages.
• Leaders should ensure that there are clear expectations and commonly understood routines so that pupils behave well and engage positively with their learning.
• Leaders should ensure that the personal development programme is well matched to the local context of pupils to prepare them well for adult life.
• Leaders should continue to revise their approach to continuous provision so that adults support children to learn as well as they should.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)