Schools in South West
2,597 schools in South West.
Schools
2,597
Open schools
Pupils
807,717
2025–26 census
Good or better
89%
1827 of 2046 graded
Academic Performance
4.6
out of 10 · 2339 schools
Ofsted ratings
- Outstanding
- 104 5%
- Good
- 1,723 84%
- Requires improvement
- 187 9%
- Inadequate
- 32 2%
226 inspected since 2024, no overall grade227 superseded by a report card325 not judged40 in a category of concern13 safeguarding not effective
4.6
Academic PerformanceAveraged over 2339 of 2597 schools that can be scored
Pupils
807,717
pupils on roll
Boys 51%49% Girls
Roll from 2588 of 2597 schools (807,717 pupils). Independent schools report roll and sex only.
Ethnicity
White
84%Asian
5%Black
3%Mixed
5%Chinese
<1%Any other group
1%Unclassified
2%Ethnicity from 2363 of 2597 schools (755,715 pupils). Independent schools report roll and sex only.
Pupil characteristics
- Free school meals
- 21.5%
- First language not English
- 11.4%
- Young carers
- 1.6%
162,602 of 755,715 pupils · 2363 of 2597 schools
85,964 of 755,715 pupils · 2363 of 2597 schools
12,049 of 753,646 pupils · 2345 of 2597 schools
Schools by phase
- Primary
- 1920
- Secondary
- 357
- All-through
- 61
- Special
- 125
- Nursery
- 18
- PRU
- 33
- Not recorded
- 83
Local authorities in South West
15 local authorities, alphabetically. Percentages are of graded schools.
| Local authority | Schools | Pupils | Good or better | Academic Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath and North East Somerset | 90 | 31,546 | 97%of 69 | 5.3/10 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 111 | 54,556 | 93%of 87 | 5.4/10 |
| Bristol | 170 | 69,283 | 88%of 128 | 4.5/10 |
| Cornwall | 294 | 73,481 | 89%of 237 | 4.4/10 |
| Devon | 414 | 103,529 | 88%of 323 | 4.4/10 |
| Dorset | 179 | 51,332 | 85%of 143 | 4.2/10 |
| Gloucestershire | 331 | 101,797 | 92%of 257 | 4.9/10 |
| Isles of Scilly | 1 | 243 | 100%of 1 | 6.5/10 |
| North Somerset | 84 | 32,275 | 97%of 62 | 5.1/10 |
| Plymouth | 103 | 39,096 | 95%of 83 | 5.0/10 |
| Somerset | 301 | 78,236 | 82%of 232 | 4.3/10 |
| South Gloucestershire | 121 | 41,884 | 93%of 103 | 5.1/10 |
| Swindon | 90 | 36,777 | 90%of 81 | 4.7/10 |
| Torbay | 45 | 19,593 | 95%of 38 | 5.1/10 |
| Wiltshire | 263 | 74,089 | 88%of 202 | 4.3/10 |
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About schools in South West
- How many schools are there in South West?
- South West has 2,597 open schools — 1,920 primary, 357 secondary, 125 special, 18 nursery, teaching 807,717 pupils in total.
- How many schools in South West are rated Good or Outstanding?
- 1,827 of the 2,046 schools holding an Ofsted grade — 89% — are rated Good or Outstanding, including 104 rated Outstanding. That share is measured against graded schools, not all 2,597: a school inspected since September 2024 has no overall grade at all.
- What is the average Academic Performance in South West?
- 4.6 out of 10, averaged across the 2,339 schools here that can be scored, where 5 is the national average. Academic Performance combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment and is ranked against comparable schools, so it is neither figure on its own.
- Why do some South West schools have no Ofsted rating?
- 551 schools in South West currently hold no overall grade. Ofsted stopped awarding single-word judgements in September 2024 and moved to a report card of separately graded areas, so schools inspected since then have no overall rating whatever the inspection found. Their profiles show the report card instead.
- Which local authorities are in South West?
- South West contains 15 local authorities, including Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and 9 more. Most admissions and school-place decisions are made at that level rather than regionally.
- How many pupils in South West are eligible for free school meals?
- 21.5% — 162,602 of 755,715 pupils at the 2,363 schools that report it. Independent schools file a return with roll and sex only, so they are outside this figure rather than counted as zero.