Sexey’s School Review 2026: State boarding scale, with a clear academic spine

Sexey’s School sits in a small category of English education that many families never encounter until they need it, a non-selective state school that also offers full and flexible boarding. That combination matters. It creates a week structure that can work for rural commutes, service families, and households juggling long working hours, while still keeping the curriculum and public accountability of a state secondary.

Leadership has recently changed. Mr Steve Clayson is the current Headteacher, listed in the school’s governance information as taking up the role from 15 February 2025. The school is part of Quantock Education Trust and sets its identity clearly as a Church of England setting, with seven core values used as shared language for expectations and character.

For outcomes, the headline is consistency rather than extremes. GCSE performance sits above England average, placing the school comfortably within the top 25% of schools in England on the FindMySchool GCSE ranking. Sixth form outcomes are more mid-pack nationally, with A-level results broadly in line with the middle 35% of schools in England.

This is a mixed school for students aged 11 to 18, and it works on two rhythms at once. Day students experience a traditional local secondary, while boarders experience a longer day with prep time, evening activities, and weekends that can include organised trips and house-led options. The boarding model is not an add-on. It is part of the school’s daily operating design, from facilities to staffing roles, including a Director of Boarding on the leadership team.

The faith character is explicit but not narrowly defined. The school describes itself as a Church of England community and anchors ethos in Christian values, while also signalling that students are encouraged to explore questions and form their own views. In practice, that usually suits families who appreciate a values-led culture, even if they are not regular churchgoers. Families who want a fully secular environment should factor this in early.

There is also a strong internal language of “belonging” that is reinforced structurally. The campus map includes a named Sanctuary as a dedicated space, alongside a Wellbeing Hub, a Health Centre, and multiple social areas that keep students on site across the full day. For boarders, this matters because emotional regulation is often about having the right places available, not just the right policies.

At GCSE, the measurable picture is strong. The school’s Attainment 8 score is 50.4, supported by an EBacc average point score (APS) of 4.8 and a Progress 8 score of +0.33. The positive Progress 8 figure indicates students make above-average progress from their starting points.

On the FindMySchool GCSE ranking (a proprietary ranking based on official data), Sexey’s School is ranked 1,141st in England and 2nd locally in the Bruton area, placing it above England average and comfortably within the top 25% of secondary schools in England.

At A-level, outcomes are more mixed, which is common in sixth forms serving a broad ability range. 8.28% of grades were A*, and 49.7% were A* to B. Compared with the England average benchmarks provided A* to B is slightly above the England average (49.7% vs 47.2%), while A* to A is slightly below (21.89% vs 23.6%).

On the FindMySchool A-level ranking (also proprietary and based on official data), Sexey’s School is ranked 1,096th in England and 2nd locally in the Bruton area. That places it broadly in line with the middle 35% of sixth forms in England (25th to 60th percentile).

Parents comparing local options should use the FindMySchool Local Hub and the Comparison Tool to benchmark these results against other nearby schools with similar intakes, rather than relying on reputation alone.

The timetable structure is designed to protect teaching time. The school operates a 50-period fortnight, with each period lasting an hour, and reports 25 hours per week of taught time excluding worship, registrations, and lunch. That level of explicit curriculum planning is usually a positive indicator, it supports predictable routines for students and clearer sequencing for departments.

Sixth form entry requirements are published clearly, which is helpful for families planning a Year 12 move. The minimum is five Level 5s (GCSE grade 5 or equivalent) plus at least a grade 4 in English and Mathematics, with some subjects setting higher thresholds. That approach tends to work well for a school like this, because it supports ambition while still keeping the sixth form accessible.

Boarding also changes how learning is supported. Evening prep time and staff availability can reduce the homework bottleneck many day students face, especially for those travelling from further away. The practical implication is that students who benefit from structure, and who work best with routine checkpoints, often gain more here than they would in a day-only environment.

Where Students Go Next

The school does not publish a detailed Russell Group or university destination breakdown with numbers on its official pages that were accessible during research, so the most reliable pathway data comes from the dataset.

For the 2023/24 leavers cohort, 52% progressed to university and 29% moved into employment. Apprenticeships accounted for 2%. Alongside that general picture, Oxbridge outcomes are present but naturally small in scale, with two Cambridge applications recorded and one acceptance in the measurement period.

The implication for families is straightforward. This is not a sixth form defined by an elite university pipeline, but it does produce top-end outcomes for a minority of students, while also supporting a wider range of next steps.

For students considering staying on, the published sixth form threshold gives a practical planning tool. If a student is tracking comfortably above the minimum entry grades, sixth form progression is realistic, and boarding can add value if travel time is otherwise a barrier.

There are three admissions routes that matter most: Year 7 day places, Year 7 boarding places, and Year 12 sixth form entry.

Year 7 day admissions (September 2026 entry) are managed through Somerset’s coordinated admissions process. The closing date for on-time secondary applications for September 2026 was 31 October 2025, and offers are scheduled for 2 March 2026. Families applying late should treat timing as a real risk factor, because Somerset advises that applications received after 20 March 2026 are processed in strict date order, with outcomes sent after 1 May 2026.

Boarding admissions are handled directly by the school and include an application form, a reference from the current school, and an interview as part of the suitability process. This is a different selection lens from academic selection. It is about readiness for boarding routines and the ability to thrive in a house community. For some families, that is a better fit than academic gatekeeping, but it still means planning ahead.

Sixth form admissions are also direct, with the school stating that applications can be accepted throughout the academic year subject to space. For current Year 11 students, the published admissions policy states an internal application deadline of 31 December, with provisional offers notified by 1 March, confirmed once GCSE results are known.

The FindMySchool Map Search is most useful here for day admissions planning, because catchment and distance dynamics vary by cohort even when official boundaries remain the same.

Boarding

Boarding is the differentiator. The school states it is one of a small group of state boarding schools nationally, and the offer includes full boarding plus flexible patterns such as part-time boarding.

Costs are also published transparently. For 2025/26, full boarding is £5,381 per term (an annual figure of £16,143 is also shown on the school’s main page), with a sibling discount on boarding fees where multiple children board at the same address. Part-time boarding is priced by package, with two-night and three-night options published for 2025/26. A fees retention deposit applies once a place is confirmed, and the school sets out separate deposit levels for UK-based and overseas-based families.

The boarding provision itself is inspected separately from the education inspection framework. The most recent boarding inspection (social care common inspection framework) took place from 1 to 3 July 2024, and it graded key areas as good, including how well children are helped and protected.

For day students, occasional boarding and extended day options exist in published materials, which can be useful around rehearsals, fixtures, or family logistics.

Pastoral support is visible in both staffing and space. The campus map explicitly identifies a Wellbeing Hub and Pastoral area, alongside a Health Centre, which is more than many state secondaries can offer on a single site. For boarding communities, that matters because pastoral needs do not stop at the end of the school day.

Safeguarding structures are also clearly signposted at leadership level, including a named Designated Safeguarding Lead role within the senior team.

In sixth form, financial barriers are addressed through published bursary routes. The school sets out a guaranteed £1,200 bursary for eligible vulnerable learners and also describes a discretionary bursary for students facing hardship, including guidance on eligibility and how support can be used for course-related costs and transport. The practical implication is that students are less likely to have enrichment limited purely by household cash flow, which is particularly relevant in rural areas where travel costs can be significant.

Co-curricular life is organised with boarding realities in mind, and the school states that activities run between 4pm and 8pm on weekdays, which is a longer window than most day-only schools can sustain. That time block is not just about sport. It also supports academic catch-up sessions and subject support, which can be important for students who need scaffolding to turn ability into results.

A distinctive feature is the Student Passport, a structured recognition framework that links achievements to the school’s values and to categories such as participation, volunteering, leadership, and representation. Students log achievements towards award thresholds that run from Bronze to Platinum. The implication is that enrichment is not left to chance or to the loudest joiners, it is tracked and normalised.

House culture also has a long-running competitive tradition. The Bint Shield is described by the school as an inter-house competition with a trophy first awarded in 1924. For many students, that type of structured, recurring competition is what turns “belonging” from a slogan into routine participation.

On the sport side, the facilities map shows multiple outdoor fields and dedicated sports spaces, plus a swimming pool and a sports hall. The Tennis Academy is a concrete example of a programme offer that extends beyond internal fixtures, with coaching elements such as video analysis, strength and conditioning, and sports psychology listed as part of the programme description.

Boarding also adds a weekend layer. In published boarding materials, examples of weekend activities include trips such as cinema, shopping to nearby towns, and larger outings. The key point is not the specific destinations, it is that students have guided options rather than unstructured downtime.

The published school day runs from 8.40am (registration) to 3.40pm, Monday to Friday. For families making travel plans, the school’s transport information for sixth form lists bus routes serving Bruton and surrounding towns, and it also describes sixth form minibus routes to Yeovil, Frome, and Sparkford with published pricing.

For rail access, the school’s travel guidance notes that Castle Cary station is served from London Paddington and that Bruton station is around 1.0 km from the school. Visitor parking is described as available at the top of the drive and in an additional car park nearby.

Boarders and families should also note that term dates include published exeat weekends and scheduled 12.30 finishes on specific days in the academic calendar.

• A school with two accountability lenses. Education is inspected through the standard Ofsted framework, while boarding is inspected separately under the social care framework. Families should read both, especially if boarding is central to the decision.

• Sixth form outcomes are solid rather than elite. A-level results sit broadly in the middle 35% of England sixth forms, which can be a good fit for many students, but families prioritising a very high-powered academic sixth form should compare alternatives carefully.

• Faith character is real. The Church of England ethos and the school’s values structure shape expectations and community life. This suits many families, but those who prefer a fully secular setting should weigh it carefully.

• Boarding cost planning matters. While education is state-funded, boarding is paid. Families should budget not just for the published boarding fee, but also for deposits and the normal extras that come with boarding life.

Sexey’s School is a rare option, state-funded education with a scaled boarding offer that is designed to solve real logistics problems without narrowing the curriculum through selection. GCSE outcomes are a clear strength, and the wider co-curricular structure is unusually systematic, particularly through the Student Passport and house culture.

It best suits families who want boarding flexibility in a genuinely mixed-ability environment, including students who benefit from routine and structure across the full week. The primary challenge is fit rather than prestige, this works brilliantly for the right student, and less well for those who want either a fully secular setting or an explicitly academic, high-intensity sixth form culture.