The Charter School Bermondsey Review 2026: A modern Southwark secondary with distinctive enrichment

A mixed 11 to 16 free school with a clear local mission, The Charter School Bermondsey has grown quickly since opening as Compass School Southwark in September 2013 and has recently entered a new phase of its development. The school moved into a new building on Keeton’s Road in January 2024, adding specialist spaces including science labs, a rooftop multi-use games area, and strong visual and performing arts facilities.

Leadership is stable, with Mr Marcus Huntley in post as Principal since September 2017. The latest Ofsted inspection, carried out in November 2022 and published on 16 January 2023, confirmed the school continues to be Good and that safeguarding arrangements are effective.

The school’s public language is structured and deliberate. Values are framed as three simple commitments, You Belong, You Believe, You Become, which are designed to be memorable for students and practical for staff. The emphasis on belonging is not just aspirational. It is reflected in how pastoral care is organised, with each student placed into a “Learning Family” and seen every morning in Learning Family Time as a consistent start to the day.

Pastoral support is also layered. Heads of Year carry year-group oversight, while a house system creates cross-year connections through competitions and events. That combination can suit students who benefit from clear routines and multiple “anchors” in school life, particularly in the first year of secondary school when transitions can feel large and fast.

The school’s recent history matters here. Families will still see “Compass” in older documents and in the title of the most recent Ofsted report, reflecting the period when the school traded as Compass School Southwark. The Charter Schools Educational Trust states the school joined its group of schools in July 2023 and subsequently rebranded as The Charter School Bermondsey. For parents, the practical implication is that many “ways of working” are established, but trust-wide systems, shared pathways, and branding are now part of the picture.

Performance sits in the mid-range nationally, with indicators pointing to broadly typical outcomes for England and slightly above-average progress from starting points.

GCSE ranking context (FindMySchool ranking)

Ranked 1,774th in England and 17th in Southwark for GCSE outcomes, based on FindMySchool’s proprietary rankings drawn from official datasets. This places the school in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile).

Headline measures

• Attainment 8: 44.6.

• Progress 8: +0.08, suggesting students make slightly above-average progress across their GCSE subjects from their starting points.

• EBacc outcomes: 21.1% achieved grade 5 or above in the English Baccalaureate subjects, with an EBacc average point score of 4.27.

For parents comparing local options, this is a school that does not rely on selection or a sixth form “pull” to drive outcomes. Its academic story is instead about steady progress, a structured approach to learning, and a strong co-curricular offer that is deliberately woven into the week. Families using the FindMySchool Local Hub can compare these measures against other Southwark secondaries using the Comparison Tool, which is often the quickest way to understand whether “typical for England” is also typical locally.

The curriculum approach is framed around knowledge, sequencing, and routine. Formal observations describe a broad and balanced curriculum where content is carefully considered and taught by staff with strong subject knowledge, with teachers regularly checking understanding and addressing misconceptions promptly.

Reading is treated as a whole-school priority rather than a single-department responsibility. Students read together at least twice each week with form tutors, and reading in Years 7 to 9 is monitored through dedicated library lessons, with targeted help for students who need it. This sort of systematic approach can be especially valuable in an 11 to 16 setting, where literacy development directly affects outcomes in humanities, sciences, and vocationally-leaning options alike.

A practical nuance is that the school’s improvement focus includes “retrieval” work, making sure students routinely revisit and secure earlier learning so it becomes durable over time. That emphasis tends to benefit students who respond well to clear structures, frequent low-stakes checks, and predictable lesson routines. It can be less immediately comfortable for students who rely on last-minute revision, because the expectation is that learning is cumulative and regularly tested in small ways across the year.

With an 11 to 16 age range, the key destination question is post-16. The Charter Schools Educational Trust positions a pathway into sixth forms elsewhere in the trust, stating that students have priority access to sixth forms at The Charter School North Dulwich and The Charter School East Dulwich. For many families, that creates a coherent “through-route” even without a sixth form on site, provided students meet any entry requirements those sixth forms apply.

Beyond trust pathways, Southwark and neighbouring boroughs offer a wide range of sixth forms and colleges. A useful way to approach this, particularly for families who are new to the borough, is to treat Year 9 and Year 10 as the planning window. By then, GCSE option choices and developing strengths will usually make the post-16 shortlist clearer. The school’s careers programme and personal development work are structured to support that planning, including access to external speakers and carefully planned guidance across year groups.

Because published destination statistics are not available here, the most reliable “next steps” picture comes from the school’s stated pathways and the fact that it is embedded in a borough with strong post-16 capacity, rather than from a single headline percentage.

This is a state school with no tuition fees. Competition for places is the bigger practical issue for many families.

For September 2026 Year 7 entry, the school’s Planned Admission Number is 120. Applications are coordinated through the London Borough of Southwark’s common application process, which means families apply via the local authority rather than directly to the school for the main Year 7 round.

Oversubscription rules (summary)

when there are more applicants than places, priority is given to looked-after and previously looked-after children, then siblings, then distance to the school, measured as a straight line from home to the school’s front gates. Tie-breaks can include random allocation where distances cannot separate applicants.

Key Southwark dates for September 2026 entry

• Applications opened: 01 September 2025

• Closing deadline: 31 October 2025 (11:59pm)

• Outcome notification: 02 March 2026 (after 5pm, per Southwark’s timetable)

The practical advice is to treat distance as a decisive factor once sibling priority is accounted for. Families considering a move often use the FindMySchoolMap Search to measure their likely distance to the gate and sense-check whether the address is plausible for this admissions profile. Distances can tighten or loosen year to year, so treat any single year as a guide rather than a promise.

The school also sets out arrangements for in-year admissions and waiting lists, with allocations aligned to the same oversubscription criteria.

Pastoral provision is intentionally structured. Learning Family Tutors see students daily, Heads of Year oversee wellbeing and progress, and the house system adds community across year groups. This is a design that tends to work best when students need predictable adult relationships and clear, repeated expectations.

Safeguarding information is presented clearly on the school site, including a named safeguarding lead, deputy leads, and signposting to wellbeing support. The school also references a school counsellor route, typically via Heads of Year, which can matter for families deciding whether support is likely to be accessible and normalised.

On culture, the published picture is one of calm routines and consistent expectations. Behaviour and attendance are treated as foundations for achievement, with systems designed to reinforce positive conduct and reduce disruption to learning.

This is where the school is most distinctive. Enrichment is not presented as a generic list of clubs, it is built as a structured programme with a particular local flavour. For Years 7 and 8, students select across three strands, Move, Create, Imagine, giving all students access to breadth rather than leaving enrichment to those who are already confident joiners.

Sport and movement

The “Move” strand mixes conventional and less common options. Examples include Ballers Academy (football training rooted in Bermondsey), mixed martial arts coaching, parkour, rugby development with Southwark Tigers, and a table tennis programme supported through Greenhouse Sports. For parents, the implication is simple: sport is offered both as participation and as skill development, with external partners who bring specialist expertise. That can suit students who need a strong physical outlet as part of their school week, not just after-school extras.

Creative and practical making

The “Create” strand includes choir, drama, musical theatre, sewing, and a particularly Bermondsey-linked specialism, leatherwork. Leatherwork is described as a founding enrichment, delivered with experienced designers and supported by the Worshipful Company of Curriers. This has two advantages for students: it provides a tangible craft outcome that is not exam-bound, and it can create an alternative route to confidence for students who do not initially define themselves as “academic”.

Intellectual and cultural enrichment

The “Imagine” strand includes board gaming, chess, debating, and film club, again with partnerships such as Debate Mate supporting debating. The recent Ofsted report also references students learning to photograph the night sky, develop leatherwork skills, and design computer games, which aligns with the school’s stated preference for enrichment that feels current rather than traditional.

For many families, this enrichment structure is not a “nice to have”. It is a practical way of widening horizons in an 11 to 16 school, particularly for students who benefit from a reason to stay engaged at the end of the day.

The school day is organised around morning Learning Family Time. Breakfast club begins at 8:15am (last entry 8:25am), gates open at 8:25am, and morning routines run through to Learning Family Time. Published guidance for families indicates that, for pupils in Years 7 to 9, the school day typically finishes around 3:30pm Monday to Thursday and around 2:35pm on Fridays.

Uniform expectations are detailed and specific, including a school blazer and tie plus standardised shoes and trousers.

On travel, the school describes itself as a short walk from Bermondsey Tube Station, which is a meaningful practical point in this part of Southwark for students travelling independently.

• Entry is competitive. The school is oversubscribed and allocates places using clear priority rules, with distance becoming decisive once looked-after children and siblings are accounted for. Families should plan early and use precise distance checks when shortlisting.

• No on-site sixth form. Students move on at 16, and families should take a deliberate approach to post-16 planning from Year 9 onwards. The trust describes priority access into sixth forms at other Charter schools, which may suit families who want continuity, but it is still a transition point.

• A school in transition can feel different year to year. The name change, trust move, and new building are significant changes within a short timeframe. That can bring momentum, but it can also mean policies and systems continue to evolve.

• Curriculum embedding is a stated development focus. The school has a strong emphasis on sequencing and checking understanding, but it has also identified the importance of making “revisit and embed” strategies consistently effective. For some students this is exactly what helps them succeed; others may need time to adapt to the expectations.

The Charter School Bermondsey is a practical choice for families who want a local, structured secondary with a modern site and enrichment that feels genuinely distinctive rather than generic. Academic outcomes are broadly in line with the middle of England schools, with slightly above-average progress, and the school’s strongest differentiator is its planned enrichment model, including local partnerships and hands-on creative routes such as leatherwork. Best suited to students who respond well to clear routines, daily tutor contact, and a school week that deliberately includes sport, culture, and making alongside GCSE preparation. Securing admission is the main hurdle.