Cantell School[1]

Secondary · ages 11–16

Headline results

Attainment 8: A8 43 43.1 2025/26[2]

Results

GCSE (key stage 4)

Attainment 8: 43.1 2025/26[2]
Grade 5+ in English & maths: 37.8% 2025/26[2]
Grade 7+ in English & maths: 9.8% 2025/26[2]
Progress 8: +0.21 2023/24[3]
Progress 8, 2025/26: Not calculated[4]
Progress 8, 2024/25: Not calculated[4]

Earlier years
Year	Attainment 8	Grade 5+ in English & maths	Progress 8
2024/25	46.9[5]	49.2%[5]
2023/24	45.6[3]	45.8%[3]	+0.21[3]
2022/23	45.1[6]	41%[6]	+0.09[6]
2021/22	47.3[7]	50%[7]	+0.45[7]

Destinations after GCSEs

Sustained education, apprenticeship or employment: 87% 2022/23[8]
School sixth form: 1% 2022/23[8]
Sixth-form college: 61% 2022/23[8]
Further education college: 21% 2022/23[8]
Apprenticeship: 2% 2022/23[8]
Employment: 2% 2022/23[8]

Earlier leavers
Left in	Sustained education, apprenticeship or employment	School sixth form	Sixth-form college	Further education college	Apprenticeship	Employment
2021/22	91%[9]	2%[9]	66%[9]	19%[9]	1%[9]	2%[9]
2020/21	86%[10]	1%[10]	55%[10]	26%[10]	1%[10]	4%[10]
2019/20	90%[11]	3%[11]	58%[11]	27%[11]	1%[11]	1%[11]
2018/19	85%[12]	1%[12]	55%[12]	23%[12]	2%[12]	4%[12]

Shares of the pupils who left in the year shown. Russell Group and Oxford or Cambridge figures were published for leavers up to 2019/20 only.

Ofsted

Latest inspection: 26 Mar 2024[13]
Type: S5 Inspection[13]
Report published: 13 May 2024[13]
Personal development: Outstanding[13]
Quality of education: Outstanding[13]
Overall effectiveness: Outstanding[13]
Behaviour and attitudes: Outstanding[13]
Safeguarding is effective: Yes[13]
Effectiveness of leadership and management: Outstanding[13]

Earlier inspections
Inspection	Type	Overall
2 Feb 2023[14]	Section 8 inspection of good and outstanding schools[14]	No overall grade[14]
26 Sep 2017[15]	Maintained Academy and School Short inspection[15]	No overall grade[15]

Competition to get in

Applications and offers, Year 7

Applications per place: 2.9 Entry Sept 2026[16]
Applications (any preference): 682 Entry Sept 2026[16]
First preferences: 318 Entry Sept 2026[16]
Places offered: 239 Entry Sept 2026[16]
First preferences per place: 1.3 Entry Sept 2026[16]

Earlier years
Entry	Applications	First preferences	Places offered	Per place	First preferences per place
Entry Sept 2025	682[16]	325[16]	241[16]	2.8[16]	1.3[16]
Entry Sept 2024	574[16]	284[16]	245[16]	2.3[16]	1.2[16]
Entry Sept 2023	567[16]	258[16]	246[16]	2.3[16]	1.0[16]
Entry Sept 2022	552[16]	256[16]	243[16]	2.3[16]	1.1[16]

Admissions

Application deadline: 31 Oct 2026 Entry Sept 2027[17]
Places (published admission number): 250 Entry Sept 2027[17]

Character & practicalities

Type: Foundation school[1]
Ages: 11–16[1]
Boys / girls: Mixed[1]
Admissions: Non-selective[1]
Sixth form: No[1]
Boarding: No boarders[1]
Capacity: 1250[1]
Trust: Aspire Community Trust[1]
Local authority: Southampton[1]
Website: http://www.cantell.co.uk/[1]
District: Southampton [18]
Postcode: SO16 3GJ[1]
URN: 116469[1]

School details as recorded in Get Information About Schools on 14 Oct 2026.

Pupils

Number on roll: 1288 2024/25[19]
English as an additional language: 41.7% 2024/25[19]
SEN support: 18% 2024/25[19]
EHC plan: 4% 2024/25[19]
Free school meals in the last 6 years: 43.5% 2024/25[19]

Pupils' ethnicity 2025/26

White: 43.7%[20]
Mixed: 8.1%[20]
Asian: 35.2%[20]
Black: 8.4%[20]
Any other ethnic group: 4.5%[20]
Unclassified: 0.2%[20]

The school census's major ethnic groups as shares of the school's pupils, summed by us from the published counts. For information only: never used to rank, filter or colour schools.

Sources

Department for Education: Get Information About Schools: all establishments. Period 2026-10-14, published 2026-10-14. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Performance tables schools data (explore education statistics). Period 2025/26, provisional, published 2026-10-15. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Compare School Performance download: KS4 final. Period 2023/24, final. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Key stage 4 performance 2024/25: data guidance. Period 2024/25. Archived copy; original. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Quote
It is not possible to calculate Progress 8 for academic years 2024/25 and 2025/26 due to gaps in the baseline caused by COVID-19 disruption.
Department for Education: Compare School Performance download: KS4 final. Period 2024/25, final. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Compare School Performance download: KS4 final. Period 2022/23, final. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Compare School Performance download: KS4 final. Period 2021/22, final. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Compare School Performance download: KS4 destinations. Period 2022/23, final. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Compare School Performance download: KS4 destinations. Period 2021/22, final. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Compare School Performance download: KS4 destinations. Period 2020/21, final. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Compare School Performance download: KS4 destinations. Period 2019/20, final. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Compare School Performance download: KS4 destinations. Period 2018/19, final. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Ofsted: State-funded schools inspections and outcomes. Period 2023/24. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Ofsted: State-funded schools inspections and outcomes. Period 2022/23. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Ofsted: State-funded schools inspections and outcomes. Period 2017/18. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Primary and secondary school applications and offers: school level. Period Entry Sept 2026, final, published 2026-06-29. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
cantell.co.uk: cantell.co.uk — Admissions Policy 27-28 APPROVED by WGB 14 5 26 (PDF). Period 2026-10-16. Licence: copyright-quoted.
Quotes (2)
Oversubscription criteria Applications submitted by 31 October 2026 will be dealt with first. (p. 2)
Cantell School has a Published Admission Number (PAN) of 250. (p. 2)
Office for National Statistics: Parish to Ward to Local Authority District (May 2026) Lookup in EW. Period 2026-05-01. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Compare School Performance download: School census. Period 2024/25, final. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.
Department for Education: Schools, pupils and their characteristics: school level underlying data. Period 2025/26, published 2026-06-04. Publication page. Data file. Licence: OGL-3.0.