The Sunday Times Parent Power<\/a>, said: \u201cThe educational landscape is testing \u2013 budget challenges, rising student mental health issues, special educational needs and an increasingly uncertain future.<\/p>\n“But there is also so much to celebrate from the dedication of teachers who are finding ever more innovative and impactful ways to enrich their students and give them the very best start in life.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs well as celebrating the academic excellence of the top schools it is uplifting to see how they are shaping their students to be ready for the 21st century, and instilling a lifelong love of learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Top State Secondary Schools<\/p>\n
Regional Rank, National Rank, School Name, Location<\/strong><\/p>\n1, 6, Pate\u2019s Grammar School<\/strong>; State Secondary School of the Year in the Southwest for Academic Excellence 2026 Cheltenham<\/p>\n2, 20, Colyton Grammar Schoo<\/strong>l; Colyton<\/p>\n3, 32, Sir Thomas Rich\u2019s School<\/strong>; Gloucester<\/p>\n4, 45, South Wilts Grammar School<\/strong>; Salisbury<\/p>\n5, 67, Stroud High School<\/strong>; Stroud<\/p>\n6, 68, Bishop Wordsworth\u2019s School<\/strong>; Salisbury<\/p>\n7, 78, Churston Ferrers Grammar School<\/strong>; Brixham<\/p>\n8, 115, Parkstone Grammar School<\/strong>; Poole<\/p>\n9, 122, Bournemouth School<\/strong>; Bournemouth<\/p>\n10, 125, Torquay Girls\u2019 Grammar School<\/strong>; Torquay<\/p>\nTop Comprehensive Secondary Schools<\/p>\n
1, 173=, Ralph Allen School<\/strong>; Comprehensive School of the Year in the Southwest 2026 Bath<\/p>\n2, 186, The Cotswold School<\/strong>; Bourton-on-the-Water<\/p>\n3, 201=, Balcarras School, Cheltenham<\/strong>; Cheltenham<\/p>\n4, 224=, Bristol Free School<\/strong>; Bristol<\/p>\n5, 232=, Bristol Cathedral Choir School<\/strong>; Bristol<\/p>\n6, 238, Beechen Cliff School<\/strong>; Bath<\/p>\n7, 252=, Chew Valley School<\/strong>; Bristol<\/p>\n8, 267=, Hayesfield Girls’ School and Mixed Sixth Form<\/strong>; Bath<\/p>\n9, 313, Norton Hill School and Midsomer Norton Sixth Form<\/strong>; Radstock<\/p>\n10, 318=, St Bede\u2019s RC College<\/strong>; Bristol<\/p>\nTop Secondary Independent Schools<\/p>\n
1, 62, Cheltenham Ladies’ College<\/strong>; Independent Secondary School of the Year in the Southwest for Academic Excellence 2026 Cheltenham<\/p>\n2, 70, King Edward’s School<\/strong>, Bath; Bath<\/p>\n3, 86, Redmaids’ High School<\/strong>; Bristol<\/p>\n4, 94=, The Maynard School<\/strong>; Exeter<\/p>\n5, 112=, Marlborough College<\/strong>; Marlborough<\/p>\n6, 112=, Canford School<\/strong>; Wimborne<\/p>\n7, 114, King Edward VI School<\/strong>, Southampton; Southampton<\/p>\n8, 123, St Mary’s Calne<\/strong>; Calne<\/p>\n9, 127, Exeter School<\/strong>; Exeter<\/p>\n10, 130, Royal High School Bath<\/strong>, GDST; Bath<\/p>\nTop Primary Schools<\/p>\n
1, 45, Mawnan CofE Primary School<\/strong>; Primary School of the Year in the Southwest Falmouth<\/p>\n2, 89, St Ives Primary and Nursery School<\/strong>; Ringwood<\/p>\n3, 101=, Freshford Church School<\/strong>; Bath<\/p>\n4, 144, Kingslea Primary School<\/strong>; Horsham<\/p>\n5, 152, Somerset Bridge Primary School<\/strong>; Bridgwater<\/p>\n6, 166=, Tor Bridge Primary School<\/strong>; Plymouth<\/p>\n7, 170=, Hambrook Primary School<\/strong>; Bristol<\/p>\n8, 261=, Stowford School<\/strong>; Ivybridge<\/p>\n9, 268=, St Walburga’s RC Primary School<\/strong>; Bournemouth<\/p>\n10, 320=, St Michael’s CofE Primary, Aldbourne<\/strong>; Marlborough<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They’ve been named as among the regions best schoolsThe Sunday Times Top Schools list for 2026 has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,2266,393,4884,150758,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-613379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-education","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-midsomer-norton","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115665875251756458","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Unions](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1_GettyImages-480811367jpghe.jpg\")
The Sunday Times Top Schools list for 2026 has been revealed(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n