Cove School
Secondary · Foundation school · Mixed · Hampshire
St John's Road, Farnborough, GU14 9RN
58
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Not judged
Graded 21/01/2025
Application demand
89%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
91.2%
22.7% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,007
Capacity used
Nearly full96%
1,050 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
89%
1st preference success rate
181 of 204 families who put it first got an offer
203
Places offered
330
Total applications
1.6
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 204 | 181 | ● 89% |
| 2nd preference | 79 | 17 | ● 22% |
| 3rd preference | 44 | 5 | ● 11% |
| Later preferences | 3 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 330 | 203 | 62% |
1st preference success by year
Hampshire lets families list 3 preferences. 4 applications came from outside the council area (0 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Foundation school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- David Bibby
- Address
- St John's Road, Cove, Farnborough, GU14 9RN
- Phone
- 01252542397
- Local authority
- Hampshire
- Ward / constituency
- St John's · Aldershot
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 116446
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 28% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 18% | — | — |
| SEN support | 18% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
1,007 pupils · 1,050 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 25
21 January 2025
Full graded inspection
Not judged overall effectivenessPersonal development Good Quality of education Requires improvement Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Requires improvement
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,054 pupils
Attendance
91.2%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.8%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
22.7%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
4.3%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.0%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 40.4 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.74 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 34% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 54% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.59 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 42.7 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 35.5% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 54.3% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 36% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.77 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 186 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 185 | 18% | 42% | 61% | |
| English Language | 185 | 8% | 40% | 59% | |
| Religious Studies | 181 | 16% | 45% | 60% | |
| English Literature | 181 | 13% | 49% | 62% | |
| History | 127 | 19% | 41% | 53% | |
| Combined Science | 126 | 6% | 22% | 39% | |
| Art and Design | 99 | 0% | 12% | 24% | |
| Computer Science | 77 | 10% | 36% | 49% | |
| Physical Education | 63 | 10% | 30% | 49% | |
| Biology | 57 | 30% | 67% | 91% | |
| Physics | 57 | 35% | 72% | 84% | |
| Chemistry | 57 | 37% | 68% | 86% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Hampshire council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.