Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Reading
Surley Row, Reading, RG4 8LR
76
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
91.7%
21.0% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,537
Capacity used
Over capacity107%
1,440 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
182 of 182 families who put it first got an offer
245
Places offered
402
Total applications
1.6
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 182 | 182 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 98 | 36 | ● 37% |
| 3rd preference | 65 | 12 | ● 18% |
| 4th preference | 57 | 6 | ● 11% |
| Total | 402 | 236 | 59% |
1st preference success by year
Reading lets families list 4 preferences. 16 applications came from outside the council area (3 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
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Laura Mathews
- Address
- Surley Row, Emmer Green, Reading, RG4 8LR
- Phone
- 01189015800
- Local authority
- Reading
- Ward / constituency
- Caversham Heights · Reading Central
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 136307
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 11% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 16% | — | — |
| SEN support | 11% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: GLF SCHOOLS
1,537 pupils · 1,440 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
27 March 2024
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,250 pupils
Attendance
91.7%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.3%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
21.0%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
4.0%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.5%
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 | 53.5 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.25 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 61% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 80% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.87 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 32.25 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 50.4 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 57.3% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 74.6% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 38.7% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.61 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 248 | — |
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.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 34.39 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 16.8% | 17% |
| A-level students | 141 | — |
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+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 298 | 17% | 53% | 71% | |
| Mathematics | 245 | 31% | 65% | 81% | |
| English Literature | 236 | 20% | 61% | 77% | |
| Combined Science | 175 | 8% | 51% | 67% | |
| History | 136 | 26% | 65% | 78% | |
| Geography | 122 | 24% | 54% | 74% | |
| Business | 108 | 12% | 39% | 56% | |
| Physical Education | 78 | 6% | 27% | 55% | |
| Biology | 67 | 75% | 100% | 100% | |
| Physics | 67 | 72% | 100% | 100% | |
| Chemistry | 67 | 61% | 100% | 100% | |
| Art and Design | 59 | 37% | 78% | 90% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 51 | 20% | 35% | 65% | |
| Biology | 40 | 5% | 15% | 35% | |
| Sociology | 38 | 3% | 11% | 32% | |
| Physics | 34 | 9% | 24% | 44% | |
| Geography | 31 | 0% | 13% | 52% | |
| Psychology | 30 | 7% | 23% | 50% | |
| Economics | 24 | 4% | 13% | 67% | |
| Chemistry | 22 | 9% | 27% | 55% | |
| History | 17 | 6% | 35% | 71% | |
| Government and Politics | 17 | 12% | 35% | 59% | |
| English Language and Literature | 15 | 0% | 7% | 53% | |
| Business Studies | 14 | 0% | 0% | 14% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 10069: Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | ≤5 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 64% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 3% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 67% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
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 Reading 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.