The Cherwell School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Oxfordshire
Marston Ferry Road, Oxford, OX2 7EE
83
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Outstanding
Graded 19/10/2022
Application demand
71%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
92.8%
19.4% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
2,023
Capacity used
Over capacity109%
1,850 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
71%
1st preference success rate
254 of 360 families who put it first got an offer
255
Places offered
1056
Total applications
4.1
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 360 | 254 | ● 71% |
| 2nd preference | 309 | 1 | ● 0% |
| 3rd preference | 268 | 0 | ● 0% |
| 4th preference | 119 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 1056 | 255 | 24% |
1st preference success by year
Oxfordshire lets families list 4 preferences. 6 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
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Chris Price
- Address
- Marston Ferry Road, Oxford, OX2 7EE
- Phone
- 01865558719
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Ward / constituency
- Summertown · Oxford West and Abingdon
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 137970
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 17% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 28% | — | — |
| SEN support | 12% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: RIVER LEARNING TRUST
2,023 pupils · 1,850 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 22
19 October 2022
Full graded inspection
Outstanding overall effectivenessSixth form Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Quality of education Outstanding Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,385 pupils
Attendance
92.8%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.2%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
19.4%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
1.9%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.3%
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 | 58.4 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.88 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 65% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 79% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 5.31 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 37.25 | — | — |
Average grade: B- (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 58.3 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 66.2% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 79.2% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 50.9% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 5.32 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 269 | — |
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 | 40.32 | 35 |
| Average grade | B | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 34.3% | 17% |
| A-level students | 312 | — |
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+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Studies | 297 | 28% | 67% | 79% | |
| Mathematics | 268 | 44% | 69% | 81% | |
| English Language | 268 | 37% | 72% | 82% | |
| English Literature | 258 | 43% | 75% | 88% | |
| Biology | 162 | 56% | 90% | 96% | |
| Chemistry | 162 | 58% | 86% | 94% | |
| Physics | 161 | 65% | 92% | 98% | |
| Geography | 143 | 48% | 78% | 84% | |
| History | 127 | 49% | 72% | 80% | |
| Business | 106 | 25% | 60% | 71% | |
| Combined Science | 99 | 6% | 26% | 46% | |
| French | 73 | 56% | 81% | 84% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 140 | 30% | 61% | 76% | |
| Chemistry | 88 | 15% | 44% | 65% | |
| Biology | 86 | 14% | 34% | 57% | |
| Economics | 85 | 2% | 14% | 44% | |
| Physics | 72 | 25% | 64% | 83% | |
| Psychology | 71 | 7% | 17% | 61% | |
| History | 63 | 21% | 46% | 75% | |
| Business Studies | 56 | 2% | 14% | 50% | |
| English Literature | 47 | 34% | 53% | 72% | |
| Sociology | 43 | 9% | 21% | 51% | |
| Geography | 41 | 15% | 29% | 54% | |
| Mathematics (Further) | 35 | 34% | 74% | 94% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #38 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 12524: The Cherwell School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | 36 |
| Offers | 13 |
| Success rate | 36% |
| Accepted offers | 12 |
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) | 46% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 100% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 52% | — | — |
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 Oxfordshire 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.