Matthew Arnold School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Oxfordshire
Arnolds Way, Oxford, OX2 9JE
72
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Not judged
Graded 10/06/2025
Application demand
97%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
90.8%
22.0% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,255
Capacity used
Over capacity103%
1,220 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
97%
1st preference success rate
153 of 157 families who put it first got an offer
206
Places offered
409
Total applications
2.0
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 157 | 153 | ● 97% |
| 2nd preference | 95 | 32 | ● 34% |
| 3rd preference | 69 | 13 | ● 19% |
| 4th preference | 88 | 8 | ● 9% |
| Total | 409 | 206 | 50% |
1st preference success by year
Oxfordshire lets families list 4 preferences. 2 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
- Anthony Broadley
- Address
- Arnolds Way, Oxford, OX2 9JE
- Phone
- 01865862232
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Ward / constituency
- Cumnor · Oxford West and Abingdon
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 142104
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 13% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 19% | — | — |
| SEN support | 13% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: ACER TRUST
1,255 pupils · 1,220 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 25
10 June 2025
Full graded inspection
Not judged overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good - 24
01 May 2024
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,044 pupils
Attendance
90.8%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.2%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
22.0%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
5.1%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.8%
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 | 50.1 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.18 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 54% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 74% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.47 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 33.18 | — | — |
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 | 56.5 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 65.2% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 83.1% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 53.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 5.28 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 207 | — |
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 | 33.98 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 16.8% | 17% |
| A-level students | 107 | — |
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 | 201 | 34% | 71% | 87% | |
| English Language | 201 | 37% | 77% | 90% | |
| Biology | 194 | 33% | 77% | 91% | |
| English Literature | 194 | 35% | 80% | 91% | |
| Physics | 192 | 36% | 74% | 88% | |
| Chemistry | 191 | 38% | 73% | 88% | |
| History | 115 | 54% | 79% | 85% | |
| Spanish | 86 | 58% | 90% | 95% | |
| Art and Design | 82 | 26% | 65% | 88% | |
| Physical Education | 59 | 14% | 58% | 76% | |
| French | 58 | 40% | 74% | 86% | |
| Geography | 41 | 46% | 85% | 93% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 37 | 24% | 46% | 68% | |
| Psychology | 34 | 3% | 12% | 32% | |
| Sociology | 28 | 7% | 21% | 50% | |
| Biology | 27 | 0% | 4% | 22% | |
| History | 25 | 0% | 28% | 72% | |
| Economics | 20 | 5% | 20% | 35% | |
| Physics | 19 | 16% | 32% | 47% | |
| Geography | 19 | 5% | 21% | 53% | |
| English Literature | 19 | 5% | 16% | 53% | |
| Chemistry | 18 | 6% | 22% | 50% | |
| Film Studies | 10 | 10% | 20% | 40% | |
| Business Studies | 10 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 14375: Matthew Arnold School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | 6 |
| 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) | 48% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 3% | — | — |
| 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.