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State secondary schools in West Berkshire

10 schools · South East · 2024/25 Department for Education figures

West Berkshire has 10 state secondaries, 9 of them with sixth forms. 94.9% of families got their first choice last year, better than most of England. Results run from 24.7% to 62.2% passing English and maths, a spread of 38 points, with a middle school at 49.7%, above England's 45.4%.

Of those Ofsted has graded, 1 rated Outstanding, 5 Good. 4 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.

10 schools in West Berkshire. Tap one, or see the full list.
25% 62% passed English & maths

West Berkshire against England

State-funded schools, 2024/25

48%

Passed English & maths grade 5 or above

3% above England

England 45%

48

Attainment 8 average score

1.9 above England

England 46.1

20%

Persistently absent missed 10% of sessions

1.3% below England

England 21%

Getting a place

2026/27 secondary admissions round, across West Berkshire

94.9%

Got their first choiceof those who applied

England 84%

98.8%

Got one of their threefirst, second or third

0%

Got no offer at allfrom any preference

30%

Appeals upheld12 of 40 heard

These are figures for West Berkshire as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works

How much the choice matters here

Across West Berkshire's 10 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 25% to 62%. That is a spread of 38 percentage points, about typical.

The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.

West Berkshire schools, subject by subject

The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.

mathshistorygeographyenglish literatureenglish languagecombined sciencephysicschemistrybusiness studiesbiologyartphysical educationcomputer sciencespanishfrenchdramareligious studiesmedia studies
  1. 1 Park House School Newbury · 174 entries 82%
  2. 2 The Willink School Reading · 179 entries 78%
  3. 3 St Bartholomew's School Newbury · 202 entries 77%
  4. 4 The Downs School Newbury · 151 entries 68%
  5. 5 Denefield School Reading · 151 entries 62%
  6. 6 Little Heath School Reading · 188 entries 56%
  7. 7 Kennet School Thatcham · 237 entries 55%
  8. 8 Trinity School Newbury · 144 entries 52%
  9. 9 Theale Green School Reading · 76 entries 30%
  10. 10 John O'Gaunt School Hungerford · 53 entries 21%
combined science tutors

Parent guides

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Every school in West Berkshire

Schools in neighbouring authorities are not in this list, because admissions run per authority. See bordering areas.

2 of 9 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.

  • Denefield School Reading · Good.
    Eng & maths
    50%
    Attainment 8
    47
    Absence
    23%
  • John O'Gaunt School Hungerford · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    25%
    Attainment 8
    32
    Absence
    27%
  • Kennet School Thatcham · Good.
    Eng & maths
    46%
    Attainment 8
    46.5
    Absence
    20%
  • Little Heath School Reading · Good.
    Eng & maths
    47%
    Attainment 8
    48.2
    Absence
    18%
  • Park House School Newbury · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    62%
    Attainment 8
    55.9
    Absence
    20%
  • St Bartholomew's School Newbury · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    58%
    Attainment 8
    56.2
    Absence
    18%
  • The Downs School Newbury · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    54%
    Attainment 8
    53.4
    Absence
    —
  • The Willink School Reading · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    57%
    Attainment 8
    51.9
    Absence
    18%
  • Theale Green School Reading · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    31%
    Attainment 8
    38.5
    Absence
    27%
  • Trinity School Newbury · Good. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    39%
    Attainment 8
    42.9
    Absence
    22%

Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.

Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25

A levels in West Berkshire

9 of West Berkshire's 9 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.

Sixth form Grade AAB+

A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.

Bordering West Berkshire

Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.

Hampshire 69 schools · 45% passed English & mathsOxfordshire 42 schools · 48% passed English & mathsReading 11 schools · 51% passed English & mathsWiltshire 28 schools · 45% passed English & mathsWokingham 10 schools · 61% passed English & maths

What these mean

Attainment 8
The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
Grades 4 and 5
GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
Persistent absence
The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
First preference
The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
Spare places
The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
Average A-level grade
The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.
Covers state-funded schools in England; independent schools are not included, and neither the list nor the subject figures above take account of them.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Key stage 4 performance and school characteristics: Department for Education, 2024/25. Inspection outcomes: Ofsted.