SchoolFacts.uk

Reading School

Secondary · Reading · RG1 5LW

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Outstanding

Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system

This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.

Quality of education: OutstandingBehaviour & attitudes: OutstandingPersonal development: OutstandingLeadership & management: OutstandingSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 21 November 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

1,138 pupils · 104% of 1,094 capacity (over capacity)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
11–18
Gender
Boys
Admissions
Selective
Free school meals
4.7% of pupils
English as additional language
19.4% of pupils
SEN support
3.8% of pupils
EHC plan
0.7% of pupils
Sixth form
Yes
Website
http://www.reading-school.co.uk/
URN
136449

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

2.74 first-choice applications per place

146 places offered · 400 first-choice applications · heavily oversubscribed

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE. A ratio above 1.00 means more families named this school first choice than there were places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Places for 2026 entry were decided by test scores, not distance.

Cutoff distances as published by the local authority. Siblings and other priority groups are offered places first; cutoffs move year to year.

GCSE results (2024/2025)

149 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025

Attainment 8 score
83
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
100%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
100%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
8.2
England 4.1

Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

A-level results (2024/2025)

A-level points per entry (England: 35 ≈ B-) A
49
England 35

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025. “Suppressed” means the DfE withholds figures for very small cohorts.

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school83
Median of its 12 closest peers68.1
Reading average53.8
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is ahead of the schools that teach a comparable intake.

The twelve below are matched on intake alone, from every state school in England, so most are not local. They are the evidence behind the comparison above, not a shortlist. For schools you could realistically apply to, see nearby schools.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Colyton Grammar SchoolColyton · 105 miles awayOutstanding78.8
Sir Thomas Rich's SchoolGloucester · 61 miles awayStrong standard77.2
St Joseph's CollegeStoke-on-Trent · 119 miles awayOutstanding62.4
Oakwood Park Grammar SchoolMaidstone · 64 miles awayGood68.9
Kendrick SchoolReading · under 1 mile awayOutstanding84
Urmston Grammar AcademyManchester · 150 miles awayGood71.7
John Hampden Grammar SchoolHigh Wycombe · 14 miles awayOutstanding72.3
Wilmington Grammar School for BoysDartford · 50 miles awayGood64.6
The Norton Knatchbull SchoolAshford · 82 miles awayGood67.3
Maidstone Grammar School for GirlsMaidstone · 64 miles awayOutstanding66.4
Barton Court Grammar SchoolCanterbury · 89 miles awayGood66.4
Wilmington Grammar School for GirlsDartford · 49 miles awayGood66.7

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one: same phase and admissions type, and as near as the data allows on size, free school meals, English as an additional language, SEN and the child poverty of the surrounding area (IDACI 2025). Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable: sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and plain geography all matter and are not in the calculation. Results: DfE performance tables, 2024/2025. How the matching works.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
4.4%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
10.8%
England 18.1%

Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
17.7
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

90% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 3% moved to another state school · 7% left the state-funded sector

School Workforce Census, DfE. The ratio counts full-time-equivalent qualified teachers; retention follows teachers in post one November to the next. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Spending per pupil

This school£10,541
Typical secondary school£7,798

Total expenditure ÷ pupils, academy finance return (DfE Schools Financial Benchmarking, latest year). Higher spending is not a measure of quality. It often reflects greater pupil need or a smaller school. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
99%
Continuing in education
99%
Apprenticeship
1%
Employment
0%

Where students go after sixth form

To university / higher education
84%
Apprenticeship
2%
Employment
2%
Any sustained destination
89%

Destinations measured the year after leaving, latest DfE destination measures release.

Inspection history since 2015

Ofsted management information. Ungraded and monitoring visits do not award a new grade. How the two inspection systems work.

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
7/10less deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
8/10less deprived than most of England

English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG), decile of the small area the school stands in: 1 is the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. IDACI counts only children in low-income families, which is the measure closest to the intake a school is likely to draw on.

Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher59.8%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications6.1%18.1%
In managerial or professional work47.5%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways11.6%18.1%
Residents in very good health55.5%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier33.7%62.3%
Social housing10.6%17.1%
Privately rented55.6%20.5%
Detached houses10.7%22.9%
Flats64.3%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms23%21.1%
Households with no car or van40.9%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01016414 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,582 adults that the school stands in. These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Children travel in from further away, and for selective, faith and some other schools usually much further. Open Government Licence v3.0.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£293,500522 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£235,000–£365,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (32)£662,500
Semi-detached (44)£534,000
Terraced (209)£325,000
Flat (237)£235,000

Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Every residential sale registered with HM Land Registry within 1 km of the school (straight line) since January 2024, market sales of houses and flats only. A sale is dated by completion and registered weeks later, so the most recent months are incomplete. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
2an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
6an urban school averages 5.8
All reported collisions
45an urban school averages 30.6
Of those, serious or fatal
6an urban school averages 6.1

Every collision reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics (STATS19). "Child pedestrians" counts casualties aged under 16 on foot; "school-run times" means weekdays 07:30–09:00 and 15:00–16:30 outside August. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe: counts rise with traffic and with how built-up an area is, which is why the comparison is with other urban schools. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Nearby schools