SchoolFacts.uk

Denefield School

Secondary · Reading · RG31 6XY

⇄ Compare with another school
Good

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: GoodBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: GoodLeadership & management: GoodSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 1 November 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

1,171 pupils · 103% of 1,137 capacity (over capacity)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
18.7% of pupils
English as additional language
4.9% of pupils
SEN support
18.6% of pupils
EHC plan
3% of pupils
Sixth form
Yes
Website
http://www.denefield.org.uk
URN
137777

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

1.07 first-choice applications per place

203 places offered · 217 first-choice applications · 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

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2025 entry) lived within 1.899 miles

measured in a straight line.

Cutoff distance by entry year

23
24
25

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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)

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

Attainment 8 score
47
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
69.9%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
49.7%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
4.1
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-) B-
36
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 school47
Median of its 12 closest peers48
West Berkshire average46.6
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is in line with 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
Chipping Norton SchoolChipping Norton · 38 miles awayGood49.3
Brimsham Green SchoolBristol · 59 miles awayGood (2019)44.9
Bohunt HorshamHorsham · 42 miles awayGood49.5
Queen Elizabeth'sCrediton · 123 miles awayExpected standard46.2
The Blue SchoolWells · 71 miles awayGood49.7
BBG AcademyBirkenshaw · 159 miles awayGood46.8
Oathall Community CollegeHaywards Heath · 53 miles awayGood51.6
Belper School and Sixth Form CentreBelper · 109 miles awayGood44.3
Cowes Enterprise College, An Ormiston AcademyCowes · 50 miles awayGood42.7
Kirkbie Kendal SchoolKendal · 209 miles awayGood50.1
Birkenhead High School AcademyPrenton · 157 miles awayGood50.5
Campion SchoolNorthampton · 51 miles awayExpected standard46.2

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)
8.3%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
24.9%
England 18.1%

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

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
18
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

94% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 6% moved to another state school

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£7,355
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
95%
Continuing in education
87%
Apprenticeship
4%
Employment
4%

Where students go after sixth form

To university / higher education
37%
Apprenticeship
12%
Employment
43%
Any sustained destination
94%

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)
9/10among the least deprived fifth 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 higher40.8%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications11%18.1%
In managerial or professional work47.6%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways9.1%18.1%
Residents in very good health50.8%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier82.3%62.3%
Social housing2.1%17.1%
Privately rented15.6%20.5%
Detached houses47.7%22.9%
Flats16.3%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms39.9%21.1%
Households with no car or van7.2%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01016315 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,388 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
£438,000230 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£375,000–£549,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (84)£607,500
Semi-detached (99)£415,000
Terraced (34)£366,500
Flat (13)£215,000

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

Inside the Year 7 cutoff distance (3.06 km, 2025 entry): 1,266 sales, median £408,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

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
0an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
0an urban school averages 5.8
All reported collisions
3an urban school averages 30.6
Of those, serious or fatal
0an 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