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State secondary · 11 to 18 · Mixed · 1,118 pupils

The Cooper School

Churchill Road, Bicester, OX26 4RS · Oxfordshire
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COULD YOUR CHILD GET IN? · YEAR 7 2027

In 2026 everyone who applied for Year 7 was offered a place. Enter your postcode to check your distance.

Bars: how far the last place offered reached each year. Check your postcode and each year turns green where a place reached your home. Source: Oxfordshire County Council offer-day figures, 2022 to 2026.

Free, no account needed. Your postcode is used for this check and not kept.
Ofsted: Good · February 2025(27/41)Fewer first choices than places (2026)
School website ↗Google Maps ↗Directions ↗Ofsted reports ↗DfE results ↗Government register ↗

Summary

The key facts, in one place
GCSE (key stage 4) The league rank: the school's place among its council's schools of the same phase on the newest year's DfE results, the same rank as on the Schools map. In England: 1,998th of 3,223 on the same figure. Band: Lower half.
(27/41)Rank among 41 Oxfordshire secondaries with results, 2026 results (Attainment 8)
See the Oxfordshire league table →
Inspection
Good, February 2025
Getting in
Nobody refused in 2026
Results
-0.21 progress 8; 43.9 attainment 8
Size
1,118 pupils; 184 places a year; classes of 24
Run by
Acer Trust
Type
Academy converter
Ages
11 to 18 · Mixed
Ofsted, February 2025The judgements from the school's latest inspection. Reports from November 2025 use Ofsted's new report card, with different headings; we show whichever the latest report uses.Read the report ↗
Quality of educationGood
Behaviour and attitudesRequires improvement
Leadership and managementRequires improvement
Strengths, and things to check
  • Suspensions per 100 pupils: 15.7, against 17.1 in Oxfordshire.
  • Progress 8: -0.21, against +0.08 in Oxfordshire.
  • Attainment 8: 43.9, against 47.0 in Oxfordshire.
  • English and maths, grade 5+: 39%, against 48% in Oxfordshire.
Schools for usRank every school near you by the measures that matter to your family, each reason shown.Rank schools →

At a glance

Against Oxfordshire and England
This schoolOxfordshireEnglandHover or tap a bar for the figures
Academic
Progress 8How far pupils progressed between the end of primary school and GCSEs, against pupils across England who started at the same level. 0 is average; +0.5 means half a grade better in each subject.
-0.21
Worse than Oxfordshire
Attainment 8The average GCSE score across eight subjects, including English and maths counted twice. A grade 5 in all eight would score 50.
43.9
Worse than Oxfordshire
English and maths, grade 5+The share of pupils with grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE (a strong pass).
39%
Worse than Oxfordshire
Attendance and behaviour
Sessions missedHalf-day sessions missed, authorised or not, as a share of all sessions in the school year (DfE pupil absence). Lower is better.
8.8%
In line with Oxfordshire
Persistently absentPupils who missed one session in ten or more. Lower is better.
23.0%
In line with Oxfordshire
Suspensions per 100 pupilsSuspensions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. Lower is better; one or two incidents move a small school a lot.
15.7
Better than Oxfordshire
Pupils and classes
Average class sizeAverage pupils per class, from the school census. Shown for context, not as a score.
24.2
Context
Free school mealsPupils eligible for free school meals. Context for reading the results, not a measure of the school.
12%
Context
Pupils for each teacherPupils on roll for each full-time teacher, from the school workforce census. Shown for context.
15.9
Context
Demand for places
First choices per placeFamilies who put this school first, for each Year 7 place in 2026 (DfE applications and offers). Above 1 means more first choices than places.
0.7
Less sought after than Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire and England: DfE's own averages for results. For the rest, the middle state secondary school of the same phase, from every school we hold, since DfE publishes no council figure we hold.Where these figures come from →

Overview

Getting in

  • 120 families put it first for 184 places; every one of them got in DfE, school applications and offers · Year 7 2026
  • We hold no catchment map for this school, so we can't say which addresses are inside it.

Quality

  • Good Ofsted · inspected 25 February 2025
  • Progress 8: -0.21 (England +0.01) (county +0.08) DfE school performance tables · 2023/2024
  • Attainment 8: 43.9 (England 47.4) (county 47.0) DfE school performance tables · 2025/2026
  • English and maths grade 5 or above: 39% (England 48%) (county 48%) DfE school performance tables · 2025/2026
  • Progress, set against pupils who started with the same results: below average DfE school performance tables · 2023/2024

Daily life

  • Absence: 8.8% of sessions missed; 23% of pupils miss 1 in 10 or more. Schools with a similar intake: 7.4% and 19% DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level · 2024/25
  • Suspensions: 16 per 100 pupils (schools with a similar intake: 9); 1 permanent exclusion DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level · 2024/25
  • Classes average 24.2 pupils; 3.2% of classes have more than 30 DfE, school workforce and pupil census · 2025/26
  • 15.9 pupils for each teacher DfE, school workforce · November 2025
  • Nearest stops, in a straight line: bus 187 m, rail 629 m DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes) · within 800 m
  • 6 police-reported road collisions within 500 m (0 fatal, 2 serious) DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years · 2021 to 2025
  • Air: nitrogen dioxide 6.9 µg/m³, PM2.5 7.0 (1 km square, background level) DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps · 2024

Who runs it

  • Acer Trust, with 9 schools DfE, Get Information about Schools: group links · joined January 2024
  • Opened as an academy (converter) on 1 July 2014 DfE, open academies list
  • Replaced The Cooper School (URN 123234) DfE, Get Information about Schools: links · 1 July 2014
  • We can't compare results before and after it converted: we hold results for only one side of the date, because DfE publishes a few years at a time.

Getting in

How far offers reached

How far away the last child offered a place under the distance rule lived, as the council measures it. It changes every year with who applies: a record, not a promise. Children with a higher priority can be offered places from further away.

Year 7. Distance of the last child offered a place on offer day. What the last distance means →

Last distance offeredAdd your home to this chart
16.5 mi8.250
2022202420252026

Offer day, year by year

EntryYearPlacesApplicationsOfferedRefusedLast distance (miles)
Year 72026220126190none16.24
Year 72025220181186none7.06
Year 72024220175190none7.9
Year 72023220170—none—
Year 72022220189216none1.76

Source: Council offer-day figures: Oxfordshire County Council, 2022 to 2026. A dash is a figure the council does not publish, not nought. Distances are straight lines from the school.

Applications and offers, DfE

EntryYearPlacesFirst choicesAny choiceFirst choices offered
Year 72026184120271120
Year 72025178173311173
Year 72024186171326171
Year 72023185164340164
Year 72022209183324183
Year 72021183161336161
Year 72020220253417201
Year 72019216214351209
Year 72018219245372210
Year 72017219232390208

Source: DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence), 2015 to 2026. Families name up to three schools, so most applications are somebody's second or third choice.

Could you get in?Enter a home or postcode: we set it against every year's last offer and this school's rules.

Results

Results

MeasureThis schoolEnglandCouncilYear
Progress 8-0.21+0.01+0.082023/2024
Attainment 843.947.447.02025/2026
English and maths grade 5 or above39%48%48%2025/2026
Average A level gradeC+——2022/2023

Source: DfE school performance tables, 2022/2023, 2023/2024, 2025/2026.

League table place

TableLeague rank
GCSE (key stage 4)(27/41)
A level (16 to 18)(28/36)

Source: DfE school performance tables: the newest year's results, place among the council's schools of the same phase.

Inspections

DateKindOutcome
25 February 2025Graded inspectionQuality of education: Good

Source: Ofsted, 2025.

Where leavers go

StageLeavers inPupilsIn a sustained placeOf which
After GCSEs2023/2423492%In education 81%; Apprenticeship 1.7%; Employment 9.0%
After GCSEs2022/2321790%In education 79%; Apprenticeship 7.8%; Employment 3.7%
After GCSEs2021/2221794%In education 85%; Apprenticeship 3.2%; Employment 6.5%
After sixth form2023/2411086%Further education 1.8%; Apprenticeship 3.6%; Employment 29%
After sixth form2022/2310592%Further education 1.0%; Apprenticeship 6.7%; Employment 23%
After sixth form2021/229493%Further education 5.3%; Apprenticeship 2.1%; Employment 22%

Source: DfE, destination measures. A figure DfE hides for a small group is left out, not shown as nought. The newest year may be provisional.

Oxfordshire league tableEvery school of this phase in the council on these results.See the table →

Daily life

Absence

YearSessions missedAuthorisedUnauthorisedPupils missing 1 in 10Pupils missing 1 in 2
2024/258.8%6.2%2.6%23%4.6%
2023/248.4%6.4%2.0%22%4.2%
2022/239.1%6.9%2.2%23%3.9%
Schools with a similar intake7.4%19%

Source: DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level, 2024-25. Similar intake: state schools of the same phase with free school meals in the same band (10-20%), the median of 831 schools.

Suspensions and exclusions

YearSuspensions per 100 pupilsPupils suspendedSuspensionsPermanent exclusions
2024/2515.75.5%1931
2023/248.43.7%1070
2022/2315.05.7%1941
Schools with a similar intake8.9

Source: DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level, 2024-25.

Class sizes and staff

MeasureFigureYear
Average class size24.22025/26
Classes over 30 pupils3.2%2025/26
Pupils for each teacher15.9November 2025

Source: DfE, school workforce; school census, 2025/26.

Stops nearby

KindNearest (metres, straight line)
bus187
rail629

Source: DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes), current. A stop across a railway or main road may be a long walk. Bus frequency is not held.

Road collisions within 500 m

YearCollisions
20250
20240
20233
20222
20211

Source: DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years, 2021 to 2025. 2 serious and 0 fatal in all; 1 involved a pedestrian, 2 a cyclist. Only collisions with an injury reported to police are counted.

Air quality

PollutantAnnual mean (µg/m³)Year
NO26.92024
PM1011.32024
PM257.02024

Source: DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps. A 1 km background figure: not the air at the school gate beside a busy road.

Pupils

Who goes there

MeasureShare of pupilsYear
Eligible for free school meals12%2025/26
First language other than English16%2025/26
SEN support20%2025/26
Education, health and care plan3.5%2025/26
Girls47%2025/26

Source: DfE, schools, pupils and their characteristics; special educational needs, 2025/26.

Who runs it

Who runs it

  • Acer Trust, with 9 schools DfE, Get Information about Schools: group links · joined January 2024
  • Opened as an academy (converter) on 1 July 2014 DfE, open academies list
  • Replaced The Cooper School (URN 123234) DfE, Get Information about Schools: links · 1 July 2014
  • We can't compare results before and after it converted: we hold results for only one side of the date, because DfE publishes a few years at a time.

Area

Homes in reach of this schoolLook up any home near here: its sales, an open-data valuation, and which schools it keeps in reach.Search homes →

Sources

  • Council offer-day figures: Oxfordshire County Council
  • DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps
  • DfE school performance tables
  • DfE school performance tables: the newest year's results, place among the council's schools of the same phase
  • DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence)
  • DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level
  • DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level
  • DfE, destination measures
  • DfE, school workforce; school census
  • DfE, schools, pupils and their characteristics; special educational needs
  • DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes)
  • DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years
  • Ofsted
  • School register: DfE Get Information about Schools (this school)
  • How we check these figures: How we know

More in schools in Bicester and the Oxfordshire league table. School register: DfE Get Information about Schools, updated 17 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources are named beside each figure. How we know · All sources.