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State secondary · 11 to 18 · Mixed · 1,537 pupils

Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre

Surley Row, Emmer Green, Reading, RG4 8LR
Compare
Ofsted: School remains Good · March 2024Top 34% (3/9)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: 503rd of 3,223 on the same figure. Band: Top 34%.
Top 34% (3/9)Rank among 9 Reading secondaries with results, 2026 results (Attainment 8)
See the Reading league table →
Inspection
School remains Good, March 2024
Getting in
Last offer 3.73 mi (2026)
Results
+0.25 progress 8; 54.9 attainment 8
Size
1,537 pupils; 243 places a year; classes of 23
Run by
Glf Schools
Type
Academy converter
Ages
11 to 18 · Mixed
Strengths, and things to check
  • Progress 8: +0.25, against +0.02 in Reading.
  • Attainment 8: 54.9, against 51.9 in Reading.
Could your child get in?Offers reached between 0.96 and 3.73 miles in the last 4 years we hold. Enter your postcode to see where your home falls.Check a postcode ↓ Schools for usRank every school near you by the measures that matter to your family, each reason shown.Rank schools →

At a glance

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SourceWhere these figures come from

How it is worked outReading 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.

Against Reading and England
This schoolReadingEnglandHover 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.
+0.25
Better than Reading
Attainment 8The average GCSE score across eight subjects, including English and maths counted twice. A grade 5 in all eight would score 50.
54.9
Better than Reading
English and maths, grade 5+The share of pupils with grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE (a strong pass).
64%
Better than Reading
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.
8.3%
In line with Reading
Persistently absentPupils who missed one session in ten or more. Lower is better.
21.0%
Better than Reading
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.
10.6
Better than Reading
Pupils and classes
Average class sizeAverage pupils per class, from the school census. Shown for context, not as a score.
22.6
Context
Free school mealsPupils eligible for free school meals. Context for reading the results, not a measure of the school.
9%
Context
Pupils for each teacherPupils on roll for each full-time teacher, from the school workforce census. Shown for context.
16.2
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.
0.8
In line with Reading
COULD YOUR CHILD GET IN? · YEAR 7 2027
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SourceReading Borough Council offer-day figures, 2022 to 2026.

How it is worked outThe bars show how far the last place offered reached each year. A full bar means everyone who applied was offered a place; a dash means we hold no distance for that year. Your postcode is set against each year's last distance.

Things to know
  • A record of past years, not a promise: the distance changes every year with who applies.

Offers reached between 0.96 and 3.73 miles in the last 4 years we hold. Enter your postcode to see where your home falls.

Bars: how far the last place offered reached each year. Check your postcode and each year turns green where a place reached your home.

Free, no account needed. Your postcode is used for this check and not kept.

Offers

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
4 mi20
2022202320242026

Offer day, year by year

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SourceCouncil offer-day figures: Reading Borough Council, 2022 to 2026.

Things to know
  • Distances are straight lines from the school.
EntryYearPlacesApplicationsOfferedRefusedLast distance (miles)
Year 72026250—250413.73
Year 72024250—250271.27
Year 72023250—250211.3
Year 72022250—250730.96

A dash is a figure the council does not publish, not nought.

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

Results

Quality

i

SourceOfsted · inspected 27 March 2024
DfE school performance tables · 2023/2024
DfE school performance tables · 2025/2026

  • School remains Good
  • Progress 8: +0.25 (England +0.01) (county +0.02)
  • Attainment 8: 54.9 (England 47.4) (county 51.9)
  • English and maths grade 5 or above: 64% (England 48%) (county 56%)
  • Progress, set against pupils who started with the same results: above average

Results

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SourceDfE school performance tables, 2023/2024, 2024/2025, 2025/2026.

MeasureThis schoolEnglandCouncilYear
Progress 8+0.25+0.01+0.022023/2024
Attainment 854.947.451.92025/2026
English and maths grade 5 or above64%48%56%2025/2026
Average A level gradeC+——2024/2025

League table place

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

TableLeague rank
GCSE (key stage 4)Top 34% (3/9)
A level (16 to 18)Top 43% (3/7)

Where leavers go

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SourceDfE, destination measures.

Things to know
  • A figure DfE hides for a small group is left out, not shown as nought. The newest year may be provisional.
StageLeavers inPupilsIn a sustained placeOf which
After GCSEs2023/2427795%In education 92%; Apprenticeship 1.1%; Employment 1.8%
After GCSEs2022/2323498%In education 95%; Apprenticeship 1.7%; Employment 1.7%
After GCSEs2021/2224094%In education 89%; Apprenticeship 0.8%; Employment 4.2%
After sixth form2023/2415187%Further education 1.3%; Apprenticeship 1.3%; Employment 20%
After sixth form2022/2315087%Further education 2.7%; Apprenticeship 3.3%; Employment 36%
After sixth form2021/2215690%Further education 1.9%; Apprenticeship 3.2%; Employment 20%
Reading league tableEvery school of this phase in the council on these results.See the table →

Daily life and who goes there

Daily life

i

SourceDfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level · 2024/25
DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level · 2024/25
DfE, school workforce and pupil census · 2025/26
DfE, school workforce · November 2025
DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes) · within 800 m
DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years · 2021 to 2025
DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps · 2024

  • Absence: 8.3% of sessions missed; 21% of pupils miss 1 in 10 or more. Schools with a similar intake: 5.4% and 13%
  • Suspensions: 11 per 100 pupils (schools with a similar intake: 3); 1 permanent exclusion
  • Classes average 22.6 pupils; 7.0% of classes have more than 30
  • 16.2 pupils for each teacher
  • Nearest stops, in a straight line: bus 190 m
  • 4 police-reported road collisions within 500 m (0 fatal, 0 serious)
  • Air: nitrogen dioxide 8.2 µg/m³, PM2.5 6.9 (1 km square, background level)

Absence

i

SourceDfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level, 2024-25.

Things to know
  • Similar intake: state schools of the same phase with free school meals in the same band (under 10%), the median of 246 schools.
YearSessions missedAuthorisedUnauthorisedPupils missing 1 in 10Pupils missing 1 in 2
2024/258.3%4.8%3.5%21%4.0%
2023/248.3%4.8%3.5%21%2.4%
2022/237.9%5.4%2.5%23%1.9%
Schools with a similar intake5.4%13%

Suspensions and exclusions

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

YearSuspensions per 100 pupilsPupils suspendedSuspensionsPermanent exclusions
2024/2510.65.0%1641
2023/248.53.1%1332
2022/236.03.0%951
Schools with a similar intake2.5

Class sizes and staff

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SourceDfE, school workforce; school census, 2025/26.

MeasureFigureYear
Average class size22.62025/26
Classes over 30 pupils7.0%2025/26
Pupils for each teacher16.2November 2025

Stops nearby

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SourceDfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes), current.

Things to know
  • A stop across a railway or main road may be a long walk. Bus frequency is not held.
KindNearest (metres, straight line)
bus190

Road collisions within 500 m

i

SourceDfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years, 2021 to 2025.

Things to know
  • 0 serious and 0 fatal in all; 2 involved a pedestrian, 1 a cyclist. Only collisions with an injury reported to police are counted.
YearCollisions
20251
20242
20230
20221
20210

Air quality

i

SourceDEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps.

Things to know
  • A 1 km background figure: not the air at the school gate beside a busy road.
PollutantAnnual mean (µg/m³)Year
NO28.22024
PM1010.42024
PM256.92024

Who goes there

i

SourceDfE, schools, pupils and their characteristics; special educational needs, 2025/26.

MeasureShare of pupilsYear
Eligible for free school meals9.4%2025/26
First language other than English14%2025/26
SEN support13%2025/26
Education, health and care plan2.2%2025/26
Girls45%2025/26

Ofsted

Inspections

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SourceOfsted, 2024.

DateKindOutcome
27 March 2024Ungraded visitSchool remains Good

Admissions

Getting in

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SourceDfE, school applications and offers · Year 7 2026

  • 191 families put it first for 243 places; 183 of them got in
  • We hold no catchment map for this school, so we can't say which addresses are inside it.

Applications and offers, DfE

i

SourceDfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence), 2014 to 2026.

Things to know
  • Families name up to three schools, so most applications are somebody's second or third choice.
EntryYearPlacesFirst choicesAny choiceFirst choices offered
Year 72026243191479183
Year 72025245182402182
Year 72024243211500182
Year 72023250227507203
Year 72022246271513204
Year 72021248265562185
Year 72020248283527208
Year 72019276294536230
Year 72018246302522206
Year 72017249223482205

Who runs it

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SourceDfE, Get Information about Schools: group links · joined October 2024
DfE, open academies list
DfE, Get Information about Schools: links · 1 November 2010

  • Glf Schools, with 43 schools
  • Opened as an academy (converter) on 1 November 2010
  • Replaced Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre (URN 110044)
  • 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.

Fees and clubs

State schools charge no tuition fees. Breakfast clubs, after-school clubs and holiday clubs are set by each school: ask the school what it runs and what it costs.

Childcare costsWhat wraparound care and early years places cost, and what funding covers.See costs →

Nearby

Schools nearby

River Academy1.3 miKendrick School2.2 miReading School2.5 miThe WREN School2.6 miCompare side by side →

Nurseries nearby

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SourceOfsted early years register.

Monkeymoos Highdown0.1 miles
Emmer Green Pre-School0.3 miles
Emmer Green Kindergarten0.4 miles
St Andrews Pre-school0.6 miles
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: Reading Borough 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, updated 17 October 2026 (this school)
  • How we check these figures: How we know

More in schools in Reading and the Reading league table.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources and methods: tap the (i) on each section. How we know · All sources.