The Downs School

General Info

Education Phase
Secondary, 16 plus
Ofsted rating
Outstanding
Jun 6 2013 Ofsted report
Gender
Mixed
Age range
11 - 18 y.o.
Type
Local authority maintained schools
Funding
State-funded secondary
Admissions policy
Non-selective
Religious Character
None
Sixth Form
Has a sixth form
Local authority
West Berkshire
Unique reference
110102
Address
Manor Crescent, Compton, RG20 6AD

Pupils

Number of Pupils
1405 (100% of total capacity)
Boys
51.3%
Girls
48.7%
First language not English
1.4%
Free school meals (FSM)
8.7%
Persistent absence
17.8%
Special education needs (SEN)
9.9%
Pupil ethnicities
White British 88.3%
Other White 4.5%
Mixed 3.8%
Other Asian 0.7%
Other 0.6%
Unclassified 0.6%
Indian 0.4%
Pakistani 0.4%
Irish 0.2%
African 0.2%
Bangladeshi 0.1%
Caribbean 0.1%
Capacity %: Year 2022-2023 Persistent absence and other Pupils data: Year 2023-2024

Exam Results

GCSE Results

Progress 8 score

This school
0.78
Local authority average, state-funded schools
0.22
England average, state-funded schools
-0.03

Entering EBacc

School 55%
Local authority average 47%
England average 39%

Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs

School 68%
Local authority average 50%
England average 45%

Attainment 8 score

School 57.1
Local authority average 49.1
England average 46.3

EBacc average point score

School 5.17
Local authority average 4.37
England average 4.05
Year 2022-2023

Subjects

GCSE Subjects

SubjectQualificationNumber of entries
Music Studies (General)Technical Award10
Dance: GeneralTechnical Award5
Health StudiesTechnical Award24
MultimediaTechnical Award21
Art & Design (Fine Art)GCSE30
BiologyGCSE78
Business Studies:SingleGCSE58
ChemistryGCSE77
Computer Studies/ComputingGCSE42
Design & TechnologyGCSE40
Year 2022-2023

Admissions

The Downs School

Admission Policy
Non-selective
Total available places
205
Status
Oversubscribed
This school is Oversubscribed because there were more 1st preference applications than available places.

Applications

1st preference
259
2nd preference
169
3rd preference
93
From another Local Authority
252
Breakdown of applications made to this school within the deadline (in-year applications are excluded)

Offers

1st preference
196
2nd preference
9
3rd preference
0
To another Local Authority
12
Breakdown of offers made on National Offer Day (in-year applications are excluded)
Year 2024-2025

Class sizes

Class typeClass size
Average size of one-teacher classes22.6
Year 2023-2024

Cohort sizes

Class type
Total
Boys
Girls
Year 7
210
112
98
Year 8
209
103
106
Year 9
209
116
93
Year 10
209
109
100
Year 11
207
103
104
Year 12
199
97
102
Year 13
162
81
81
Year 2023-2024

Participation in Education, Training, Employment

Destinations after GCSEs
School
LA
England
Staying in education
89.0%
86.9%
86.5%
Further education
12.0%
21.1%
34.7%
School sixth form
69.0%
60.2%
37.9%
Sixth form college
2.0%
4.1%
13.1%
Other education destinations
7.0%
1.5%
0.9%
Entering employment
3.0%
4.9%
3.9%
Entering apprenticeships
4.0%
4.0%
3.4%
Not in education or employment
2.0%
3.6%
5.2%
Destination unknown
1.0%
0.6%
1.0%
School: Year 2022-2023 Local authority: Year 2021-2022 England: Year 2021-2022

Progression to Higher Education or Training

Destinations after A‑levels
School
LA
England
Degrees
79.0%
64.4%
64.0%
Top third higher education institutions
34.0%
21.8%
19.7%
Russell Group
29.0%
19.7%
17.7%
Oxford or Cambridge
1.0%
1.3%
1.0%
Other study at level 4 or 5
0.0%
0.7%
2.6%
Higher apprenticeships
5.0%
2.3%
1.7%
School: Year 2022-2023 Local authority: Year 2019-2020 England: Year 2019-2020