Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre

General Info

Education Phase
Secondary, 16 plus
Ofsted rating
Good
Mar 27 2024 Ofsted report
Gender
Mixed
Age range
11 - 18 y.o.
Type
Academies
Funding
State-funded secondary
Admissions policy
Non-selective
Religious Character
None
Sixth Form
Has a sixth form
Local authority
Reading
Unique reference
136307
Address
Surley Row, Emmer Green, RG4 8LR

Pupils

Number of Pupils
1562 (91% of total capacity)
Boys
53.7%
Girls
46.3%
First language not English
15.8%
Free school meals (FSM)
8.6%
Persistent absence
22.9%
Special education needs (SEN)
10.6%
Pupil ethnicities
White British 61.9%
Mixed 8.3%
Other White 8%
Indian 3.6%
Other Asian 3.6%
Chinese 3.5%
Unclassified 3.1%
African 2.7%
Pakistani 1.5%
Other 1.4%
Other Black 1%
Bangladeshi 0.6%
Irish 0.4%
Caribbean 0.3%
Capacity %, Persistent absence: Year 2022-2023 Other Pupils data: Year 2023-2024

Exam Results

GCSE Results

Progress 8 score

This school
0.07
Local authority average, state-funded schools
0.03
England average, state-funded schools
-0.03

Entering EBacc

School 38%
Local authority average 44%
England average 39%

Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs

School 57%
Local authority average 50%
England average 45%

Attainment 8 score

School 53.4
Local authority average 50.1
England average 46.3

EBacc average point score

School 4.8
Local authority average 4.52
England average 4.05
Year 2022-2023

Subjects

GCSE Subjects

SubjectQualificationNumber of entries
Art & DesignGCSE26
Art & Design (Fine Art)GCSE1
Art & Design (Textiles)GCSE13
Art & Design (Graphics)GCSE21
BiologyGCSE73
Business Studies:SingleGCSE85
ChemistryGCSE73
ChineseGCSE41
Social Science: CitizenshipGCSE192
Computer Studies/ComputingGCSE45
Year 2023-2024

Admissions

Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre

Admission Policy
Non-selective
Total available places
243
Status
Not oversubscribed
This school is Not Oversubscribed because there were fewer 1st preference applications than available places.

Applications

1st preference
211
2nd preference
124
3rd preference
97
From another Local Authority
52
Breakdown of applications made to this school within the deadline (in-year applications are excluded)

Offers

1st preference
182
2nd preference
43
3rd preference
13
To another Local Authority
1
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 classes21.8
Year 2023-2024

Cohort sizes

Class type
Total
Boys
Girls
Year 7
250
140
110
Year 8
247
147
100
Year 9
248
127
121
Year 10
249
147
102
Year 11
277
144
133
Year 12
144
78
66
Year 13
147
56
91
Year 2023-2024

Participation in Education, Training, Employment

Destinations after GCSEs
School
LA
England
Staying in education
87.0%
87.8%
85.6%
Further education
20.0%
21.6%
35.4%
School sixth form
52.0%
57.5%
36.6%
Sixth form college
16.0%
8.5%
13.0%
Other education destinations
0.0%
0.2%
0.5%
Entering employment
6.0%
4.4%
4.1%
Entering apprenticeships
1.0%
1.4%
3.2%
Not in education or employment
4.0%
4.5%
5.9%
Destination unknown
3.0%
1.9%
1.2%
School: Year 2023-2024 Local authority: Year 2022-2023 England: Year 2022-2023

Progression to Higher Education or Training

Destinations after A‑levels
School
LA
England
Degrees
72.0%
77.3%
65.5%
Top third higher education institutions
36.0%
49.0%
23.8%
Other study at level 4 or 5
0.0%
1.0%
2.5%
Higher apprenticeships
2.0%
4.0%
2.2%
School: Year 2023-2024 Local authority: Year 2020-2021 England: Year 2020-2021