Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre

State-Funded School

highdown-school-and-sixth-form-centre-reading-south-east

South EastRegion

ReadingLocal Authority

Reading CentralConstituency

RG4 8LRPostcode

7.8

Academic Performance

Ofsted

About the School

Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre is a state-funded secondary for pupils aged 11–18, located in Reading, South East.

The school is rated Good by Ofsted. It currently serves 1,537 pupils. Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre is part of GLF Schools.

Ofsted Rating

Safeguarding effective

Rating last maintained

2024

Subject Areas

Leadership &management

Good

Sixth formprovision

Requires improvement

Academic Performance

Above average

Ranked against secondary schools in England · 2024-25

Attainment 8: 50.4
Grade 5+ in English & maths: 57.3%
EBacc average point score: 4.61

Ethnicity

White

68%

Asian

10%

Black

Mixed

Chinese

Any other group

Unclassified

Pupils

1,537

Total Pupils

55%Boys

45%Girls

Pupil Characteristics

Free school meals

England average

27%

First language not English

14%

England average

22%

Young carers

England average

0%25%50%75%100%

DfE school census, January 2026.

Key Information

Phase: Secondary
Age range: 11 – 18
Deprivation band: Least deprived
Total pupils: 1,537
IDACI quintile: 1 (Most deprived)
MAT name: GLF Schools

Inspection history

Ofsted has published one graded inspection for this school. The most recent ungraded inspection is shown below.

School remains Good

Ungraded inspection on 27 March 2024. An ungraded inspection checks whether the existing grade still holds; it does not award a new one.

Read the inspection letter on Ofsted

Report published					Overall
2 Jun 2015	Good	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Good

A grey dot means Ofsted did not report that judgement in the inspection of the day — the sub-judgements shown here were introduced with the 2019 framework.

Ofsted data as at 31 December 2024. A school may have been inspected since, or had an ungraded visit that does not change its grade — check Ofsted’s own record.