Guildford County School

Guildford · GU2 4LU

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1170 pupils, 9.7% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted: Outstanding

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN SEN unit · 11.1% on SEN support Behaviour 6.9% absence rate Staff 13.8% turnover Financials £7,817 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Guildford County School

General Information

Address: Farnham Road, Guildford, GU2 4LU – View on map
Phone: 01483504089
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Steve Smith
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 237 families put it first for 171 places – 14 for every 10 places. 71% of them were offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 16 · 2024 16 · 2025 13 · 2026 14
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1170 pupils out of 1187 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 88
% eligible for free school meals: 9.7%
Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (more mixed than the Guildford average)
English as an additional language: 24% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 13.8% a year (Guildford 14.8%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 35% moved to another school, 65% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Surrey: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 95 (1.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 179 (2.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 37 (0.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Surrey (the council area this school is in), not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 6.9%
Persistently absent pupils: 16.9%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

SEN unit for Autism 25 places · 7 pupils at the last count

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 11.1%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.4%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 37 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 34 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 26 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 13 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 10 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 27 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 8 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 4 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Outstanding 2023 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 54.8
Compared with the area: in line with the Guildford average (54.7)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (+1.2 points against an expected 53.6)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 80% (Guildford 80%, England 65%) Broadly steady
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolGuildford averageEngland↘ Falling Down 3.7 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was in line with the Guildford average (54.7).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

4th of 7 secondary schools in Guildford for Attainment 8

#2George Abbot School58.2
#3Howard of Effingham School57.1
#4Guildford County School54.8
#5Ash Manor School49.7
#6Kings College Guildford44.4

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1St Peter's Catholic School63.6
#2George Abbot School58.2
#3Howard of Effingham School57.1
#4Guildford County School54.8
#5Ash Manor School49.7
#6Kings College Guildford44.4
#7Christ's College, Guildford42.5

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 96.0%
Went into further education: 93.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

English Language
Maths (General)
English Literature
History
Science Double Award
Spanish
Business Studies
Physics (General)
Biology
Chemistry (General)
French Language
Sports Studies
Geography
Art & Design
Religious Studies
Computer Science
Music Studies (General)
Food Technology
German
D & T
Media Studies
Speech & Drama
Latin
Chinese
Photography
Community Development
Polish
Arabic
Portuguese
Greek
Russian
Japanese Language
Italian

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

1st of 7 secondary schools in Guildford for Ofsted rating

#1Guildford County SchoolOutstanding
#2St Peter's Catholic SchoolOutstanding
#3Ash Manor SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Guildford County SchoolOutstanding
#2St Peter's Catholic SchoolOutstanding
#3Ash Manor SchoolGood
#4Christ's College, GuildfordGood
#5George Abbot SchoolGood
#6Howard of Effingham SchoolGood
#7Kings College GuildfordGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,817 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

3rd of 7 secondary schools in Guildford for spending per pupil

#1Kings College Guildford£8,834
#2Christ's College, Guildford£8,426
#3Guildford County School£7,817
#4St Peter's Catholic School£7,656
#5Ash Manor School£7,389

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Kings College Guildford£8,834
#2Christ's College, Guildford£8,426
#3Guildford County School£7,817
#4St Peter's Catholic School£7,656
#5Ash Manor School£7,389
#6George Abbot School£7,083
#7Howard of Effingham School£6,603

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Surrey: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered