Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre

General Information

Address: Surley Row, Emmer Green, Reading, RG4 8LR
Phone: 01189015800
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Ms Laura Mathews
Age range: 11-18 years
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Number of pupils: 1537
School capacity: 1440
Pupils eligible for free school meals: 129
% eligible for free school meals: 10.5%
Nursery provision: No

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.

Behaviour information for this school has not been added yet.

Attendance

Overall absence: 8.3%
Persistently absent pupils: 21.0%
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

Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

SEN provision information for this school has not been added yet.

Pupils on SEN Support: 12.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.2%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Autistic spectrum disorder: 63 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 53 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 50 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 8 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 6 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 14 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 9 pupils
Physical disability: 3 pupils
Vision impairment: 3 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 3 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.

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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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Educational Attainment

Good 2024 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.

Educational attainment data for this school has not been added yet.

Attainment 8 score: 50.4
Data year: 2024/25

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.

Ranked #4 of 9 Attainment 8 schools of this type in the area

#2Reading School83.0
#3Reading Girls' School51.8
#4Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre50.4
#5Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School46.0
#6Maiden Erlegh School in Reading45.6

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

#1Kendrick School84.0
#2Reading School83.0
#3Reading Girls' School51.8
#4Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre50.4
#5Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School46.0
#6Maiden Erlegh School in Reading45.6
#7The WREN School44.8
#8UTC Reading42.0
#9King's Academy Prospect36.8

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 98.0%
Went into further education: 95.0%
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
Science Double Award
History
Geography
Business Studies
Sports Studies
Physics (General)
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Community Development
Music Studies (General)
Art & Design
Spanish
Computer Science
Food Technology
French Language
Chinese
Economics
Speech & Drama
Statistics
D & T
Photography
Religious Studies
Portuguese
Russian
Italian
Greek

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

Ranked #4 of 9 Ofsted Rating schools of this type in the area

#2Reading SchoolOutstanding
#3Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic SchoolGood
#4Highdown School and Sixth Form CentreGood
#5King's Academy ProspectGood
#6Maiden Erlegh School in ReadingGood

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.

#1Kendrick SchoolOutstanding
#2Reading SchoolOutstanding
#3Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic SchoolGood
#4Highdown School and Sixth Form CentreGood
#5King's Academy ProspectGood
#6Maiden Erlegh School in ReadingGood
#7Reading Girls' SchoolGood
#8The WREN SchoolRequires improvement
#9Hartland High SchoolInadequate

Financials

Financial summary information for this school has not been added yet.

Spending per pupil, and how this school compares to others nearby, will appear here once we've linked in official DfE spending data.

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

General Information

Behaviour

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

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered