St Birinus School

South Oxfordshire · OX11 8AZ

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1237 pupils, 16.5% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 20.8% on SEN support Behaviour 8.9% absence rate Staff 19.5% turnover Financials £6,792 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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St Birinus School

General Information

Address: Mereland Road, Didcot, OX11 8AZ – View on map
Phone: 01235814444
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr William Manning
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 196 families put it first for 235 places – 8 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 12 · 2025 9 · 2026 8
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Boys
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1237 pupils out of 1428 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 177
% eligible for free school meals: 16.5%
Pupil mix: 5 in 10 (more mixed than the South Oxfordshire average)
English as an additional language: 15% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 19.5% a year (South Oxfordshire 13.1%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 42% moved to another school, 58% 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 Oxfordshire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 53 (1.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 88 (2.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 46 (1.0 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 Oxfordshire (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: 8.9%
Persistently absent pupils: 19.9%
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

No dedicated Unit or 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.

Pupils on SEN Support: 20.8%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.7%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 82 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 52 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 47 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 36 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 27 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 18 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 14 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 12 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils
Moderate 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.

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

Good 2020 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: 48.2
Compared with the area: 2.7 points below the South Oxfordshire average (50.9)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (−0.8 points against an expected 49.0)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 71% (South Oxfordshire 74%, 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 schoolSouth Oxfordshire averageEngland↘ Falling Down 3.5 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 2.7 points below the South Oxfordshire average (50.9).

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.

7th of 10 secondary schools in South Oxfordshire for Attainment 8

#5Wheatley Park School51.5
#6Icknield Community College51.2
#7St Birinus School48.2
#8Lord Williams's School46.2
#9Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge44.3

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Gillotts School61.3
#2Didcot Girls' School58.8
#3Langtree School58.0
#4Wallingford School53.9
#5Wheatley Park School51.5
#6Icknield Community College51.2
#7St Birinus School48.2
#8Lord Williams's School46.2
#9Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge44.3
#10Europa School UK0.9

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 93.0%
Went into further education: 82.0%
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

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

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

8th of 10 secondary schools in South Oxfordshire for Ofsted rating

#6Lord Williams's SchoolGood
#7Maiden Erlegh Chiltern EdgeGood
#8St Birinus SchoolGood
#9Wallingford SchoolGood
#10Wheatley Park 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

#1Didcot Girls' SchoolOutstanding
#2Gillotts SchoolOutstanding
#3Europa School UKGood
#4Icknield Community CollegeGood
#5Langtree SchoolGood
#6Lord Williams's SchoolGood
#7Maiden Erlegh Chiltern EdgeGood
#8St Birinus SchoolGood
#9Wallingford SchoolGood
#10Wheatley Park SchoolGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,792 (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.

6th of 9 secondary schools in South Oxfordshire for spending per pupil

#4Lord Williams's School£7,155
#5Wheatley Park School£7,134
#6St Birinus School£6,792
#7Didcot Girls' School£6,786
#8Europa School UK£6,416

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

#1Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge£8,843
#2Langtree School£7,853
#3Icknield Community College£7,210
#4Lord Williams's School£7,155
#5Wheatley Park School£7,134
#6St Birinus School£6,792
#7Didcot Girls' School£6,786
#8Europa School UK£6,416
#9Gillotts School£3,568

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 Oxfordshire: 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