Upper Shirley High School

Southampton · SO15 7QU

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 1062 pupils, 30.4% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 12% on SEN support Behaviour 8.3% absence rate Staff 11.4% turnover Financials £7,653 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Upper Shirley High School

General Information

Address: Bellemoor Road, Upper Shirley, Southampton, SO15 7QU – View on map
Phone: 02380325333
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Christopher Sykes
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 248 families put it first for 215 places – 12 for every 10 places. 79% 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 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 11 · 2026 12
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1062 pupils out of 990 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 323
% eligible for free school meals: 30.4%
Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (similar to the Southampton average)
English as an additional language: 32% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 11.4% a year (Southampton 16.5%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 47% moved to another school, 53% 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. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

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 Southampton: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 17 (1.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 25 (1.8 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 17 (1.2 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 Southampton, 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: 8.3%
Persistently absent pupils: 20.5%
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: 12.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.6%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 30 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 25 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 23 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 22 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 13 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 14 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 11 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 6 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil

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

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

–

Headteacher Approval

–

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 2019 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: 47.0
Compared with the area: 3.9 points above the Southampton average (43.1)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (−2.2 points against an expected 49.2)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 68% (Southampton 59%, 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 schoolSouthampton averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 3.9 points above the Southampton average (43.1).

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.

3rd of 11 secondary schools in Southampton for Attainment 8

#1Saint George Catholic Voluntary Aided College Southampton60.0
#2St Anne's Catholic School55.6
#3Upper Shirley High School47.0
#4Cantell School46.9
#5Oasis Academy Sholing43.3

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Saint George Catholic Voluntary Aided College Southampton60.0
#2St Anne's Catholic School55.6
#3Upper Shirley High School47.0
#4Cantell School46.9
#5Oasis Academy Sholing43.3
#6Bitterne Park School43.1
#7Oasis Academy Lord's Hill37.0
#8Oasis Academy Mayfield37.0
#9Woodlands Community College35.5
#10Redbridge Community School32.2
#11Weston Secondary School31.1

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 92.0%
Went into further education: 89.0%
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
Geography
Sports Studies
Business Studies
History
Art & Design
Spanish
Computer Science
Food Technology
Photography
Religious Studies
Community Development
French Language
Speech & Drama
Biology
D & T
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
Polish
Media Studies
Russian
Punjabi
Arabic
Chinese
Urdu

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

9th of 12 secondary schools in Southampton for Ofsted rating

#7Regents Park Community CollegeGood
#8St Mark's Church of England SchoolGood
#9Upper Shirley High SchoolGood
#10Woodlands Community CollegeGood
#11Weston Secondary SchoolRequires improvement

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

#1Cantell SchoolOutstanding
#2Saint George Catholic Voluntary Aided College SouthamptonOutstanding
#3St Anne's Catholic SchoolOutstanding
#4Bitterne Park SchoolGood
#5Oasis Academy MayfieldGood
#6Redbridge Community SchoolGood
#7Regents Park Community CollegeGood
#8St Mark's Church of England SchoolGood
#9Upper Shirley High SchoolGood
#10Woodlands Community CollegeGood
#11Weston Secondary SchoolRequires improvement
#12Oasis Academy Lord's HillInadequate

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,653 (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.

10th of 12 secondary schools in Southampton for spending per pupil

#8St Anne's Catholic School£7,884
#9Saint George Catholic Voluntary Aided College Southampton£7,699
#10Upper Shirley High School£7,653
#11Oasis Academy Sholing£6,764
#12St Mark's Church of England School£5,779

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

#1Weston Secondary School£9,256
#2Woodlands Community College£9,208
#3Redbridge Community School£9,132
#4Cantell School£8,959
#5Oasis Academy Lord's Hill£8,711
#6Bitterne Park School£8,677
#7Oasis Academy Mayfield£7,907
#8St Anne's Catholic School£7,884
#9Saint George Catholic Voluntary Aided College Southampton£7,699
#10Upper Shirley High School£7,653
#11Oasis Academy Sholing£6,764
#12St Mark's Church of England School£5,779

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 Southampton: 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