Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School
Voluntary aided school · sixth form · 1,082 pupils
92% stayed in education · Attainment 8 46.0
Academy sponsor led
Reading Girls' School
- Pupils on roll
- 905of 947 places
- Free school meals
- 28.5%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 167
- Ofsted
- Good, 24 November 2021Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Reading Girls' School (URN 110096, until 21 March 2017).
What the data says
Reading Girls' School has no sixth form. Of the 86 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 6% moved to a sixth form college, 31% to a further education college and 1% started an apprenticeship.
Chemistry is unusually popular at GCSE: 98% of the year group took it, against 23% of pupils across England.
Most pupils take the three separate sciences: at least 98% sat Biology, Chemistry and Physics as individual GCSEs, compared with about 23% nationally.
GCSE results in 2025 were above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 51.8 against 46.1 across England and 50.2 in Reading, with 55% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Reading and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Reading Girls' School | Reading | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 86 | 1,475 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 91% | 93% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 90% | 89% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 52% | 51% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 6% | 9% | 13% |
| — further education college | 31% | 26% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 3% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 1% | 2% | 3% |
| Employment | 0% | 2% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 2% | 4% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 7% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Reading Girls' School | Reading | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 51.8 | 50.2 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 55% | 51% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 75% | 66% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 55% | 53% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.62 | 4.64 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 29% | 23% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 44.0 | 32.5 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 54.9 | 55.5 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 49% | 34% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 165 | 99% | 88% | 25% | 22% | 80% |
| English Language | 164 | 98% | 89% | 26% | 20% | 77% |
| Biology | 164 | 98% | 23% | 18% | 45% | 71% |
| English Literature | 164 | 98% | 86% | 29% | 21% | 88% |
| Physics | 163 | 98% | 23% | 14% | 46% | 64% |
| Chemistry | 163 | 98% | 23% | 20% | 47% | 68% |
| Spanish | 85 | 51% | 19% | 15% | 27% | 64% |
| Geography | 69 | 41% | 41% | 26% | 25% | 77% |
| History | 58 | 35% | 41% | 48% | 26% | 88% |
| Fine Art | 57 | 34% | 9% | 25% | 28% | 81% |
| Computer Science | 56 | 34% | 13% | 18% | 30% | 59% |
| Business Studies | 54 | 32% | 18% | 19% | 20% | 69% |
| Drama | 29 | 17% | 7% | 45% | 27% | 93% |
| French | 26 | 16% | 18% | 42% | 29% | 81% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 18 | 11% | 8% | 17% | 21% | 72% |
| Textiles | 12 | 7% | 2% | 8% | 27% | 58% |
| Chinese | 7 | 4% | 1% | 100% | 75% | 100% |
| Italian | 4 | 2% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Urdu | 3 | 2% | 1% | — | 42% | — |
| Russian | 3 | 2% | 0% | — | 87% | — |
| Arabic | 2 | 1% | 1% | — | 47% | — |
| Turkish | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 71% | — |
| Polish | 1 | 1% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 49 | — | — |
| Personal Health | 47 | — | — |
| Music performance: Group | 27 | — | — |
| Dance: General | 27 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Reading
Hartland High School
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 589 pupils
60% stayed in education
Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,537 pupils
95% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.4
Kendrick School
Academy converter · sixth form · 939 pupils
99% stayed in education · Attainment 8 84.0
King's Academy Prospect
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,157 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 36.8
Maiden Erlegh School in Reading
Free schools · 889 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.6
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.