The Wavell School
Lynchford Road, Farnborough, GU14 6BH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Emma Wright
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Constituency
- Aldershot
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,016
- Pupils on roll
- 1,042
- URN
- 116448
- Local authority
- Hampshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01252341256
About this school
The Wavell School is a community secondary school in Farnborough. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,042 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 197 | 203 | 203 |
| Attainment 8 score | 52.0 | 49.2 | 44.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.09 -0.11 to +0.29 | +0.20 +0.01 to +0.40 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 55% | 46.3% | 35% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 75% | 70.4% | 66% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 45% | 41.4% | 39.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.0 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How The Wavell School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Hampshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 52 | 37.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 49.2 | 37.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44 | 37.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,015 |
| 2023/24 | 1,018 |
| 2024/25 | 1,029 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Wavell School compares
The Wavell School ranked 39th of 67 secondary schools in Hampshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44 | 7.5% | 15.1% | 1,042 | — |
| Cove School | 42.7 | 8.8% | 28.3% | 1,007 | 2.2 miles |
| Ash Manor School | 49.7 | 8.1% | 18.9% | 1,252 | 2.5 miles |
| All Hallows Catholic School | — | 6.3% | 13.1% | 1,514 | 2.7 miles |
| Bohunt Farnborough | 38.7 | 12.5% | 35% | 599 | 3.1 miles |
| Farnham Heath End | 44.8 | 8.5% | 16.7% | 1,059 | 3.1 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 15.06%
- English as an additional language
- 25.2%
- Overall absence
- 7.48%
- Persistent absence
- 18.02%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Cove School2.2 miles
Secondary · Farnborough
-
Ash Manor School2.5 miles
Secondary · Ash
-
All Hallows Catholic School2.7 miles
Secondary · Farnham
-
Bohunt Farnborough3.1 miles
Secondary · Farnborough
-
Farnham Heath End3.1 miles
Secondary · Farnham
Other schools in Farnborough
- Bohunt Farnborough Secondary
- Cove School Secondary
- Cherrywood Community Primary School Primary
- Cove Infant School Primary
- Cove Junior School Primary
- Farnborough Grange Nursery & Infant Community School Primary
- Grange Community Junior School Primary
- Guillemont Junior School Primary
- Manor Infant School Primary
- Manor Junior School Primary
- North Farnborough Infant School Primary
- Parsonage Farm Nursery and Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Wavell School teach?
- The Wavell School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Farnborough.
- Who is the headteacher of The Wavell School?
- The headteacher of The Wavell School is Mrs Emma Wright, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Wavell School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Wavell School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is The Wavell School?
- The Wavell School has 1,042 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Wavell School full?
- The Wavell School has capacity for 1,016 pupils and 1,042 on roll (103%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Wavell School a faith school?
- No. The Wavell School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Wavell School a selective school?
- No. The Wavell School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does The Wavell School have?
- The schools register lists The Wavell School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Wavell School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 52 in 2022/23 and 44 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Wavell School rank locally?
- The Wavell School ranked 39th of 67 secondary schools in Hampshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Wavell School's absence rate?
- The Wavell School's overall absence rate is 7.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Wavell School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Wavell School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.