Woodlands Community College
Minstead Avenue, Harefield, Southampton, SO18 5FW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- Reach Cooperative Trust
- Headteacher
- Mr James Henderson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Southampton Itchen
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 907
- URN
- 116465
- Local authority
- Southampton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02380463303
About this school
Woodlands Community College is a foundation secondary school in Southampton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 907 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Woodlands Community College, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 127 | 182 | 176 |
| Attainment 8 score | 31.4 | 33.7 | 35.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.01 -1.27 to -0.75 | -0.89 -1.10 to -0.68 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 19% | 19.2% | 15.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 34% | 38.5% | 40.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 24% | 19.8% | 24.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.7 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
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 Woodlands Community College has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Southampton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 31.4 | 38 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 33.7 | 34.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 35.5 | 34 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 844 |
| 2023/24 | 892 |
| 2024/25 | 901 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Woodlands Community College compares
Woodlands Community College ranked 9th of 11 secondary schools in Southampton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 28% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35.5 | 14.3% | 55.5% | 907 | — |
| Oasis Academy Sholing | 43.3 | 11% | 33.5% | 1,030 | 1.4 miles |
| Bitterne Park School | 43.1 | 10.6% | 30.5% | 2,036 | 1.6 miles |
| Wildern School | 48.6 | 8.4% | 17.7% | 1,674 | 1.6 miles |
| Oasis Academy Mayfield | 37 | 12.4% | 46.2% | 884 | 1.9 miles |
| Weston Secondary School | 31.1 | 12.1% | 58.1% | 653 | 2.3 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 55.49%
- English as an additional language
- 19.3%
- Overall absence
- 14.25%
- Persistent absence
- 35.57%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Oasis Academy Sholing1.4 miles
Secondary · Southampton
-
Bitterne Park School1.6 miles
Secondary · Southampton
-
Wildern School1.6 miles
Secondary · Southampton
-
Oasis Academy Mayfield1.9 miles
Secondary · Southampton
-
Weston Secondary School2.3 miles
Secondary · Southampton
Other schools in Southampton
Woodlands Community College ranks 18th of the 20 ranked secondary schools in Southampton.
- Applemore College Secondary
- Bitterne Park School Secondary
- Brookfield Community School Secondary
- Cantell School Secondary
- Deer Park School Secondary
- Hounsdown School Secondary
- Lift New Forest Secondary
- Noadswood School Secondary
- Oasis Academy Lord's Hill Secondary
- Oasis Academy Mayfield Secondary
- Oasis Academy Sholing Secondary
- Redbridge Community School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Woodlands Community College teach?
- Woodlands Community College teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Southampton.
- Who is the headteacher of Woodlands Community College?
- The headteacher of Woodlands Community College is Mr James Henderson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Woodlands Community College been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Woodlands Community College, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Woodlands Community College?
- Woodlands Community College has 907 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Woodlands Community College full?
- Woodlands Community College has capacity for 900 pupils and 907 on roll (101%), 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 Woodlands Community College a faith school?
- No. Woodlands Community College has no designated religious character.
- Is Woodlands Community College a selective school?
- No. Woodlands Community College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Woodlands Community College part of an academy trust?
- Woodlands Community College is part of Reach Cooperative Trust. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Woodlands Community College have?
- The schools register lists Woodlands Community College's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Woodlands Community College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 31.4 in 2022/23 and 35.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Woodlands Community College compare with other schools in Southampton?
- Woodlands Community College ranked 9th of 11 secondary schools in Southampton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 28% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Woodlands Community College's absence rate?
- Woodlands Community College's overall absence rate is 14.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Woodlands Community College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Woodlands Community College'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.