The Marches School
Morda Road, Oswestry, SY11 2AR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- MARCHES ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sally Wilmot
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Marches Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Constituency
- North Shropshire
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,500
- Pupils on roll
- 1,346
- URN
- 136979
- Local authority
- Shropshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01691664400
About this school
The Marches School is a secondary academy in Oswestry. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,346 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. 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
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 253 | 239 | 257 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.2 | 45.2 | 43.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.34 -0.52 to -0.15 | -0.29 -0.48 to -0.10 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 38% | 46.4% | 38.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 61% | 63.6% | 61.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 59% | 62.8% | 52.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 4.1 | 3.9 |
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 Marches 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 | Shropshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 43.2 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.2 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.1 | 34 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,459 |
| 2023/24 | 1,383 |
| 2024/25 | 1,396 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Marches School compares
The Marches School ranked 12th of 20 secondary schools in Shropshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43.1 | 9% | 21.1% | 1,346 | — |
| Lakelands Academy | 43.1 | 6.4% | 21.9% | 590 | 7.5 miles |
| The Corbet School | 47.2 | 8.7% | 16.4% | 691 | 9.7 miles |
| Our Lady and St Oswald's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy | — | — | — | 130 | 0.2 miles |
| Oswestry School | 48.6 | — | 0% | 458 | 0.2 miles |
| Morda CofE Primary School | — | 5.7% | 16.4% | 126 | 0.8 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)
- 21.07%
- English as an additional language
- 9.4%
- Overall absence
- 8.95%
- Persistent absence
- 24.45%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lakelands Academy7.5 miles
Secondary · Ellesmere
-
The Corbet School9.7 miles
Secondary · Shrewsbury
-
Our Lady and St Oswald's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy0.2 miles
Primary · Oswestry
-
Oswestry School0.2 miles
Independent schools · Oswestry
-
Morda CofE Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Oswestry
Other schools in Oswestry
- Bryn Offa CofE Primary School Primary
- Gobowen Primary School Primary
- Holy Trinity Church of England Primary Academy and Nursery Primary
- Kinnerley Church of England Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Morda CofE Primary School Primary
- Our Lady and St Oswald's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Primary
- Selattyn CofE Primary School Primary
- The Meadows Primary School Primary
- Trefonen CofE Primary School Primary
- West Felton Church of England Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Weston Rhyn Primary School Primary
- Whittington CofE (VA) Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Marches School teach?
- The Marches School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Oswestry.
- Who is the headteacher of The Marches School?
- The headteacher of The Marches School is Mrs Sally Wilmot, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Marches School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Marches 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 Marches School?
- The Marches School has 1,346 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Marches School full?
- The Marches School has capacity for 1,500 pupils and 1,346 on roll (90%), so it has space against 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 Marches School a faith school?
- No. The Marches School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Marches School a selective school?
- No. The Marches School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Marches School?
- The Marches School is part of MARCHES ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Marches School have?
- The schools register lists The Marches School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Marches School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.2 in 2022/23 and 43.1 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 Marches School rank locally?
- The Marches School ranked 12th of 20 secondary schools in Shropshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% 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 Marches School's absence rate?
- The Marches School's overall absence rate is 9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Marches School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Marches 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 16 July 2026.