The Costello School
Crossborough Hill, London Road, Basingstoke, RG21 4AL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- BOHUNT EDUCATION TRUST
- Head Teacher
- Mr Andy Conway
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Bohunt Education Trust
- Constituency
- Basingstoke
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,120
- Pupils on roll
- 1,160
- URN
- 138287
- Local authority
- Hampshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01256321263
About this school
The Costello School is a secondary academy in Basingstoke. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,160 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 | 224 | 218 | 250 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.9 | 46.3 | 47.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.23 -0.41 to -0.04 | -0.03 -0.22 to +0.17 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43% | 44.5% | 49.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 63% | 66.1% | 69.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 59% | 77.1% | 80.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
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 Costello 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 | 45.9 | 37.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46.3 | 37.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47.3 | 37.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,186 |
| 2023/24 | 1,215 |
| 2024/25 | 1,222 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Costello School compares
The Costello School ranked 27th of 67 secondary schools in Hampshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 67% 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 | 47.3 | 8.8% | 16.6% | 1,160 | — |
| The Vyne Community School | 43 | 8.8% | 32.8% | 740 | 0.9 miles |
| Cranbourne | 42.7 | 9.5% | 28.3% | 1,088 | 1.0 miles |
| The Blue Coat School Basingstoke | 33.1 | 13% | 34.3% | 837 | 1.7 miles |
| Everest Community Academy | 34.2 | 9.7% | 33.8% | 740 | 1.8 miles |
| Brighton Hill Community School | 44.5 | 7.3% | 17.9% | 1,284 | 1.8 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report10 February 2026
- 9 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 16.61%
- English as an additional language
- 14.8%
- Overall absence
- 8.8%
- Persistent absence
- 22%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Vyne Community School0.9 miles
Secondary · Basingstoke
-
Cranbourne1.0 miles
Secondary · Basingstoke
-
The Blue Coat School Basingstoke1.7 miles
Secondary · Basingstoke
-
Everest Community Academy1.8 miles
Secondary · Basingstoke
-
Brighton Hill Community School1.8 miles
Secondary · Basingstoke
Other schools in Basingstoke
The Costello School ranks 2nd of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Basingstoke.
- Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School Secondary
- Brighton Hill Community School Secondary
- Cranbourne Secondary
- Everest Community Academy Secondary
- The Blue Coat School Basingstoke Secondary
- The Vyne Community School Secondary
- Castle Hill Infant School Primary
- Castle Hill Primary School Primary
- Chalk Ridge Primary School Primary
- Chiltern Primary School Primary
- Cliddesden Primary School Primary
- Fairfields Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Costello School teach?
- The Costello School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Basingstoke.
- Who is the head teacher of The Costello School?
- The head teacher of The Costello School is Mr Andy Conway, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Costello School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Costello 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 Costello School?
- The Costello School has 1,160 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Costello School full?
- The Costello School has capacity for 1,120 pupils and 1,160 on roll (104%), 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 Costello School a faith school?
- No. The Costello School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Costello School a selective school?
- No. The Costello School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Costello School?
- The Costello School is part of BOHUNT EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Costello School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.9 in 2022/23 and 47.3 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 Costello School rank locally?
- The Costello School ranked 27th of 67 secondary schools in Hampshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 67% 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 Costello School's absence rate?
- The Costello School's overall absence rate is 8.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Costello School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Costello 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 1 July 2026.