Desborough College
Shoppenhangers Road, Maidenhead, SL6 2QB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Boys
- Trust
- PIONEER EDUCATIONAL TRUST
- Principal
- Dr Parimal Bhatt
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Upton Court Grammar School
- Constituency
- Maidenhead
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,140
- Pupils on roll
- 539
- URN
- 138879
- Local authority
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01628634505
About this school
Desborough College is a boys' secondary academy in Maidenhead. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 539 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 17 May 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 184 | 174 | 114 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.0 | 44.9 | 45.7 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.06 -0.15 to +0.28 | -0.17 -0.39 to +0.05 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 54% | 52.3% | 53.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 77% | 69.5% | 69.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 37% | 32.8% | 39.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.1 |
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 Desborough 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 | Windsor and Maidenhead average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49 | 37.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.9 | 39.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45.7 | 35.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 837 |
| 2023/24 | 728 |
| 2024/25 | 578 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Desborough College compares
Desborough College ranked 8th of 10 secondary schools in Windsor and Maidenhead for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 60% 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 | 45.7 | 7.4% | 18% | 539 | — |
| Altwood Church of England School | 40 | 9.1% | 26.3% | 846 | 1.0 miles |
| Cox Green School | 45.9 | 9.3% | 21% | 1,139 | 1.4 miles |
| Newlands Girls' School | 55.6 | 5.4% | 13% | 1,226 | 1.4 miles |
| Furze Platt Senior School | 47.5 | 8.2% | 19.2% | 1,556 | 1.5 miles |
| Holyport College | 54.4 | 7.1% | 11% | 660 | 2.2 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)
- 18.01%
- English as an additional language
- 21.1%
- Overall absence
- 7.41%
- Persistent absence
- 26.76%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Altwood Church of England School1.0 miles
Secondary · Maidenhead
-
Cox Green School1.4 miles
Secondary · Maidenhead
-
Newlands Girls' School1.4 miles
Secondary · Maidenhead
-
Furze Platt Senior School1.5 miles
Secondary · Maidenhead
-
Holyport College2.2 miles
Secondary · Holyport
Other schools in Maidenhead
Desborough College ranks 4th of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Maidenhead.
- Altwood Church of England School Secondary
- Cox Green School Secondary
- Furze Platt Senior School Secondary
- Newlands Girls' School Secondary
- Cookham Nursery School Nursery
- Maidenhead Nursery School Nursery
- All Saints Church of England Junior School Primary
- Alwyn Infant School Primary
- Boyne Hill CofE Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Braywick Court School Primary
- Burchetts Green CofE Infants' School Primary
- Cookham Dean CofE Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Desborough College teach?
- Desborough College teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Maidenhead.
- Who is the principal of Desborough College?
- The principal of Desborough College is Dr Parimal Bhatt, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Desborough College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Desborough 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 big is Desborough College?
- Desborough College has 539 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Desborough College full?
- Desborough College has capacity for 1,140 pupils and 539 on roll (47%), 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 Desborough College a faith school?
- No. Desborough College has no designated religious character.
- Is Desborough College a selective school?
- No. Desborough College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Desborough College?
- Desborough College is part of PIONEER EDUCATIONAL TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Desborough College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49 in 2022/23 and 45.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Desborough College rank locally?
- Desborough College ranked 8th of 10 secondary schools in Windsor and Maidenhead for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 60% 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 Desborough College's absence rate?
- Desborough College's overall absence rate is 7.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Desborough College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Desborough 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 1 July 2026.