Gosford Hill School
Oxford Road, Kidlington, OX5 2NT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- RIVER LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Nigel Sellars
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- River Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Bicester and Woodstock
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,100
- Pupils on roll
- 825
- URN
- 138897
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01865374971
About this school
Gosford Hill School is a secondary academy in Kidlington. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 825 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Gosford Hill School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- 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 | 142 | 167 | 123 |
| Attainment 8 score | 50.0 | 45.2 | 45.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.12 -0.13 to +0.36 | -0.36 -0.59 to -0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 52% | 45.5% | 41.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 68% | 68.9% | 61.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 22% | 29.3% | 27.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.4 | 4.0 | 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 Gosford Hill 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 | Oxfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 50 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.2 | 37.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45.3 | 37.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 838 |
| 2023/24 | 848 |
| 2024/25 | 848 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Gosford Hill School compares
Gosford Hill School ranked 25th of 41 secondary schools in Oxfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 58% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 45.3 | 10.7% | 22.2% | 825 | — |
| The Cherwell School | 58.3 | 7.2% | 18.6% | 2,023 | 2.9 miles |
| The Marlborough Church of England School | 55.4 | 8.8% | 13.5% | 1,088 | 3.5 miles |
| The Swan School | 55.4 | 7.2% | 21.8% | 1,057 | 3.5 miles |
| Bartholomew School | 57 | 8.6% | 11.8% | 1,390 | 4.9 miles |
| Cheney School | 46 | 10.8% | 27% | 1,706 | 5.0 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 report17 March 2026
- 15 February 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 22.24%
- English as an additional language
- 20.8%
- Overall absence
- 10.7%
- Persistent absence
- 30.38%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Cherwell School2.9 miles
Secondary · Oxford
-
The Marlborough Church of England School3.5 miles
Secondary · Woodstock
-
The Swan School3.5 miles
Secondary · Oxford
-
Bartholomew School4.9 miles
Secondary · Witney
-
Cheney School5.0 miles
Secondary · Oxford
Other schools in Kidlington
- Bletchingdon Parochial Church of England Primary School Primary
- Charlton-on-Otmoor Church of England Primary School Primary
- Dr South's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Edward Feild Primary School Primary
- North Kidlington Primary School Primary
- St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, Kidlington Primary
- Tackley Church of England Primary School Primary
- West Kidlington Primary and Nursery School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Gosford Hill School teach?
- Gosford Hill School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Kidlington.
- Who is the headteacher of Gosford Hill School?
- The headteacher of Gosford Hill School is Mr Nigel Sellars, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Gosford Hill School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Gosford Hill 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 many pupils are at Gosford Hill School?
- Gosford Hill School has 825 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Gosford Hill School full?
- Gosford Hill School has capacity for 1,100 pupils and 825 on roll (75%), 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 Gosford Hill School a faith school?
- No. Gosford Hill School has no designated religious character.
- Is Gosford Hill School a selective school?
- No. Gosford Hill School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Gosford Hill School part of an academy trust?
- Gosford Hill School is part of RIVER LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Gosford Hill School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 50 in 2022/23 and 45.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Gosford Hill School compare with other schools in Oxfordshire?
- Gosford Hill School ranked 25th of 41 secondary schools in Oxfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 58% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Gosford Hill School's absence rate?
- Gosford Hill School's overall absence rate is 10.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Gosford Hill School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Gosford Hill 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.