The Forest School
Robin Hood Lane, Winnersh, Wokingham, RG41 5NE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE FOREST SCHOOL ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Shirley Austin
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Wokingham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,450
- Pupils on roll
- 1,042
- URN
- 139853
- Local authority
- Wokingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01189781626
About this school
The Forest School is a secondary academy in Wokingham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,042 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Forest 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
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 92 | 123 | 126 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.1 | 49.1 | 50.7 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.25 -0.05 to +0.55 | -0.12 -0.41 to +0.17 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 54% | 50.4% | 59.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 73% | 71.5% | 77% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 37% | 35% | 55.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.6 |
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 Forest 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 | Wokingham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 48.1 | 38.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 49.1 | 43.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 50.7 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 742 |
| 2023/24 | 791 |
| 2024/25 | 927 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Forest School compares
The Forest School ranked 7th of 9 secondary schools in Wokingham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 78% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 36% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50.7 | 6.2% | 12.6% | 1,042 | — |
| The Emmbrook School | 50.7 | 7.9% | 11.9% | 1,354 | 1.3 miles |
| The Holt School | 63.7 | 5.5% | 6.4% | 1,468 | 1.8 miles |
| Maiden Erlegh School | 55.5 | 7% | 7.3% | 1,841 | 2.1 miles |
| The Bulmershe School | 50.7 | 7.1% | 16% | 1,530 | 2.3 miles |
| Waingels | 50.8 | 9.3% | 12.8% | 1,382 | 2.4 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 report9 December 2025
- 29 June 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 12.64%
- English as an additional language
- 32.9%
- Overall absence
- 6.16%
- Persistent absence
- 15.29%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Emmbrook School1.3 miles
Secondary · Wokingham
-
The Holt School1.8 miles
Secondary · Wokingham
-
Maiden Erlegh School2.1 miles
Secondary · Reading
-
The Bulmershe School2.3 miles
Secondary · Reading
-
Waingels2.4 miles
Secondary · Reading
Other schools in Wokingham
The Forest School ranks 4th of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Wokingham.
- Bohunt School Wokingham Secondary
- St Crispin's School Secondary
- The Emmbrook School Secondary
- The Holt School Secondary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bearwood Primary School Primary
- Emmbrook Infant School Primary
- Emmbrook Junior School Primary
- Evendons Primary School Primary
- Finchampstead CofE VA Primary School Primary
- Floreat Montague Park Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Gorse Ride Infants' School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Forest School teach?
- The Forest School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Wokingham.
- Who is the headteacher of The Forest School?
- The headteacher of The Forest School is Ms Shirley Austin, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Forest School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Forest 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 The Forest School?
- The Forest School has 1,042 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Forest School full?
- The Forest School has capacity for 1,450 pupils and 1,042 on roll (72%), 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 Forest School a faith school?
- No. The Forest School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Forest School a selective school?
- No. The Forest School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Forest School part of an academy trust?
- The Forest School is part of THE FOREST SCHOOL ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Forest School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 48.1 in 2022/23 and 50.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Forest School compare with other schools in Wokingham?
- The Forest School ranked 7th of 9 secondary schools in Wokingham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 78% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 36% 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 Forest School's absence rate?
- The Forest School's overall absence rate is 6.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Forest School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Forest 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.