Waingels
Waingels Road, Woodley, Reading, RG5 4RF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ORCHARD LEARNING ALLIANCE
- Principal
- Mrs Lindsey Humber
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Earley and Woodley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,331
- Pupils on roll
- 1,382
- URN
- 142166
- Local authority
- Wokingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01189690336
About this school
Waingels is a secondary academy in Reading. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,382 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 7 June 2023, 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 | 215 | 239 | 239 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.0 | 50.6 | 50.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.13 -0.07 to +0.33 | +0.21 +0.02 to +0.40 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 54% | 57.7% | 53.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 74% | 75.3% | 77% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 38% | 37.2% | 48.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.7 |
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 Waingels 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 | 49 | 38.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.6 | 43.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 50.8 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,376 |
| 2023/24 | 1,419 |
| 2024/25 | 1,421 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Waingels compares
Waingels ranked 6th 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 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50.8 | 9.3% | 12.8% | 1,382 | — |
| The Bulmershe School | 50.7 | 7.1% | 16% | 1,530 | 1.4 miles |
| The Forest School | 50.7 | 6.2% | 12.6% | 1,042 | 2.4 miles |
| Maiden Erlegh School | 55.5 | 7% | 7.3% | 1,841 | 2.4 miles |
| Maiden Erlegh School in Reading | 45.6 | 8.1% | 29.6% | 889 | 2.5 miles |
| UTC Reading | 42 | 13.3% | 24.5% | 299 | 2.5 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)
- 12.79%
- English as an additional language
- 22.9%
- Overall absence
- 9.32%
- Persistent absence
- 32.34%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Bulmershe School1.4 miles
Secondary · Reading
-
The Forest School2.4 miles
Secondary · Wokingham
-
Maiden Erlegh School2.4 miles
Secondary · Reading
-
Maiden Erlegh School in Reading2.5 miles
Secondary · Reading
-
UTC Reading2.5 miles
Secondary · Reading
Other schools in Reading
Waingels ranks 8th of the 19 ranked secondary schools in Reading.
- Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School Secondary
- Denefield School Secondary
- Hartland High School Secondary
- Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre Secondary
- Kendrick School Secondary
- King's Academy Prospect Secondary
- Langtree School Secondary
- Little Heath School Secondary
- Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge Secondary
- Maiden Erlegh School Secondary
- Maiden Erlegh School in Reading Secondary
- Oakbank School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Waingels teach?
- Waingels teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Reading.
- Who is the principal of Waingels?
- The principal of Waingels is Mrs Lindsey Humber, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Waingels last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Waingels, 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 Waingels?
- Waingels has 1,382 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Waingels full?
- Waingels has capacity for 1,331 pupils and 1,382 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 Waingels a faith school?
- No. Waingels has no designated religious character.
- Is Waingels a selective school?
- No. Waingels is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Waingels?
- Waingels is part of ORCHARD LEARNING ALLIANCE. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Waingels's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49 in 2022/23 and 50.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Waingels rank locally?
- Waingels ranked 6th 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 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Waingels's absence rate?
- Waingels's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Waingels's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Waingels'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 2 July 2026.