SF School Facts UK

Boys selective secondary school in Stroud, Gloucestershire

Marling School

Cainscross Road, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 4HE

Selective Sixth form Boys
School website 01453762251

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 19 November 2024.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

73.9 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

98% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

100% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

6.6 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

41% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the top 5% of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the top 10%.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.64confidence interval 0.40 to 0.87

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well above average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
B
Average points per entry
38.3

England average 32.3

A level students
189

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1082
Places
1150
How full
94% full — 1082 of 1150 places taken
Girls / boys
77 / 1005
Overall absence
5%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
10%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
4%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
11%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
0%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
4%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
99%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
97%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
2%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
78%
No sustained destination
0%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
158

After sixth form

Went to university
50%

England 50%

In education, work or training
84%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
232

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

45% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
75%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
185

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Stroud 006F, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
42%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
10%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
63%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
12%

England 17%

Households with no car
15%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
28%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Boys
Admissions
Selective (entrance test)
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
COTSWOLD BEACON ACADEMY TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Peter Knight
Local authority
Gloucestershire
Ward
Stroud Central
Constituency
Stroud
URN
137123

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Stroud High SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 76.9 0.1 mi
Archway SchoolCommunity school No grade 43.3 0.4 mi
Wycliffe CollegeOther independent school No grade 1.9 mi
Maidenhill SchoolFoundation school Good 2022 45.5 2 mi
Thomas Keble SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 47.6 3.3 mi
The Acorn SchoolOther independent school No grade 3.6 mi
St Peter's Catholic High School and Sixth Form CentreAcademy converter No grade 44.1 5.8 mi
Severn Vale SchoolAcademy converter No grade 43.7 5.9 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Dr Challoner's Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 73.9
St Aidan's Church of England High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 56.4
Tonbridge Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 77.2
Denmark Road High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 72.9
Poole Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 70.2
The Five Islands AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 48.7
Altrincham Grammar School for GirlsAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 80.6
Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for BoysCommunity school No grade 63.7

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.