SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Oxford, Oxfordshire

Matthew Arnold School

Arnolds Way, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 9JE

Sixth form Full
School website 01865862232

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 10 June 2025.

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

56.5 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

65% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

83% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

5.3 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

54% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the top quarter 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 better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.18confidence interval -0.02 to 0.37

Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as 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
C+
Average points per entry
34

England average 32.3

A level students
107

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1255
Places
1220
How full
Full — 1255 pupils against 1220 places
Girls / boys
626 / 629
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
22%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
13%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
16%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
16%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
93%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
88%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
56%
No sustained destination
4%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
205

After sixth form

Went to university
52%

England 50%

In education, work or training
88%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
6%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
119

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

38% 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
81%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
128

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 Vale of White Horse 001B, 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
57%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
10%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
80%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
3%

England 17%

Households with no car
12%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
40%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
ACER TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Anthony Broadley
Local authority
Oxfordshire
Ward
Cumnor
Constituency
Oxford West and Abingdon
URN
142104

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Cherwell College OxfordOther independent school No grade 1.5 mi
Wychwood SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.4 mi
Magdalen College SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.5 mi
Dragon SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.6 mi
St Clare's, OxfordOther independent school No grade 2.7 mi
St Edward's SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.8 mi
Oxford International CollegeOther independent school No grade 2.8 mi
Oxford High School GDSTOther independent school No grade 2.8 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
St Michael's Catholic Grammar SchoolVoluntary aided school Outstanding 2022 77.8
Saint Ambrose CollegeAcademy converter No grade 76.2
The Bishop Wand Church of England SchoolAcademy converter No grade 53.9
Gordon's SchoolAcademy converter No grade 63.6
Tomlinscote SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 53.4
Glyn SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 56
The Coopers' Company and Coborn SchoolAcademy converter No grade 58.2
Bohunt SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 56.3

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.