Secondary school in Basingstoke, Hampshire
The Costello School
Crossborough Hill, London Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 4AL
Ofsted
Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 10 February 2026.
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.
GCSE results 2024/25
Attainment 8 score
The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.
Grade 5+ in English & maths
Grade 4+ in English & maths
EBacc average point score
Entered the EBacc
On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle 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 bottom quarter.
Progress 8 2023/24
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.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 1160
- Places
- 1120
- How full
- Full — 1160 pupils against 1120 places
- Girls / boys
- 548 / 612
- Overall absence
- 9%
- Persistently absent
- 22%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 17%
- English as an additional language
- 15%
- With an EHC plan
- 3%
- On SEN support
- 14%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
- In education, work or training
- 94%
- Stayed in education
- 89%
- Started an apprenticeship
- 4%
- Stayed at this school's sixth form
- 0%
- No sustained destination
- 5%
- Pupils in the cohort
- 224
England 91.4%
England 85.4%
England 3.5%
England 5.8%
A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. 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 Basingstoke and Deane 011B, 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
- 35%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 16%
- Households owning their home
- 67%
- Households in social housing
- 6%
- Households with no car
- 19%
- Adults economically inactive
- 31%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- BOHUNT EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Head Teacher: Andy Conway
- Local authority
- Hampshire
- Ward
- Eastrop & Grove
- Constituency
- Basingstoke
- URN
- 138287
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Vyne Community SchoolCommunity school | Good 2022 | 43 | 0.9 mi |
| CranbourneCommunity school | No grade | 42.7 | 1 mi |
| The Blue Coat School BasingstokeAcademy sponsor led | Requires improvement 2023 | 33.1 | 1.7 mi |
| Everest Community AcademyAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 34.2 | 1.8 mi |
| Brighton Hill Community SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 44.5 | 1.8 mi |
| Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2023 | 59.3 | 1.9 mi |
| Sherfield SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 4 mi |
| Robert May's SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 48.3 | 5.5 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.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| St James' Catholic High SchoolVoluntary aided school | No grade | 51.1 |
| Kings' SchoolCommunity school | Good 2024 | 57.8 |
| St Bede's Catholic High School, LythamVoluntary aided school | No grade | 48.3 |
| Chilwell SchoolFoundation school | Good 2024 | 50.2 |
| Hartismere SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 53 |
| The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form CollegeAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 53.5 |
| Taverham High SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 49 |
| Alleyne's AcademyAcademy converter | No grade | 47.7 |
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.