SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Reading

The WREN School

61-63 Bath Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG30 2BB

Sixth form
School website 01182143888

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 14 April 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.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

44.8 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

41% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

60% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.9 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

14% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.13confidence interval -0.35 to 0.09

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
D+
Average points per entry
25

England average 32.3

A level students
70

Pupils

Pupils on roll
931
Places
1176
How full
79% full — 931 of 1176 places taken, so places are likely to be available
Girls / boys
429 / 502
Overall absence
8%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
27%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
29%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
52%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
2%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
8%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
88%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
85%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
2%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
44%
No sustained destination
5%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
156

After sixth form

Went to university
37%

England 50%

In education, work or training
79%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
5%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
62

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

0% 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
61%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
44

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 Reading 015A, 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
44%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
16%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
51%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
21%

England 17%

Households with no car
25%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
30%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Free schools
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–19
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
EXCALIBUR ACADEMIES TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: John Salberg
Local authority
Reading
Ward
Southcote
Constituency
Reading Central
URN
142121

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2023 46 0.2 mi
King's Academy ProspectAcademy converter Good 2022 36.8 0.8 mi
River AcademyFree schools No grade 1.3 mi
OneSchool Global Reading Senior CampusOther independent school No grade 1.5 mi
Kendrick SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 84 1.6 mi
The Deenway Montessori SchoolOther independent school No grade 1.6 mi
The Abbey School ReadingOther independent school No grade 1.6 mi
Reading Girls' SchoolAcademy sponsor led Good 2021 51.8 1.8 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
Welling SchoolAcademy converter No grade 34.7
King Edward VI Aston SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 71.2
Drayton Manor High SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 56
Testwood SchoolAcademy converter No grade 42.9
Bridgemary SchoolAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2023 33.8
Hertswood AcademyAcademy converter No grade 38.3
The Excel AcademyAcademy converter Good 2021 37.5
Charnwood CollegeAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 43.9

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.