News & Headteacher Blogs

The performance league tables for schools was published at the end of last week, with fantastic results for The Downs School.

The results - which are based on the grades achieved by Summer 2018 GCSE and A Level leavers – showed that for students aged 11-16, our ‘Progress 8’ score  ranked our students achievements as ‘above average.’ The’ Attainment 8’ scores which look at results over eight key subjects including English, Maths and the Sciences, gave us a rating of 54.5%, well above the England average of 46.5%. The results also showed that 97% of our school leavers either stayed in education or entered employment.

Our A Level results placed us ‘above average’ in the ‘Progress’ score, marking us as one of the top performing schools in West Berkshire. Our average A Level grade was a B-, 21.9% of students scored grades AAB or higher at A Level, and looking at students best three A Level results, our average grade was a B, again, one of the top performing local secondary schools with a sixth form facility.

Headteacher, Mr Chris Prosser said: “We are extremely proud of our excellent results this year at both GCSE and A Level which reflect the hard work and commitment of our students and teachers, with the support of our families. Our Attainment 8 score clearly demonstrates our achievements across the broader curriculum, including humanities, modern languages and the sciences.

“We ensure that students at The Downs School have a well-rounded learning experience.  This is achieved by offering an interesting and challenging curriculum, alongside opportunities to enhance students sporting, social and creative skills both inside and outside the classroom. This is in line with our vision, ‘Educating today’s students to live in a world of tomorrow,’ which will be achieved through ‘learning together, learning for life.’”