Best Schools in Berkshire

How many schools are there in Berkshire?

Berkshire has 420 open schools: 270 state primary, 67 state secondary or all-through, 40 independent, 22 special and 21 others.

Source: DfE Get Information About Schools

Which schools in Berkshire are rated Outstanding?

55 schools in Berkshire were rated Outstanding at their most recent graded Ofsted inspection: Priors Court School; Cressex Lodge School; The Grange School; Birch Copse Primary School; St Francis Catholic Primary School, South Ascot; and 50 more. Counting Good as well, 94% of the 322 graded schools here are rated Good or better. Ofsted stopped giving single-word overall grades in September 2024, so these are the grades from each school's last full inspection.

Priors Court SchoolCressex Lodge SchoolThe Grange SchoolBirch Copse Primary SchoolSt Francis Catholic Primary School, South Ascot

Source: Ofsted

Which secondary schools in Berkshire get the best GCSE results?

Of the 64 schools in Berkshire with 2026 GCSE results, the highest Attainment 8 scores - the average grade across a pupil's best eight GCSEs - were at Kendrick School (selective grammar), with an Attainment 8 score of 82.4 and 99% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above; Reading School (selective grammar), with an Attainment 8 score of 80.6 and 97% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above; and Langley Grammar School (selective grammar), with an Attainment 8 score of 78 and 99% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above. Selective schools admit by ability, so their raw results are not a like-for-like comparison with comprehensives. Progress 8, the DfE's value-added measure, was not published for 2026.

Kendrick SchoolReading SchoolLangley Grammar School

Source: DfE school performance data

Which primary schools in Berkshire have the best SATs results?

6 of the 208 primary schools in Berkshire with 2025 Key Stage 2 results had every pupil reach the expected standard in both reading and maths, among them All Saints Junior School, Burghclere Primary School and Lowbrook Academy. Small schools can swing a long way from one year to the next, because each pupil is a large share of the result.

All Saints Junior SchoolBurghclere Primary SchoolLowbrook Academy

Source: DfE school performance data

Are there grammar schools in Berkshire?

Yes. Herschel Grammar School, Kendrick School, Langley Grammar School, Reading School, St Bernard's Catholic Grammar School and Upton Court Grammar School are state grammar schools in Berkshire. Grammar schools admit pupils by ability through an entrance test, usually sat at the start of Year 6.

Herschel Grammar SchoolKendrick SchoolLangley Grammar SchoolReading SchoolSt Bernard's Catholic Grammar SchoolUpton Court Grammar School

Source: DfE Get Information About Schools

How close do you need to live to get into schools in Berkshire?

It depends on the school, and the cut-off moves every year with the number of applications. Bracknell Forest published how far the last place offered went at these schools: Edgbarrow School, 1.127 miles for 2026 entry; Fox Hill Primary School, 0.634 miles for 2026 entry; King's Academy Binfield, 1.28 miles for 2026 entry; New Scotland Hill Primary School, 0.755 miles for 2026 entry; The Pines School, 0.61 miles for 2026 entry. We hold figures for 10 schools in Berkshire; each school's page has its own history. These are the authority's own figures, not fixed boundaries.

Edgbarrow SchoolFox Hill Primary SchoolKing's Academy BinfieldNew Scotland Hill Primary SchoolThe Pines School

Source: Bracknell Forest admissions booklets

How do I apply for a school place in Berkshire?

Apply to your council - West Berkshire, Wokingham or Windsor and Maidenhead, depending on your address - through its coordinated admissions process, even for academies and faith schools. In England the closing date is 31 October for secondary places and 15 January for primary places, in the year before your child starts. Independent schools run their own admissions, so apply to those directly.