Carterton Community College, Carterton

Ofsted's report card from its 14 April 2026 inspection grades Carterton Community College on 7 areas: 4 needs attention and 3 urgent improvement. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Inclusion - Needs attention. "Leaders communicate key information about pupils to all staff and ensure that relevant training is in place to help staff to support pupils well."

Leadership and governance - Needs attention. "Leaders have not brought about enough improvement since the last inspection in key areas like curriculum, teaching and achievement."

Personal development and wellbeing - Needs attention. "While pupils are positive about this element of the school's work, they do not develop a consistently secure understanding of key topics and values."

Post 16 provision - Needs attention. "Students' attendance has improved markedly over the last year because of the school's effective work in this area."

Achievement - Urgent improvement. "Examination results at the end of key stage 4 and in the sixth form are low, with no signs of improvement in recent years."

Attendance and behaviour - Urgent improvement. "Pupils' rates of attendance are too low and have been so over recent years."

Curriculum and teaching - Urgent improvement. "The curriculum does not meet pupils' needs because it is not designed to address important gaps in their knowledge, including in mathematics and writing."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders must ensure that teaching and the curriculum meet pupils' needs fully and consistently, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils, and so raise pupils' achievement rapidly, including in examinations at the end of key stages 4 and 5"; "Leaders must address gaps in pupils' knowledge and basic skills in numeracy, reading and writing effectively to support their learning across the curriculum"; "Leaders must raise pupils' rates of attendance, especially pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, and strengthen pupils' engagement with school and with their learning"; "Leaders should sharpen their actions to improve the school further so that they focus on the most important priorities first, ensuring that leaders and governors evaluate progress robustly so that improvements are made at the right pace and are sustained"; "Leaders should improve the design and delivery of the personal development programme, including careers education, so that pupils develop secure knowledge of all aspects and get the full range of advice and guidance that they need".

In its own words: "Through hard work, determination and resilience, an ambitious person will often achieve more than someone without ambition. “I am always motivated. I am ambitious and I always want to improve.” “Don’t be afraid to be ambitious about your goals. Hard work never stops. Neither should your dreams.”"

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include STEM and Duke of Edinburgh.

Coming up: an open evening on Wednesday 11 November 2026 at 6pm. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.

In 2026, pupils at Carterton Community College averaged an Attainment 8 score of 34.6, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 45.2 in Oxfordshire and 47 across England.

19% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 45% in Oxfordshire and 47% in England.

That is in line with 2025, when the score was 33.8.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.61: pupils made well below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 24.1, against 38.6 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 14.5 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 21 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Social Studies and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 101 families put Carterton Community College as their first choice and 167 named it as one of their preferences, for 107 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

Of the 104 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 87% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 51% to a further education college, 2% to an apprenticeship and 5% into work.

Of the 36 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 36% went on to university or other higher education, 6% to apprenticeships and 47% into work. 9% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

8.7% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 183 pupils (23.6%) received SEN support and 29 (3.7%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is a moderate learning difficulty.

There is no railway, tram or Underground station within about three miles of Carterton Community College.

11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Community College (opposite), 120 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Carterton Community College stands in is among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 88 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and vehicle crime. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Oxfordshire (52), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Carterton Community College issued 69 suspensions, 9.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Carterton Community College are Carterton Primary School (0.3 miles); St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Carterton (0.4 miles); Edith Moorhouse Primary School (0.5 miles); and Gateway Primary School (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.