Denmark Road High School, Gloucester

Ofsted's report card from its 24 February 2026 inspection grades Denmark Road High School on 7 areas: 7 strong standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Strong standard. "Pupils and post-16 students are very well prepared for their next steps."

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Pupils attendance is high, including those who are disadvantaged and/or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Pupils follow an ambitious, highly academic curriculum and receive highly effective teaching."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Leaders and staff have a consistently positive impact on pupils who face barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders have embedded strong standards in all areas of the school's work."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "Leaders have designed and implement a carefully tailored personal development programme."

Post 16 provision - Strong standard. "Students follow a suitable and ambitious post-16 study programme."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should strengthen further the school's work to have a transformative impact on pupils' character and confidence".

In its own words: "So, I have been set the impossible task of describing our school to you in written word. When you visit our school you will understand my predicament. The feeling is something you simply have to experience, words cannot portray who and what we actually are."

In 2026, pupils at Denmark Road High School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 74.8, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 51.2 in Gloucestershire and 47 across England.

97% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 54% in Gloucestershire and 47% in England.

That is up from 72.9 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.93: pupils made well above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 22 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Geography and Chemistry.

Denmark Road High School is a grammar school: places go to children who reach the required standard in its entrance test, and only then are the oversubscription criteria applied.

For September 2026 entry, 190 families put Denmark Road High School as their first choice and 511 named it as one of their preferences, for 147 places offered. That is 1.3 first choices for every place. 55 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Denmark Road High School admits pupils through an entrance test, usually called the 11-plus. Children have to be registered for it in advance, normally in the spring or summer of Year 5; the test itself is usually sat in September of Year 6, and results come out in October, before the 31 October deadline for naming secondary schools.

Passing the test makes a child eligible rather than guaranteeing a place: when more children pass than there are places, Denmark Road High School ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Gloucestershire's admissions pages and the school's own policy for this year's registration deadline - a child who is not registered in time cannot sit the test.

Gloucestershire has 7 state grammar schools in all, so a child who passes may have several selective schools to choose between.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Denmark Road High School are Sir Thomas Rich's School (1.3 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 75.2); Barnwood Park School (1.6 miles, Attainment 8 43.4); Ribston Hall High School (1.9 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 67.6); and Gloucester Academy (2.1 miles, Attainment 8 41.5).

Denmark Road High School's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

183 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Denmark Road High School (as of April 2026): 87% would recommend the school, 87% say their child is happy there and 58% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (91%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (58%).

Of the 152 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 99% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 3% to a further education college.

Of the 103 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 70% went on to university or other higher education, 5% to apprenticeships and 16% into work. 41% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

6.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 95 pupils (9.3%) received SEN support and 5 (0.5%) 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 specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia.

The nearest railway station is Gloucester Rail Station, about 830 metres away (roughly a 10-minute walk).

10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Seabrook Road (before), 100 metres away.

In 2024/25, Denmark Road High School issued 10 suspensions, 1 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Denmark Road High School are Kingsholm Church of England Primary School (0.2 miles), St Peter's Catholic Primary School (0.6 miles), Widden Primary School (0.8 miles) and Longford Park Primary Academy (0.8 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.