Oakwood School, Horley

Ofsted's report card from its 24 February 2026 inspection grades Oakwood School on 6 areas: 1 expected standard and 5 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders have prioritised their work on inclusion."

Achievement - Needs attention. "Many pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and some pupils who previously attained highly, do not achieve as well as they should in national examinations."

Attendance and behaviour - Needs attention. "Too many disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities do not attend school as regularly as they should."

Curriculum and teaching - Needs attention. "Teaching is not of a consistently high quality, and the expectations of what some pupils can do are not high enough."

Leadership and governance - Needs attention. "Leaders are not precise enough in their understanding of what needs to improve."

Personal development and wellbeing - Needs attention. "Pupils learn about fundamental British values."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should strengthen their systems for evaluating the impact of their work, and raise their expectations for behaviour and achievement, so that they can make the necessary improvements to provision for pupils"; "Leaders should ensure that highly effective teaching is embedded across the school so that all groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and high prior attaining pupils, learn and achieve well"; "Leaders should ensure that teachers routinely use checks on learning to adapt their teaching consistently in order to address gaps and misconceptions in pupils' knowledge, so they make secure progress through the curriculum"; "Leaders should build on their recent work to improve behaviour by ensuring that staff apply the agreed behaviour expectations consistently"; "Leaders should strengthen their attendance strategy to ensure that all pupils attend well, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities"; "Leaders should evaluate the impact of the personal, social and health education curriculum to ensure that pupils have a secure understanding of fundamental British values and protected characteristics so they are well prepared for life in modern Britain".

From the headteacher's welcome: "At Oakwood, we live by a motto that is at our heart: achieving excellence together . Not excellence for a select few, and not a journey anyone takes alone, but something we build as a community with every child, every family, and every member of staff playing their part."

Coming up: an admissions event on Thursday 22 April 2027. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.

In 2026, pupils at Oakwood School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 41.9, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 50.8 in Surrey and 47 across England.

30% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 54% in Surrey and 47% in England.

That is down from 43 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.27: pupils made 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 32.5, against 43.9 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 11.4 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and History.

For September 2026 entry, 250 families put Oakwood School as their first choice and 398 named it as one of their preferences, for 309 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Oakwood School are The Gatwick School (2.4 miles, Good, Attainment 8 44); Hazelwick School (3.3 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 46.3); Reigate School (3.9 miles, Good, Attainment 8 51.3); and Ifield Community College (4.5 miles, Attainment 8 41.5).

Oakwood School's 2026 results were higher than 1 of these 4 schools.

264 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Oakwood School (as of April 2026): 56% would recommend the school, 55% say their child is happy there and 41% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (56%); the weakest, that pupils behave well (34%).

Of the 283 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 87% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 37% to a further education college, 6% to an apprenticeship and 3% into work.

9.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (74%), Mixed (7%) and Asian (5%).

Oakwood School has a resourced provision for speech, language and communication needs: 10 places, 10 pupils on roll.

The nearest railway station is Horley Rail Station, about 630 metres away (roughly a 8-minute walk).

5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Oakwood School (outside), 160 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Oakwood School stands in is among the 10% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 158 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and public order offences. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Surrey (76), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Oakwood School issued 255 suspensions, 15.9 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Oakwood School are Langshott Primary School (under 0.1 miles), Horley Infant School (0.4 miles), Yattendon School (0.5 miles) and Trinity Oaks Church of England Primary School (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.