Ribston Hall High School, Gloucester

Ofsted's report card from its 12 May 2026 inspection grades Ribston Hall High School on 7 areas: 4 strong standard and 3 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Strong standard. "Pupils excel across the curriculum, including those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities."

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Pupils feel a tremendous sense of pride in their school."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum that reflects their high aspirations for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "There is a comprehensive and thoughtfully sequenced personal development programme."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and pupils who speak English as an additional language are supported well."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders have a clear vision for the school rooted in high ambition for all pupils."

Post 16 provision - Expected standard. "Students enjoy being in the sixth form."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should implement a more rigorous, systematic approach to evaluate the quality and impact of the school's provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities"; "Leaders should further strengthen their oversight and analysis of some aspects of the school's work and its impact".

From the headteacher's welcome: "Here at Ribston Hall High School we're a community. A community of creative thinkers, top performers and future leaders. Of happy, ambitious people. When students are happy, they naturally grow their interests and pursue their passions."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, netball, rugby, hockey, badminton, dance, drama, choir, orchestra and ukulele.

Coming up: an open evening on Monday 26 October 2026. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.

In 2026, pupils at Ribston Hall High School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 67.6, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 51.2 in Gloucestershire and 47 across England.

91% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 54% in Gloucestershire and 47% in England.

That is in line with 2025, when the score was 67.7.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.24: pupils made above 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 71.7, against 67.3 for other pupils at the school.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 22 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Biology, Physics and Chemistry.

Ribston Hall 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, 152 families put Ribston Hall High School as their first choice and 564 named it as one of their preferences, for 149 places offered. That is slightly more first choices than places. 77 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Ribston Hall 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, Ribston Hall 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 Ribston Hall High School are The Crypt School (0.6 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 73.3); Gloucester Academy (1 mile, Attainment 8 41.5); St Peter's Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre (1.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 40.9); and Holmleigh Park High School (1.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 44.5).

Ribston Hall High School's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

Of the 151 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 97% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 11% to a further education college and 1% to an apprenticeship.

Of the 59 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 59% went on to university or other higher education, 5% to apprenticeships and 24% into work. 24% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

7.7% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 53 pupils (5.6%) received SEN support and 7 (0.7%) 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 autism.

The nearest railway station is Gloucester Rail Station, about 1.3 miles away in a straight line.

16 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Ladysmith Road (before), 160 metres away.

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

In 2024/25, Ribston Hall High School issued 30 suspensions, 3.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Ribston Hall High School are Calton Primary School (under 0.1 miles), Linden Primary School (0.4 miles), Tredworth Junior School (0.5 miles) and Tredworth Infant and Nursery Academy (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.