Secondary school is tough at the best of times. You’re worried that your friends hate you, you feel angry at everything all the time, your body keeps changing in ways you don’t understand, and then to top it all off you have to sit GSCEs – the most important thing you’ve ever had to do up until that point. A good school can make that period a little bit easier.
There’s a lot that goes into making a great secondary school. A recent Telegraph study of every state secondary school in England measured 10 different criteria in order to rank them, ranging from truancy levels and the variety of subject offerings to how many students achieved a grade 5 or higher in the ‘baccalaureate’ GSCE subjects which are: English, maths, sciences, a language, and either history or geography. Each category was worth between three and five points, with a total of 40 up for grabs. When two or more schools had the same amount of points, the one with the higher GSCE scores was ranked higher.
In the end, only one non-selective school made it into the Telegraph’s top 10, and, surprisingly, it was outside of London. High Storrs School in Sheffield came in third overall, receiving a perfect 40 out of 40, and seeing just over 50 percent of its students getting 5s in those core subjects. The national average is only 18 percent. High Storrs was also the only non-selective school to receive the Telegraph’s coveted 40 points.
The second highest non-selective didn’t appear until 44th place, which was St Marylebone Church of England School. With a score of 39 St Marylebone is still an excellent school, but its baccalaureate attainment only sat at 33 percent, lower than many other schools which achieved the same score. It does have some pretty impressive alumni though, with Amelia Dimoldenberg, Naomie Harris, and Rina Sawayama all having passed through its hallowed halls.
Staying in London, Wembley High Technology College was the next highest performing non-selective. It came 59th with a score of 38, but actually performed higher in GSCE exams than either High Storrs or St Marylebone, with 77 percent of students achieving 5s in the necessary subjects. It does become selective for 6th form, but from year 7-11 remains open to all.
Overall, only 18 non-selective schools made it into the top 100 state schools in the country, with only six of those being outside of London. The capital also dominated the grammar and selective school rankings, and the UK’s second top-scoring school was also in the Big Smoke. Clearly, there’s a concentration of high quality education in the capital.
The best non-selective schools in the UK, according to the Telegraph
Here are the top 10 non-selective state secondary schools in England, including their overall ranking, scores out of 40, and percentage of students achieving 5 or higher in their Baccalaureate GSCEs:
- High Storrs School, Sheffield. 3rd overall. 40/40, 50.2 percent
- St Marylebone Church of England School, Westminster. 44th overall. 39/40, 33.1 percent.
- Wembley High Technology College, Wembley. 59th overall. 38/40, 71.2 percent.
- The Grey Coat Hospital, Westminster. 69th overall. 38/40, 64.4 percent
- Mossbourne Community Academy, Hackney. 71st overall. 38/40, 61.7 percent
- Lady Margaret School, Hammersmith. 78th overall. 38/40 54.2 percent.
- City of London Academy, Hackney. 81st overall. 38/40, 52.3 percent.
- William Perkin Church of England High School, Ealing. 83rd overall. 38/40, 51.5 percent.
- The Kingston Academy, Kingston. 84th overall. 38/40, 50.6 percent.
- St Bede’s Inter-Church School, Cambridgeshire. 85th overall. 38/40, 50 percent.
You can read the Telegraph’s full study on its website here.
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