Chosen Hill School

Chosen Hill School is a welcoming and ambitious secondary school where pupils are expected to do well and are supported through a nurturing approach. Inspectors found the school continues to perform well overall, with effective leadership, calm and orderly behaviour, strong personal development, and a sixth form that has improved noticeably in recent years. The curriculum is well planned and sequenced, and pupils generally learn effectively, although teaching and assessment are more consistent in some subjects than others. The school is particularly strong in its support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, its work to improve attendance, and its careers guidance. Pupils benefit from a broad range of opportunities and trusting relationships with staff, and safeguarding is effective. Governance is strong, but leaders do not always analyse the impact of some aspects of their work sharply enough. In lessons, teachers do not consistently check that all pupils have understood before moving on, which can leave some pupils less secure in their knowledge. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a single-academy trust, and the headteacher is also the accounting officer.

Strengths

• A welcoming and ambitious environment with high expectations balanced by nurturing support
• A well-sequenced curriculum that identifies the most important knowledge pupils need to learn
• Staff use a shared learning blueprint to consider how pupils learn best in each subject
• Teachers often question pupils skilfully and provide clear explanations and practice opportunities
• Sixth-form students have highly positive attitudes and produce high-quality written work
• The sixth form provides strong support for students' post-18 destinations and independent learning
• Provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is effective
• Work to improve attendance is highly effective
• The school is calm and orderly, with consistent application of the behaviour policy
• Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy, including online
• Careers information and guidance are a strength of the school
• Pupils have access to a broad range of opportunities, including clubs, competitions and the Duke of Edinburgh Award
• Governors provide strong oversight and meaningful challenge and support
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Oversight and analysis of some aspects of the school's provision are not consistently robust or widely understood
• Leaders cannot always evaluate the impact of their work because some information is not analysed sufficiently
• Assessment in lessons is sometimes not used effectively to check that all pupils have understood before moving on
• Some pupils do not develop a secure enough understanding to apply their learning in new contexts
• Curriculum delivery is more effective in some subjects than in others
• Work to encourage pupils to read for pleasure is not consistently effective

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Chosen Hill School attended 92.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 7.8% of pupils at Chosen Hill School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Chosen Hill School had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 8.7% of pupils at Chosen Hill School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Chosen Hill School received £7,719 and spent £7,634 for each of its 1,297 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,003,000 (£773 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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What is Chosen Hill School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Chosen Hill School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Chosen Hill School last inspected by Ofsted?

Chosen Hill School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Chosen Hill School have?

Chosen Hill School has 1,295 pupils on roll.

What age range does Chosen Hill School cover?

Chosen Hill School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Chosen Hill School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.1, and 41% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Chosen Hill School?

Chosen Hill School is at Brookfield Road, Churchdown, 26 Shepherds Way, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL3 2PL.