Windsor Girls' School

Windsor Girls' School is a smaller-than-average secondary school in the Windsor Learning Partnership. Inspectors found it performing strongly overall, with inclusion and leadership and governance particularly strong and safeguarding requirements met. Leaders have a clear, ambitious vision, staff feel well supported, and pupils describe a happy, calm and inclusive school where they feel safe and valued. Behaviour has improved significantly since the previous inspection. Classrooms are calm and purposeful, pupils are polite and respectful, and bullying is rare and dealt with effectively. Pupils benefit from an ambitious curriculum, effective pastoral care, a strong personal development programme and a wide range of enrichment. Sixth-form students are generally well supported and prepared for their next steps, and achievement is broadly in line with national averages, with stronger outcomes in humanities. The main concerns are attendance and some aspects of teaching and assessment. Overall and persistent absence remain above national averages, and improvements are not yet consistent for some pupils and groups. Published GCSE results are broadly average, teaching does not always identify errors or misconceptions precisely enough, and vocational sixth-form results are below national averages, although leaders have taken action to address this. The report also notes several leadership changes since the last inspection.

Strengths

• Inclusive culture where pupils are valued, supported and feel a strong sense of belonging
• Clear, ambitious leadership with highly effective governance and trustee challenge
• Safeguarding culture is open and all requirements are met
• Behaviour has improved significantly, with calm classrooms and rare low-level disruption
• Pupils are polite, respectful and have positive attitudes to learning
• Ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum supported by consistent teaching principles
• Strong personal development programme and wide enrichment opportunities
• Effective pastoral care and support for pupils' wellbeing
• Sixth form provides good support, enrichment and careers guidance
• Pupils are well prepared for education, employment or training
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are well supported
• Staff feel well supported and value high-quality professional development
• Parents and carers hold the school in very high regard

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance remains a concern, with overall and persistent absence above national averages
• Attendance improvements are not yet consistent for some pupils and groups
• Teaching does not always identify pupils' errors or misconceptions precisely enough
• Assessment practice is not yet fully embedded across the curriculum to secure high achievement
• GCSE outcomes are broadly average rather than consistently strong
• Sixth-form vocational qualification results are below national averages
• A minority of pupils do not attend school regularly enough

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 Windsor Girls' School attended 87.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 35.0% 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, 4.4% of pupils at Windsor Girls' School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 Windsor Girls' School had 16.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.2% 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, 7.6% of pupils at Windsor Girls' School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 0.9% 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 Windsor Girls' School received £7,724 and spent £7,645 for each of its 795 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £618,000 (£777 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of Windsor Learning Partnership, income was £7,623 and spending £7,465 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.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Windsor · Windsor and Maidenhead local authority: places and applications

Windsor Girls' School is part of Windsor Learning Partnership, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Clewer Green CofE First School Windsor
• Oakfield First School Windsor
• The Windsor Boys' School Windsor
• Dedworth Green First School Windsor
• Dedworth Middle School Windsor

What is Windsor Girls' School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Windsor Girls' School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Windsor Girls' School last inspected by Ofsted?

Windsor Girls' School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Windsor Girls' School have?

Windsor Girls' School has 775 pupils on roll.

What age range does Windsor Girls' School cover?

Windsor Girls' School for pupils aged 13 to 18.

Where is Windsor Girls' School?

Windsor Girls' School is at Imperial Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 3RT.