Matthew Arnold School

Matthew Arnold School is a welcoming secondary comprehensive academy that was judged good in all inspected areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. Pupils feel safe, benefit from strong pastoral support and positive relationships, and learn in calm classrooms where behaviour expectations are clear. The curriculum is ambitious and carefully sequenced, including for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, and most pupils learn well and produce high-quality work. The school supports pupils with SEND promptly and effectively, checks reading fluency on entry and helps struggling readers catch up, and has prioritised attendance with improving results. Personal development is strong overall, with a wide range of clubs, careers information and sixth-form leadership opportunities, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Leaders, governors and trust members have taken effective action since the previous inspection, and staff feel supported. There are two main areas for improvement. Pedagogical approaches are not embedded consistently well in some lessons, meaning some pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The PSHE curriculum is also not implemented consistently across all year groups, so pupils do not deepen their understanding of the intended concepts as well as they should. The school is part of the ACER Trust and has a mixed 11 to 18 population, including a sixth form.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and benefit from high-quality pastoral support and positive relationships
• The curriculum is ambitious, carefully sequenced and broad for all pupils, including those with SEND
• Pupils with SEND are identified promptly and supported well to learn alongside their peers
• Reading fluency is checked effectively and struggling readers catch up quickly
• Behaviour expectations are clear and pupils concentrate well in lessons and behave sensibly around school
• Attendance is improving, including for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs, enrichment and Duke of Edinburgh opportunities
• Sixth-form students provide high-quality leadership and peer mentoring
• Careers provision prepares pupils well for the next stage of education
• Leaders, governors and trust members have taken effective action since the last inspection
• Staff feel supported and leaders consider their workload and well-being
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Pedagogical approaches are not embedded consistently well in some lessons, so some pupils do not achieve as well as they could
• The PSHE curriculum is not implemented consistently across all year groups, limiting how well pupils deepen their understanding

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 Matthew Arnold School attended 90.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.0% 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, 4.2% of pupils at Matthew Arnold School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 Matthew Arnold School had 19.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.0% 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, 19.4% of pupils at Matthew Arnold School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.9% 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 Matthew Arnold School received £7,700 and spent £7,527 for each of its 1,250 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £797,000 (£638 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Acer Trust, income was £7,421 and spending £7,382 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 Oxford · Oxfordshire local authority: places and applications

Matthew Arnold School is part of Acer Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Botley School Oxford
• Wood Green School Witney
• Stadhampton Primary School Oxford
• Chalgrove Community Primary School Oxford
• The Cooper School Bicester
• Glory Farm Primary School Bicester
• Icknield Community College Watlington
• Watlington Primary School Watlington

What is Matthew Arnold School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Matthew Arnold School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Matthew Arnold School last inspected by Ofsted?

Matthew Arnold School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Matthew Arnold School have?

Matthew Arnold School has 1,255 pupils on roll.

What age range does Matthew Arnold School cover?

Matthew Arnold School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Matthew Arnold School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 48.6, and 46% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Matthew Arnold School?

Matthew Arnold School is at Arnolds Way, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 9JE.