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Larkmead School

Secondary Ages 11-18 959 pupils Abingdon
All schools in Abingdon

Larkmead School is an academy converter in Abingdon for pupils aged 11 to 18. It has 959 pupils on roll. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.0, and 30% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

GCSE results: 2026. A-level results: 2025.

Type Secondary / Academy converter
Age Range 11-18
Religion Does not apply
Address Faringdon Road
Abingdon
Oxfordshire
OX14 1RF
Phone 01235520141
Reference Number 143890

General Makeup

Number of pupils 959
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 46.61%
Girls: 53.39%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 21.8%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 9%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 22

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 84 95 179
8 84 94 178
9 82 95 177
10 85 79 164
11 70 76 146
12 20 37 57
13 22 36 58

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 75.7%
White, Other 5%
Asian, Other 3.4%
White & Black (Caribbean) 2.4%
African 2.1%
Mixed, Other 1.6%
White & Asian 1.5%
Indian 1.3%
White & Black (African) 1.3%
Unclassified 0.8%
Caribbean 0.7%
Pakistani 0.4%
Chinese 0.2%

Overall Ofsted Rating
Last Report Date 26 Mar 2024 – no overall grade published for this inspection
Date Report
26 Mar 2024 School inspection
15 Jan 2019 Short inspection
06 Jan 2017 Academy conversion letter
03 Feb 2015 Full inspection:
Previously as Larkmead School
21 May 2013 Monitoring visit
20 Feb 2013 Full inspection:
22 Jun 2011 Full inspection:
14 May 2008 Full inspection:
01 May 2007 Curriculum and development visit
14 Mar 2005 Full inspection

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

  • English
  • Maths
  • 3 subjects from qualifications that count towards the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), like sciences, language and history
  • 3 more GCSE qualifications (including EBacc subjects) or technical awards from a list approved by the Department for Education

Each grade a pupil gets is assigned a point score from 9 (the highest) to 1 (the lowest). These scores are added up, with English and maths counted twice.

School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
39

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 29.5%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 47.9%

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

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GCSE Results

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Grades

School Local Nationwide
Average Grade C+ B- C+
Average Grade (best 3) C+ B- C+
Percentage Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Students getting AAB or better 10.6%
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Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 168 30
Third Preference 114 0
From another Local Authority 1 0

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 Larkmead School had 938 pupils for 1,060 places. 122 places (11.5%) were unfilled.

Pupils and places

Year 7 intake in the “Abingdon Secondary” planning area

Oxfordshire counted 618 Year 7 pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 522 in 2031–32, down 16%.

20172018201920212022202320242025
Places 1,0601,0601,0601,0601,0601,0601,0601,060
Pupils 780726761843820863917938
Unfilled 26.4%31.5%28.2%20.5%22.6%18.6%13.5%11.5%

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 Larkmead School attended 87.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 31.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

2018201920212022202320242025
Authorised absence 3.5%3.7%4.1%7.0%7.3%6.9%8.5%
Unauthorised absence 2.5%2.0%1.9%3.4%3.6%4.0%4.1%
Severely absent pupils 1.1%0.9%1.9%3.9%5.1%4.2%8.2%

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, 8.4% of pupils at Larkmead School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

20182019202020212022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 5.05.67.212.012.219.913.818.9
Permanent exclusions 00000000

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 Larkmead School had 17.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

201820192020202120222023202420252026
Pupils per adult 10.911.812.613.012.113.313.612.912.9
Teachers who left state teaching 2.0%11.8%9.6%5.4%9.5%2.9%11.5%3.3%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 60.7%48.3%–54.2%78.0%73.7%65.1%58.6%–
Sick days per teacher 4.41.8–5.27.53.97.33.4–

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, 18.9% of pupils at Larkmead School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Speech, language and communication needs 43 11
Social, emotional and mental health 40 11
Moderate learning difficulty 41 6
Autistic spectrum disorder 12 19
Other difficulty or disability 20 1
Specific learning difficulty 17 4
No specialist assessment of need 5 0
Physical disability 2 3
Hearing impairment 1 0

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 2023–24 Larkmead School received £7,261 and spent £7,008 for each of its 915 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £419,000 (£458 per pupil).

Across all 18 schools of Cambrian Learning Trust, income was £6,956 and spending £6,911 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

201920202021202220232024
Revenue reserve £91,000£22,000£216,000£512,000£658,000£419,000
per pupil £119£27£257£620£761£458
In-year balance -£177,000-£219,000£258,000£472,000£328,000£231,000
per pupil -£231-£270£306£572£379£253

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.

Name Distance
The Manor Preparatory School
Faringdon Road, Abingdon, OX13 6LN
0.14 miles
Carswell Community Primary School
Bostock Road, Carswell Primary School, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1DP
0.63 miles
St Nicolas Church of England Primary School, Abingdon
Boxhill Walk, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1HB
0.69 miles
Caldecott Primary School
Caldecott Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 5HB
0.89 miles
Dunmore Primary School
Northcourt Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1NR
0.91 miles
Thameside Primary School
Cotman Close, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 5NL
1.1 miles
St Edmund's Catholic Primary School
Radley Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3PP
1.21 miles
Long Furlong Primary School
Boulter Drive, Boulter Drive, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1XP
1.24 miles
Rush Common School
Hendred Way, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 2AW
1.33 miles
Thomas Reade Primary School
Thomas Reade Primary School, Radley Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3RR
1.42 miles
Sunningwell Church of England Primary School
Dark Lane, Sunningwell, Sunningwell C of E Primary, Dark Lane, Oxon, Oxfordshire, OX13 6RE
1.73 miles
Marcham Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School
Morland Road, Marcham, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX13 6PY
1.76 miles
Dry Sandford Primary School
Lashford Lane, Dry Sandford, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX13 6EE
1.98 miles
Drayton Community Primary School
Hilliat Fields, Drayton, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 4JF
2.09 miles
Wootton St Peter's Church of England Primary School
Wootton Village, Boars Hill, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 5HP
2.5 miles
Chandlings Prep
Bagley Wood Road, Oxford, OX1 5ND
2.54 miles
Radley Church of England Primary School
Church Road, Radley, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3QF
2.55 miles
Sutton Courtenay Church of England Primary School
Bradstocks Way, Sutton Courtenay, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 4DA
3.36 miles
St Swithun's CofE Primary School
Grundy Crescent, Kennington, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 5PS
3.43 miles
Appleton Church of England (A) Primary School
Church Road, Appleton, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX13 5JL
3.48 miles
Name Distance
St Helen and St Katharine
Faringdon Road, Abingdon, OX14 1BE
0.17 miles
The Unicorn School
20 Marcham Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1AA
0.51 miles
John Mason School
Wootton Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1JB
0.52 miles
Abingdon School
Park Road, Abingdon, OX14 1DE
0.58 miles
Abingdon and Witney College
Wootton Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1GG
0.63 miles
Fitzharrys School
Northcourt Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1NP
0.78 miles
Kingfisher School
Radley Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3RR
1.38 miles
Cothill House
Cothill, Abingdon, OX13 6JL
1.71 miles
Europa School UK
Thame Lane, Culham, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3DZ
2.31 miles
Radley College
2.43 miles
Matthew Arnold School
Arnolds Way, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 9JE
4.55 miles
The Oxford Academy
Sandy Lane West, Littlemore, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 6JZ
4.77 miles
The Iffley Academy
Iffley Turn, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 4DU
4.78 miles
Orion Academy
Knights Road, Blackbird Leys, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 6DQ
4.88 miles

All schools in Abingdon · Oxfordshire local authority: places and applications

How many pupils does Larkmead School have?

Larkmead School has 959 pupils on roll.

What age range does Larkmead School cover?

Larkmead School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Larkmead School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.0, and 30% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Larkmead School?

Larkmead School is at Faringdon Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1RF.

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