Five Acres High School

Five Acres High School is performing very strongly overall. Inspectors found personal development and wellbeing to be exceptional, with a deeply embedded culture of character development, pastoral support and pupil voice. Achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance are all strong, and safeguarding standards are met. Pupils achieve highly: GCSE English and maths results are well above national average for all pupils and disadvantaged pupils, progress is strong, and disadvantaged pupils make excellent progress from their starting points. Attendance is above national average, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, and behaviour is excellent. The school is part of the Greenshaw Learning Trust and has 808 pupils, a below-average size. The proportion of pupils with EHC plans is above average. Leaders have high expectations and a clear vision, staff feel well supported, and governance is effective. The school is a key force in local initiatives and shares expertise beyond its own community. The main next step is to continue enhancing curriculum implementation so that exceptional teaching has a transformational impact on achievement for all pupils in all areas. In a small minority of subjects, achievement is not yet as high as elsewhere, and leaders are already making improvements.

Strengths

• Personal development and wellbeing are exceptional, with a deeply embedded culture prioritising pupil growth, character and wellbeing.
• Pupils develop remarkable confidence, resilience and self-belief through extensive pastoral and character education.
• The careers curriculum is extensive and supports aspirational, informed choices, especially for disadvantaged pupils and those with barriers.
• Pupils achieve very highly, with GCSE English and maths results well above national average for all pupils and disadvantaged pupils.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those with barriers make very strong progress and produce high-quality work.
• Attendance is above national average, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, and persistent absence is reducing quickly.
• Behaviour is excellent; pupils are respectful, learning is disruption-free, and bullying is not tolerated.
• The curriculum is highly ambitious, well tailored and supported by the trust, with expert subject leadership.
• Teaching is consistently strong; teachers explain clearly, check understanding and use agreed approaches well.
• Reading, writing and mathematics are prioritised, with effective interventions helping pupils catch up.
• Inclusion is strong; staff know pupils well, identify SEND needs quickly and provide effective support.
• Leaders work tenaciously with other professionals and are a key driving force in local initiatives.
• Leadership and governance are strong; leaders monitor impact well, trustees meet statutory duties, and staff have faith in leadership.
• Staff professional development is high quality, and leaders are considerate of workload and wellbeing.
• The school generously shares its knowledge and expertise with other professional partners.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.

Areas for Improvement

• The school should continue to enhance curriculum implementation so that exceptional teaching has a transformational impact on achievement for all pupils in all curriculum areas.
• In a small minority of subjects, achievement is not yet as high as in the strongest areas, although leaders are making improvements.

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 Five Acres High School attended 92.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.6% 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, 6.9% of pupils at Five Acres High 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 Five Acres High School had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.7% 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, 11.1% of pupils at Five Acres High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.9% 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 Five Acres High School received £8,094 and spent £7,715 for each of its 809 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £668,000 (£825 per pupil).

Across all 36 schools of Greenshaw Learning Trust, income was £8,062 and spending £7,907 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 Coleford · Gloucestershire local authority: places and applications

Five Acres High School is part of Greenshaw Learning Trust, which runs 39 schools. The nearest others:

• Hunts Grove Primary Academy Gloucester
• Waterwells Primary Academy Gloucester
• Holmleigh Park High School Gloucester
• Grange Primary Academy
• Widden Primary School Gloucester
• Gloucester Academy Gloucester
• Hillside Primary School Gloucester
• Barnwood Park School Gloucester
• Tyndale Primary School Yate
• Henley Bank High School Gloucester

What is Five Acres High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Five Acres High School is Strong standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Five Acres High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Five Acres High School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Five Acres High School have?

Five Acres High School has 786 pupils on roll.

What age range does Five Acres High School cover?

Five Acres High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Five Acres High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.9, and 48% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Five Acres High School?

Five Acres High School is at Five Acres, Coleford, Gloucestershire, GL16 7QW.