St Crispin's School

St Crispin's School is a large secondary school and sixth form within The Circle Trust. Inspectors found a highly inclusive and welcoming school where pupils feel safe, proud and well supported. Attendance is consistently above national figures and persistent absence is low, while pupils' behaviour is impressive and classrooms are calm. Inclusion is a major strength: pupils' needs are identified quickly, SEND support is robust, and the Roundhouse provision helps pupils with barriers to learning feel understood and part of the school community. Personal development and wellbeing are also strong, with a comprehensive PSHE curriculum, extensive enrichment, effective pastoral care and high-quality careers guidance. Pupils achieve well and produce high-quality work; key stage 4 outcomes are consistently strong in mathematics and science, and sixth-form outcomes are broadly in line with national averages. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, and leaders and trustees have an accurate understanding of the school's priorities. There are still areas to improve. Disadvantaged pupils' attendance is closer to national averages than the school's overall picture, and disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND have gaps in a minority of subjects. Some pupils' writing and prior knowledge are less secure, teaching practice is not fully consistent, and in a small number of sixth-form lessons learning time is not used effectively. Recent data also shows disadvantaged pupils' GCSE outcomes and attainment below national averages. Leaders' next steps focus on making teaching consistently effective, narrowing gaps for disadvantaged pupils, supporting earlier-stage readers, and improving top post-16 grades. Safeguarding standards are met.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive culture where pupils feel a strong sense of belonging.
• Pupils' attendance is consistently above national figures.
• Persistent absence is significantly low for all pupils and for those with SEND.
• Pupils' behaviour is impressive, with calm, respectful conduct and positive relationships.
• Bullying is uncommon and staff respond quickly and effectively when issues are reported.
• Leaders' work on attendance is highly effective and rooted in strong relationships with families.
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported through robust leadership and staff training.
• The Roundhouse provision offers a purposeful, well-sequenced curriculum for pupils with barriers to learning.
• Personal development and wellbeing are at the heart of the school, with a comprehensive PSHE programme.
• A rich enrichment programme offers extensive clubs, trips and activities, with participation monitored.
• Pastoral support is highly effective, including for vulnerable and newly arrived pupils.
• Careers education, information, advice and guidance are a significant strength.
• Pupils achieve well and typically produce high-quality work, especially in key stage 4 mathematics and science.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and well planned across key stages.
• Teachers are enthusiastic and typically make the curriculum accessible to all pupils.
• Leaders and trustees share an ambitious vision and have an accurate understanding of priorities.
• Trustees are diligent and well informed, with effective oversight of safeguarding and standards.
• Staff feel well supported, workload is considered carefully and professional learning is promoted strongly.
• Sixth-form students benefit from a broad curriculum, high-quality careers guidance and a wide range of enrichment.
• Pupils are well prepared for their next steps in education, employment or training.

Areas for Improvement

• Disadvantaged pupils' attendance is closer to national averages than the school's overall strong attendance.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND still have gaps in a minority of subjects.
• Some pupils' knowledge and skills are less secure, particularly in writing.
• Teaching practice is not yet consistent across the school, so some pupils' prior gaps in learning are not effectively addressed.
• Some pupils are concerned by occasional inappropriate comments made by peers, although staff deal with reports quickly.
• In a small number of sixth-form lessons, learning time is not used as effectively as leaders intend, limiting curriculum ambition.
• Leaders should build on post-16 provision so that higher proportions of students achieve the top academic grades.
• Disadvantaged pupils' GCSE outcomes and Attainment 8 are below national averages in recent data, and the disadvantage gap remains large.
• Leaders need to provide teacher strategies to narrow gaps in disadvantaged pupils' knowledge and skills and support pupils at an earlier stage of reading.
• Adaptive teaching is less well developed in some areas, and leaders are targeting further support and training.

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 St Crispin's School attended 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 14.9% 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, 1.3% of pupils at St Crispin's 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 St Crispin's School had 17.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.1% 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, 4.3% of pupils at St Crispin's School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.8% 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 St Crispin's School received £7,565 and spent £7,130 for each of its 1,489 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,721,000 (£1,827 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of The Circle Trust, income was £6,360 and spending £6,297 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 Wokingham · Wokingham local authority: places and applications

St Crispin's School is part of The Circle Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• Westende Junior School Wokingham
• Wescott Infant School Wokingham
• The Emmbrook School Wokingham
• Emmbrook Infant School Wokingham
• Emmbrook Junior School Wokingham
• The Hawthorns Primary School Wokingham
• Nine Mile Ride Primary School Wokingham
• Owlsmoor Primary School Sandhurst
• Shinfield Infant and Nursery School Reading
• Badgemore Primary School Henley-On-Thames

What is St Crispin's School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Crispin's School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was St Crispin's School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Crispin's School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does St Crispin's School have?

St Crispin's School has 1,549 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Crispin's School cover?

St Crispin's School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are St Crispin's School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 53.3, and 54% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Crispin's School?

St Crispin's School is at London Road, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 1SS.