Hampshire families are being well-served by some wonderful local secondary schools, which have seen great success in the most recent GCSE season.
The 2024/25 school year’s preliminary performance figures for state-funded secondaries have just been released. They look a little different than in recent years too, with the default metric used to compare schools switching to Attainment 8 scores - a purely performance-based figure derived from pupils’ results in up to eight GCSEs. The usual improvement-based Progress 8 scores couldn’t be calculated this year, due to the pandemic disruptions this cohort faced back in primary school.
Even with this change, many schools across Hampshire rose to the challenge and performed well above the national average. To celebrate these excellent schools, we’ve created a league table of the highest achievers across the Portsmouth, Southampton, and Hampshire County Council areas - factoring in their Ofsted scores as well.
Attainment 8 scores go up to 90 and loosely align with GCSE 9-1 number grades, with the national average being 45.9 this year - somewhere between the standard and strong passing grades of 4 to 5. We’ve only included the top 15, all of which had scores of well over 50. In cases where two had the same score, they have been ordered alphabetically.
We have also checked to make sure each school included had a positive mark in its latest Ofsted inspection, as it’s important to factor in more than just grades when considering a school’s strengths. These are set to change from November, but for now, we’ve only included schools with either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall grade before last September, or positive ratings across all categories if they’ve been inspected since.
Here were Hampshire’s top 15 for 2025:
1. Saint George Catholic College
At the top of the list this year is Saint George, a local authority-maintained Catholic secondary school in Southampton. It was most recently rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 59.9 – compared to a local average of 41.9 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
2. Thornden School
Next up is Thornden, a secondary academy in Chandler’s Ford, in the Eastleigh borough. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 59.8 – compared to a local average of 45.4 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
3. The Westgate School
This is a local authority-maintained all-through school in Winchester, most recently rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 59.7 – compared to a local average of 45.4 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
4. Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School
Bishop Challoner is a maintained Catholic secondary school in Basingstoke, most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 59.3 – compared to a local average of 45.4 and a national average of 45.9. | Google