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Academy converter · Gloucestershire

Marling School

  • 11–18Ages
  • 1,082Pupils
  • SecondaryPhase
  • SelectiveGrammar school
  • BoysPupils
  • Sixth formAges 16–18
  • 137123URN

Cainscross Road, Stroud, GL5 4HE · School website

Applications per placeCircle size: applicationsThis school
Latest Ofsted

Graded inspection · Nov 2024 Previous framework

No overall grade given
  • Quality of education
  • Behaviour and attitudes
  • Personal development
  • Leadership and management
What Ofsted found
Applications per place · Sept 2026
2.9per place
0.8 above Gloucestershire median (2.1)
Fewer applicationsMore

This schoolOther secondary schools in GloucestershireSelective

431 applications for 149 places · 11th of 39 in Gloucestershire
Every year since 2014
Attainment 8 · 2025/26 (provisional)
73.2of 90
6th of 41 in Gloucestershire
All GCSE results

What did Ofsted find?

Ofsted data to 30 September 2026
Graded inspection · 19 November 2024Ofsted's previous 4-point scale (to August 2024). Between September 2024 and November 2025 Ofsted graded areas but gave no overall grade.
AreaOutstandingGoodRequires improvementInadequate
Quality of educationGood
Behaviour and attitudesGood
Personal developmentGood
Leadership and managementGood
Sixth form provisionGood

Full reports on the Ofsted website · How to read Ofsted grades

About these grades

Ofsted's report cards (from November 2025) grade each area on five steps and give no overall grade. Earlier grades come from a different framework; Ofsted says the two cannot be compared, so they are never converted here. Ofsted: "We normally inspect schools every 4 years or at any time if we have concerns." Methodology.

How hard is it to get a place?

DfE · Sept 2026 entry
2.9applications per place, Year 7
0.8 above Gloucestershire median (2.1) 0.7 above England median (2.2)

431 applications · 149 places offered · 164 named it first

SelectiveApplications include children who did not pass the entrance test.

  1. 2026 2.9; Gloucestershire median median 2.1
  2. 2025 2.7; Gloucestershire median median 2.2
  3. 2024 3.2; Gloucestershire median median 2.2
  4. 2023 2.6; Gloucestershire median median 2.1
  5. 2022 2.5; Gloucestershire median median 2.0
  6. 2021 3.9; Gloucestershire median median 2.0
  7. 2020 2.4; Gloucestershire median median 1.9
  8. 2019 2.4; Gloucestershire median median 1.9
  9. 2018 2.5; Gloucestershire median median 1.9
  10. 2017 2.3; Gloucestershire median median 1.9
  11. 2016 2.6; Gloucestershire median median 2.1
  12. 2015 2.4; Gloucestershire median median 2.0
  13. 2014 2.5; Gloucestershire median median 1.9
More applications per place than the Gloucestershire median in 13 of 13 years.
  • This school
  • Gloucestershire median

Year 7 applications for September 2027 close 31 October 2026, through your council

Selective: register for the entrance test with the school first, usually by the summer before (dates vary). Dates

How this is measured

Applications per place: every application naming the school at any preference, divided by places offered on National Offer Day. It is not your chance of a place. Methodology.

EntryPlacesApplicationsPer placeFirst preferencesFirst-pref. ratio
Sep 20261494312.91641.10
Sep 20251504102.71490.99
Sep 20241504763.21961.31
Sep 20231473832.61440.98
Sep 20221503802.51581.05
Sep 20211515923.92171.44
Sep 20201443502.41501.04
Sep 20191483612.41811.22
Sep 20181483632.52071.40
Sep 20171503402.31701.13
Sep 20161473762.62151.46
Sep 20151192882.41541.29
Sep 20141193022.51511.27

How did pupils do at GCSE?

DfE KS4 · 2025/26 provisional

151 pupils took GCSEs in 2025/26.

Attainment 8 (out of 90)73.26th of 41 in Gloucestershire
Grade 5 or above in English and maths98%3rd of 41 in Gloucestershire
Grade 4 or above in English and maths100%
  • This school
  • Gloucestershire median
  • England median
Progress 8 (2023/24, the latest published)+0.64
−20 = national average+2
Every year as a table
YearPupilsAttainment 85+ Eng & maths4+ Eng & mathsProgress 8
2025/26 (prov.)15173.298%100%–
2024/2515973.998%100%–
2023/2415771.398%99%+0.64
2022/2315868.396%98%+0.50

Progress 8 is not published for 2024/25 or 2025/26: those pupils had no key stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021.

Schools nearby

The 8 nearest secondary schools in a straight line, in any local authority

  • Exceptional
  • Strong standard
  • Expected standard
  • Needs attention
  • Urgent improvement
  • Does not apply

Eight dots, one per area: inclusion, curriculum, achievement, attendance, personal development, early years, post-16, leadership. Colours follow Ofsted's report card scale; Schoolfile is independent of Ofsted.

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
URN · DfE number
137123 · 916/5401
Trust
Lift Schools
Admissions policy
Selective
Capacity
1,150 pupils · 1,082 on roll
Free school meals
4.2% of pupils (England median 23%)
Opened
1 August 2011
Replaced
Marling School (URN 115752)
Address
Cainscross Road, Stroud, GL5 4HE
Local authority
Gloucestershire · Stroud

Data last changed 19 October 2026 · Report an error · Corrections · Sources