The Cowplain School

Academy converter·Secondary school Waterlooville, Hampshire·PO8 8RY
Composite score
49.5
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#2,576
National rank
#377
In South East
#51
In Hampshire
Top 81%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
39.6
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
38%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
63%
% EBacc grade 5+
9%
EBacc average points score
3.43

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
148 first choices, 176 places
First choices per place
0.84
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
268
any preference, for 176 places
Applications from another council area
1%
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.09
00.511.5
1 per place
0.8920220.9520230.9520240.7520250.842026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put The Cowplain School first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–16
Pupils on roll
1,011
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
28.1%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
3.3%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
13.8%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
4.2%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
10.5%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
29.7%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
18.3
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£7,931
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
84%
141 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
73%
Apprenticeship
6%
Employment
6%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

About The Cowplain School

The Cowplain School is a secondary school in Waterlooville, Hampshire, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. Around 1,011 pupils aged 11 to 16 attend the school. The school holds a 'Good' judgement from Ofsted. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 39.6, below the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 0.6 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

38% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 63% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. The Cowplain School was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 148 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 84% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 10.5%. There are about 18.3 pupils per teacher. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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