Cobham Free School

About Cobham Free School

Cobham Free School’s headline Progress 8 score of 0.53 places it well above the Surrey local authority average of 0.26 for secondary schools, a gap that marks it out as a significantly stronger performer than most of its peers in the county. This puts the school in the top 25% nationally for progress, and within Elmbridge it ranks second out of five schools on the same metric. The school’s Attainment 8 score of 55.7 is solid, and its EBacc average point score of 5.33 reflects a curriculum that pushes pupils into the academic core. With 84.2% of pupils entered for the EBacc combination of subjects, Cobham Free School clearly prioritises breadth in the humanities and languages alongside the sciences, and the results bear that out.

Digging into the breakdown, the school’s strongest subject-level progress is in English, where the Progress 8 score hits 0.92, well above the national average of zero. Maths progress is more modest at 0.35, while the EBacc element – covering humanities and languages – is the standout at 0.75. At GCSE, 87.1% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, and 63.4% reached the higher grade 5 benchmark. In the sixth form, the picture is more mixed: the value-added score of -0.06 is classed as average, with a C grade average across the best three A-levels and 30.76 points per entry. The sixth form is small, with 41 pupils in the data, so individual results can shift the averages noticeably. Ofsted’s most recent graded inspection in 2017 rated the school Good overall, and an ungraded visit in 2023 confirmed it remains Good, with leadership and management, early years provision, and overall effectiveness all rated Good.

Cobham Free School is heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, it received 469 applications for just 59 places, with 113 first-preference applications and only 56 first-preference offers. That gives an oversubscription ratio of nearly 8 to 1, so families need to be prepared for a competitive admissions process. The school is all-through, covering ages 4 to 18, with a dedicated sixth form centre on site. Facilities include a swimming pool, astro turf, science labs, music rooms, and a chapel. The school supports a range of SEND needs, including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 15.4% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the intake is broadly representative of the local area. This is a school that suits families who value strong academic progress, particularly in English and the EBacc subjects, and who are willing to navigate a competitive entry process to secure a place.

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