Five Acres High School

About Five Acres High School

Five Acres High School is a mixed state secondary for 11-16 year olds in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, and it is clearly a popular choice among local families. With 808 pupils on roll against a capacity of 877, the school is not quite full, but the demand is strong: for the 2025/26 admissions round, the school received 209 applications for 135 places, an oversubscription ratio of 1.55. Of those, 132 were first-preference applications, and 131 first-preference offers were made, suggesting that almost every family who put it first secured a place. The school’s intake reflects a higher-than-average level of disadvantage, with 27% of pupils eligible for free school meals, compared with the national secondary average of around 23%. This context makes the school’s academic performance all the more striking, as it is clearly achieving strong outcomes for a cohort with significant socioeconomic challenges.

Academically, Five Acres is a standout performer in Gloucestershire. Its Progress 8 score of 0.77 is well above the national average and ranks it first among the seven schools in the Forest of Dean local authority area, and seventh out of 44 state secondaries across the wider county. Nationally, it sits in the top 7% of schools for Progress 8, and in the South West region it ranks 13th out of 306. The Attainment 8 score of 49.1 is solid, and 69.9% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, compared with a local authority average Progress 8 of just 0.19. The school also has a strong EBacc entry rate of 52.9%, with 34.6% of pupils achieving the EBacc at grade 4 or above. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022, the school was rated Good across all categories, including behaviour, personal development, and leadership, a significant improvement from its previous Inadequate rating in 2015.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including science labs, art studios, an ICT suite, and a library, and pupils can take part in sports such as rowing, swimming, martial arts, and rugby, alongside clubs like chess, debate, and drama. There is no sixth form or nursery provision, so families will need to plan for post-16 options elsewhere. SEND provision is well-developed, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families in the Forest of Dean looking for a secondary that combines strong academic progress with a genuinely inclusive intake, Five Acres is a compelling choice, particularly given its track record of adding significant value for pupils from all backgrounds.

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