Marling School

About Marling School

Marling School is a boys’ secondary school in Stroud that is running very close to full capacity, with 1,117 pupils on roll against a published capacity of 1,150. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 4.1 per cent, well below the national average, reflecting the relatively affluent catchment. Demand for places is strong: for entry in 2025/26, the school received 410 applications for 150 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.73. Of those, 149 were first-preference applications, and 108 first-preference offers were made. The school is selective in practice, though not by formal academic entry test, and its intake profile suggests a largely middle-class, high-attaining cohort. Acting Principal Duncan Cook leads a school that has held a Good rating from Ofsted since its most recent graded inspection in November 2024, having previously been rated Outstanding in 2013. The school is a single-sex state school with a co-educational sixth form, and it sits just 0.2 km from Stroud High School, the nearest Outstanding-rated school in the area.

Academically, Marling performs well above the national average. Its Progress 8 score of +0.64 places it in the top 11 per cent of schools nationally and second among nine schools in Stroud, behind only Pate’s Grammar School. The local authority average Progress 8 score is +0.19, so Marling’s pupils make significantly more progress than peers in similar schools across Gloucestershire. Attainment 8 sits at 71.3, and 99.4 per cent of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths. The EBacc average point score is 6.36, with 39.5 per cent of pupils entering the EBacc combination. At A-level, the school’s best three A-levels average a B grade, with a points per entry of 40.12, and the value-added score of +0.04 is rated as average. The sixth form is large, with 203 pupils in the cohort, and 23 per cent achieved at least AAB in facilitating subjects.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a swimming pool, astro turf, theatre, and playing fields, and runs clubs from chess and coding to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Model UN. SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties, speech and language needs, autistic spectrum disorder, and physical disabilities, though the Parent View survey suggests mixed satisfaction: 59 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that SEND children receive the support they need, while 40 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed. Overall, 78 per cent of parents would recommend the school. Marling suits families who want a high-performing, academically ambitious boys’ school with a strong sixth form, where demand is high and oversubscription is the norm. It is not a school for those seeking a co-educational secondary experience, and the low FSM figure indicates limited socioeconomic diversity.

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