Pate's Grammar School

About Pate's Grammar School

Pate's Grammar School in Cheltenham is significantly oversubscribed, a clear signal of its standing in the local area. For the 2025/26 academic year, the school received 319 applications for just 146 Year 7 places, with 216 of those coming from first-preference families. That works out to an oversubscription ratio of 2.18, meaning more than two families apply for every available spot. The school currently has 1,288 pupils on roll, which is 68 above its official capacity of 1,220, so it is running full and then some. Just 3.6% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the national average and a figure that points to a relatively affluent intake. For context, the local authority of Gloucestershire has 44 state secondary schools, and only six of them hold an Outstanding rating from Ofsted — Pate's is one of them, and it ranks first in Cheltenham on Progress 8.

Academically, Pate's Grammar School produces results that place it among the strongest schools in the country. Its Progress 8 score of 1.01 means pupils achieve, on average, a full grade higher per subject than pupils with similar starting points nationally. That is well above the local authority average of 0.19. The Attainment 8 score sits at 83.7, and 99.3% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths. At KS5, the school's value-added score is 0.09, and the average points per entry is 49.61, equivalent to an A grade. Over 67% of A-level entries were graded AAB or higher. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in March 2024, the school was judged Outstanding across every category: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and the sixth-form provision. The previous inspection in 2013 also rated it Outstanding, so this is a school with a sustained track record.

The school is well equipped, with facilities including a swimming pool, astro turf, theatre, science labs, music rooms, and a dedicated sixth form centre. There is a broad range of extracurricular options, from the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and Young Enterprise to debate, chess, and eco club. Sports on offer include football, hockey, rugby, tennis, and badminton. The school's SEND provisions cover a wide spectrum, including support for autistic spectrum disorder, dyslexia, speech and language needs, and physical disabilities. Pate's is a state grammar school with no religious character and a co-educational intake from age 11 through to 18. Given its high academic outcomes and intense competition for places, this school is best suited to families whose children are likely to thrive in a selective, high-achieving environment and who are prepared for the pressure of oversubscribed admissions.

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