The Cooper School

About The Cooper School

Seventy-five per cent of parents who responded to Ofsted’s Parent View survey would recommend The Cooper School to other families, based on 210 responses collected between September 2024 and September 2025. That’s a solid endorsement, though the school’s popularity is also reflected in its admissions: for the 2025/26 intake, it received 311 applications for 178 places, an oversubscription ratio of 1.75, with 173 first-preference offers made. Parents generally feel their children are happy here — 81% agreed or strongly agreed with that statement — and 88% said their child feels safe. However, the picture is more mixed on behaviour: only 66% agreed the school ensures pupils are well behaved, and Ofsted’s own inspection in February 2025 rated behaviour and attitudes as ‘Requires improvement’, the same grade given to leadership and management. On the plus side, 86% of parents agreed their child does well at the school, and 85% felt the school has high expectations for their child.

Academically, The Cooper School’s Progress 8 score for 2023/24 was -0.21, which is below the national average and places it in the ‘Below average’ banding. That’s also below the Oxfordshire local authority average of -0.07. In the Cherwell district, it ranks 6th out of 9 schools on this measure, and nationally it sits in the bottom 50% of schools. Attainment 8 came in at 44.6, with 61.7% of pupils achieving a grade 4 or above in English and maths, and 37.4% achieving grade 5 or above. The EBacc average point score was 4.04, with 41.4% of pupils entering the EBacc combination. At sixth form, the picture is more encouraging: the value added score of 0.11 is positive, and the average points per entry of 31.39 equates to a grade C. The school’s best three A-levels averaged a grade C, and 12.5% of entries achieved grades AAB or higher.

The Cooper School is a large secondary with a capacity of 1,333 and currently 1,228 pupils on roll, including a sixth form. It offers a wide range of facilities — a theatre, sports hall, gymnasium, library, art studios, and a sixth form centre — and clubs including coding, debate, orchestra, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. SEND provision covers nine areas, from dyslexia and autism to speech and language needs, though the Parent View data shows 22% of respondents strongly disagreed that SEND children get the support they need, the highest negative response on any question. The school’s Ofsted rating is Good overall, but this is a recent upgrade from Requires Improvement in its previous 2022 inspection, and the 2025 inspection did not judge overall effectiveness. For families weighing up options in Cherwell, this is a school that has improved but still has clear areas to work on, particularly around behaviour and leadership.

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