Broadwater School Review 2026: A longer school day built around challenge, character, and strong progress

Broadwater School is an 11–16 mixed comprehensive in the Broadwater area of Godalming, with a clear identity built around three principles: Work Hard; Be Kind; Make a Difference. The most distinctive operational reminder of that ethos is time. The day does not simply end at the last lesson bell. Instead, it extends into Challenge Hour and a later Champions’ Hour, creating space for clubs, sport, enrichment and targeted support.

Academically, the picture is compelling. A Progress 8 score of 0.73 signals that students, on average, make well above average progress compared with similar pupils in England. In the FindMySchool GCSE outcomes ranking, Broadwater sits 946th in England and 4th in Godalming, placing it comfortably within the top 25% of schools in England.

For many families, the draw is the combination of structure and breadth. A carefully planned curriculum, daily reading routines, and strong behaviour expectations sit alongside meaningful extracurricular pathways, including a partnership cadets programme with Charterhouse and a Challenge Week programme that includes residentials and specialist workshops.

Broadwater’s identity is unusually explicit, and it shows up in the language used with students. The school frames expectations around three principles, and those principles link directly to how routines, relationships and learning are organised. The emphasis on reading is a good example. Reading is not treated as an optional add-on, it is embedded into form time and described as a priority that supports every subject.

The wider tone is orderly and purposeful. Clear routines at the start of the day, and consistent behaviour expectations, matter in a busy secondary setting. Broadwater places those routines front and centre, including a structured roll call, tutor reading, assemblies, and pastoral systems organised through four houses. The result is a school that aims to feel predictable for students, which is particularly important for those who thrive on clarity and consistency.

Pastoral care is designed around relationships that cut across year groups. Tutor groups sit within houses and are deliberately mixed by age and gender. For younger students, that can reduce the sense that secondary school is a reminder that older pupils are “other people”. For older students, it creates opportunities to model responsibility and support. House leadership is overseen by Heads of Year, and the house framework also creates a natural structure for assemblies and recognition.

Leadership is led by Headteacher Mrs Lizzi Matthews. The school also sits within the Greenshaw Learning Trust, having joined in September 2020. For families, this matters because trust-wide subject networks and professional development can shape curriculum consistency, staff training, and access to shared expertise across schools.

Broadwater’s headline story is progress. A Progress 8 score of 0.73 indicates students achieve substantially better GCSE outcomes than would be expected from their starting points. That is one of the most parent-friendly indicators of academic effectiveness because it looks beyond raw grades and focuses on improvement.

Attainment is also strong. The school’s Attainment 8 score is 55.8, reflecting solid performance across a broad set of GCSE subjects. In the English Baccalaureate suite, the average points score is 4.96, and 25.2% of pupils achieved grades 5 or above across the EBacc subjects. These figures suggest a school that takes a broad academic core seriously while still supporting a wide range of pathways.

The FindMySchool GCSE outcomes ranking provides a useful wider context. Broadwater is ranked 946th in England and 4th in Godalming for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). In plain English, that places the school above the England average and comfortably within the top 25% of schools in England.

The most recent published outcomes should be read alongside how the school describes its curriculum intent. Broadwater emphasises carefully sequenced learning, frequent retrieval through low-stakes quizzes, and lessons built around “big ideas” that help students connect new knowledge to prior learning. The implication for families is that results are not presented as a one-off. They are positioned as the output of a particular approach to teaching and curriculum design.

Broadwater’s approach to teaching is described in practical terms. Lessons are framed around big ideas; teachers aim to build new content in small steps; and students are checked frequently for understanding. That matters because it signals a preference for clarity over improvisation, and for deliberate practice over hoping pupils will “pick it up”.

The school’s curriculum intent leans into sequencing and memory. Interleaving, retrieval practice, and frequent returns to previous knowledge are explicitly referenced, alongside a focus on breaking the forgetting curve. The implication for students is that learning is designed to stick, which is particularly valuable in a GCSE system that rewards long-term retention.

Reading sits at the centre of that model. Broadwater describes reading as a daily priority, and students are given structured opportunities to read with staff. This is not only about English. A school that treats literacy as the gateway skill is usually a school that thinks carefully about how students access every subject, including science, humanities and technical courses.

A practical structural change also supports depth. Key Stage 3 content has been extended into Year 9, creating more time to secure foundations before GCSE courses begin. That can reduce the sense of rushing from Year 7 straight into exam preparation and creates breathing room for a wider, better-sequenced curriculum.

As an 11–16 school, Broadwater’s main transition point is post-16. Students move on to sixth form colleges and other post-16 providers across the local area. The school points families towards local options including Godalming College and the Activate Learning group, with access to pathways that include A-level equivalents such as BTECs and T Levels.

Broadwater’s post-16 guidance is clear about what those routes mean in practice. It explains the difference between T Levels and BTECs, including the time commitment of industry placements and the type of learner each route can suit. For families, this can be valuable because it frames post-16 as a deliberate choice rather than a default, and it encourages students to think about the link between learning style, career aims, and the structure of different qualifications.

Careers education is also treated as a whole-school responsibility. The school uses structured careers resources and links to providers, and it frames work experience, placements and employer engagement as a normal part of planning beyond GCSE. The implication is that Broadwater aims to support both high-attaining academic routes and strong technical options, without implying one is inherently better than the other.

Year 7 admissions are coordinated through Surrey County Council, with Broadwater’s admissions authority held by the Greenshaw Learning Trust. The process follows the standard coordinated admissions route for Surrey families, with a Common Application Form submitted through the local authority.

Key dates matter. For September 2026 entry, Surrey applications opened on 01 September 2025 and the on-time deadline was 31 October 2025. Offers are communicated in the evening of 02 March 2026, and families must accept or decline the offered place by 16 March 2026.

Broadwater supports prospective families through visits and open events. Year 6 parent tours are typically offered through September and October, and the school’s open evening for this admissions cycle took place on Thursday 02 October 2025.

Competition for places is meaningful in the available admissions data. In the most recent data provided, there were 390 applications for 155 offers, which equates to around 2.52 applications per place. First-preference demand also exceeded available offers, with a 1.33 ratio of first preferences to first-preference offers. For families, the implication is straightforward: the school can be a realistic option, but it should be treated as competitive, and preferences should be used strategically.

Parents considering Broadwater alongside other Surrey options should use the FindMySchoolMap Search to understand how admissions criteria apply to their own address, particularly where distance and priority rules are decisive.

Pastoral structures at Broadwater are designed to provide both daily touchpoints and specialist support when required. The house system is central to that, with tutor time built into the timetable at the start and end of the day. Tutor groups are mixed across year groups, which can strengthen peer role-modelling and reduce social siloing.

Beyond the tutor framework, the school describes a broader pastoral team that includes year leadership, behaviour and welfare roles, and additional support for emotional wellbeing. The school also references specialist youth work support through an EIKON youth worker, alongside mentoring support. For families, the most useful implication is that wellbeing is framed as a structured system, not simply an informal promise.

Support for students with additional needs includes a dedicated resourced provision for speech, language and communication needs, previously referred to as the Coin Centre. Students in that provision are supported to access the full curriculum, with staff who understand their needs and how those needs can affect learning and confidence.

The June 2023 Ofsted inspection confirmed safeguarding arrangements were effective.

Broadwater’s extracurricular offer is not an optional extra, it is built into the timetable through Challenge Hour. That structural decision matters. It increases access for students who might otherwise miss clubs because of transport constraints, caring responsibilities, or the simple fatigue of a long school day.

Challenge Hour activity is broad, with options spanning creative, academic and sporting strands. The school explicitly references clubs and activities such as coding, journalism, photography, chess, choir, cooking, design and technology, sewing, and role-playing games, alongside a wide set of sports. A recent Challenge Hour survey reported that 64% of students completed a residential, and 65% said clubs improved their confidence. For families, the implication is that enrichment is treated as developmental, not cosmetic.

There are also flagship programmes that set Broadwater apart locally. The Broadwater School Army Cadets unit, formed in September 2022, operates through a partnership with Charterhouse School. Training covers areas such as first aid, military history, field craft, and supervised shooting and weapon handling, with leadership opportunities built into the syllabus. Places are limited and allocated through an application process, which signals genuine demand and a structured commitment.

Challenge Week adds a further layer. Delivered every July, it offers a programme of residential trips, day excursions and on-site workshops for Years 7–9. The school has referenced experiences such as a Madrid cultural trip, a football camp linked to Tottenham Hotspur, and outdoor residentials focused on sailing, watersports and bushcraft. This is a high-impact model because it creates concentrated time for confidence-building and independence, without assuming every student wants the same experience.

Sustainability is another clear pillar. Broadwater’s Eco Council supports a Bee Club, and the school achieved an Eco-Schools Green Flag Award with Distinction on 21 June 2025. Activities include maintaining a hive and links with local community gardening, which turns environmental education into something tangible and responsibility-based rather than purely classroom discussion.

Broadwater also runs Broadwater Radio, a student-led broadcasting project supported by external funding. The station is positioned as a platform for student voice, school news and community storytelling, with students taking the lead on recording and production.

Facilities underpin this breadth. The school describes two all-weather pitches, one sand-based and one water-based, and it is home to Guildford Hockey Club. It also highlights an on-site fitness suite, a dance studio, refurbished science labs, and ICT suites that include laptop access. The Learning Resource Centre includes 30 computers and careers resources, supporting independent study as well as post-16 planning.

The school day begins with roll call, tutor reading and notices from 08:35 to 09:05, followed by five taught periods across the day. Afternoon tutor time runs from 14:55 to 15:05. Challenge Hour then runs from 15:05 to 16:00, with a further Champions’ Hour from 16:00 to 17:00.

Transport planning should be part of any Broadwater decision. The school highlights local authority transport processes for areas beyond the immediate local area, and it also references a Broadwater School minibus serving the Busbridge and Godalming area. For events, the school notes that parking can be limited and encourages families to plan accordingly.

• A longer day can be a real commitment. Challenge Hour and the later Champions’ Hour create exceptional enrichment time, but students who rely on tight transport schedules, or who need more decompression time after lessons, may need a clear plan.

• Curriculum consistency is still a development priority. External review has highlighted that some subjects are not yet as securely embedded as others; families may want to ask how this is being addressed across departments.

• No sixth form on site. Students move on at 16, so families should consider post-16 options early and weigh travel time to preferred colleges.

• Competition for places. Demand has exceeded offers in the available admissions data, so families should treat Broadwater as a competitive option and build a realistic set of preferences.

Broadwater School suits families who want a structured, principles-led comprehensive with strong progress measures and an unusually deliberate approach to enrichment. The extended day, house system, daily reading routines and ambitious curriculum design will appeal to students who benefit from clarity and who enjoy being busy. It is best suited to students who will make the most of Challenge Hour, Challenge Week, and the school’s partnership programmes, and to families willing to plan proactively for the post-16 transition. The main constraint is admission competitiveness, rather than what the school offers once a place is secured.