Wood Green School Review 2026: A Witney comprehensive with a distinctive baccalaureate focus

Wood Green School is an 11 to 18 comprehensive in Witney, within Oxfordshire, serving a broad local intake and operating as an academy within Acer Trust. Its identity is shaped by a clear personal development structure alongside mainstream GCSE and A-level pathways, including a school-designed baccalaureate framework and an expectation that pupils build skills such as research, communication, and contribution to the community.

The October 2024 Ofsted inspection reported that the school had taken effective action to maintain standards and that safeguarding arrangements were effective.

For families who want a mainstream secondary with a sixth form, a strong emphasis on routines and relationships, and purposeful enrichment built into the week, this is a credible option. Founded in 1953, the school has long-standing roots in the town’s education landscape, but it also signals continued development, including planned new science laboratories as part of expansion.

Wood Green’s culture is framed through its LEARNWell values, with a consistent expectation that pupils take learning seriously while also developing independence and responsibility. The language is practical rather than rhetorical, with explicit attention to effort, aspiration, respect, nurture, and wellbeing.

Daily tone is described as calm, orderly, and purposeful, supported by consistent routines and a restorative approach when behaviour falls short. Relationships between staff and pupils are positioned as a strength, with pupils encouraged to take responsibility through formal student leadership routes, including head student roles and student governor participation.

The school is also explicit about ambition being for everyone, including pupils with special educational needs and or disabilities. A specially resourced provision supports pupils with moderate learning difficulties, and the wider SEND identification processes are described as accurate and well understood by staff.

GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking)

Wood Green School is ranked 2,578th in England for GCSE outcomes, and 4th in Witney (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). This reflects solid performance in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile).

Key GCSE indicators include an Attainment 8 score of 42.3 and a Progress 8 score of -0.38, which indicates that, on average, pupils make below-average progress from their starting points across eight subjects.

EBacc measures show an average EBacc points score of 3.69, and 11.6% of pupils achieving grade 5 or above across the EBacc subjects.

A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking)

For A-levels, Wood Green School is ranked 1,439th in England and 4th in Witney (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), again aligning to performance in the middle 35% of providers in England.

Grade distribution for A-levels shows 5.35% A*, 16.58% A, 20.32% B, and 42.25% A* to B.

Taken together, the data points to a school that offers a full 11 to 18 pathway with outcomes that are broadly typical for England, with a particular need to understand how effectively the school lifts progress for pupils who arrive with lower starting points.

The curriculum is described as ambitious and thoughtfully designed, with subject expertise emphasised and teaching expected to check learning regularly. Where practice is strongest, teachers identify what pupils need to know and remember, explain new material clearly, and revisit learning to secure it over time.

Reading has a deliberate profile. Pupils who fall behind receive specialist support, and Years 7 and 8 follow a weekly reading approach intended to broaden vocabulary and increase engagement across subjects. The library is positioned as central to school life, supported by dedicated staff.

Department-level detail suggests a school that invests in subject infrastructure. The science department, for example, is organised around ten laboratories, supported by technicians, and teaches all three sciences in Key Stage 3 before specialisation later. The department also runs structured academic extension, including a weekly clinic for extra support at Key Stage 5.

Wood Green has a sixth form and also provides careers guidance and work experience, with most Year 11 pupils taking part in work experience as part of preparation for next steps.

Where published destination data is available, it suggests a mixed set of next steps, which is typical of a comprehensive serving a wide ability and aspiration range. For the 2023/24 leavers cohort, 54% progressed to university, 32% went into employment, 5% started apprenticeships, and 1% progressed to further education.

For families focused on highly selective routes, the school does show some Oxbridge pipeline. In the most recently reported cycle, six students applied to Oxford or Cambridge, with three ultimately securing places, all at Cambridge.

Year 7 entry is coordinated through Oxfordshire County Council, rather than directly by the school. For September 2026 entry, applications opened on 12 September 2025, with a closing date of 31 October 2025, and National Offer Day on 2 March 2026.

Wood Green describes itself as oversubscribed, so families should treat the local authority deadline as non-negotiable and include realistic preference choices.

Open events tend to run in early autumn. Oxfordshire’s secondary admissions prospectus shows Wood Green historically holding open evening activity in early October, which fits the usual September to October pattern across the county. Families should check the school’s current admissions communications for the latest dates each year.

Parents comparing location and realistic travel time can use the FindMySchool Map Search to test routes and practical commuting options from home, then cross-check with the local authority’s allocation criteria for the relevant year.

Pastoral systems are closely linked to routines, relationships, and a restorative approach. The school’s expectations are framed as consistent, with pupils encouraged to take responsibility and staff reinforcing routines so that behaviour is calm and lessons stay purposeful.

Support for pupils with additional needs is not positioned as peripheral. The resourced provision for moderate learning difficulties is part of the overall offer, and SEND identification is described as accurate, with needs understood by staff across the school.

Attendance is a priority area, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. Families should expect the school to be proactive where attendance patterns risk undermining learning, and to frame attendance as central to progress and belonging.

The clearest differentiator is the school’s own baccalaureate award. It is designed to encourage pupils to be active, build new skills, volunteer, and complete an annual personal project at each key stage, building research, time management, and presentation skills.

Academic enrichment is also visible in subject areas. Science offers a weekly Key Stage 3 Science Club, structured activity during Science and Engineering Week, external science speakers for triple GCSE and A-level groups, and a bi-annual trip to CERN in Geneva.

Arts and performance are part of the wider rhythm, with concerts and performances described as regular highlights, including opportunities for students to lead ensembles. While individual productions vary year to year, school documentation shows a track record of staging large-scale drama, such as a production of Beauty and the Beast (2019).

Sport is presented as a broad participation offer, with many pupils representing the school in teams and clubs. The house system also plays a role in belonging and participation, which can matter for pupils who are not naturally drawn to competitive sport but respond well to shared identity and structured involvement.

Wood Green sits within Witney and is positioned as accessible for families across the town and surrounding villages, with wider links into Oxford and onward transport connections.

Published sources accessed for this review did not consistently include current start and finish times for the school day. Families should check the most recent term-time information issued by the school, and confirm timings for any sixth form study periods, transport arrangements, and after-school commitments.

• Progress measures. A Progress 8 score of -0.38 suggests outcomes are stronger for some pupils than others, and that families should probe how effectively the school supports pupils who need rapid catch-up, especially across Key Stage 3 foundations.

• Attendance expectations. Improving attendance for disadvantaged pupils is identified as an area for continued focus. If attendance has been a challenge historically, families should ask what day-to-day monitoring and support looks like and how quickly escalation happens.

• Competition for places. The school describes itself as oversubscribed, which means admissions process discipline matters. Missing the local authority deadline meaningfully reduces options.

• A strong personal development spine. The baccalaureate structure and annual personal project can suit pupils who respond to clear frameworks and deadlines. It may feel demanding for students who prefer fewer parallel commitments alongside GCSE and A-level study.

Wood Green School offers a credible 11 to 18 comprehensive route in Witney with an unusually explicit personal development framework, backed by a school-designed baccalaureate, annual projects, and a culture built around routines and relationships. Academic outcomes sit in the middle range nationally, so the key question for families is fit: students who benefit from structure, clear expectations, and purposeful enrichment are likely to do best here. This school suits families who want a mainstream local option with a sixth form and visible SEND capacity, and who value a broader definition of achievement than exam grades alone.