Secondary schools in England

Choose a region and the intended school stage or qualification. Each guide states whether its table is a published metric ranking or a directory sample. Check current eligibility, subjects, costs and support through the linked official sources before applying.

Choose a guide

What this hub covers

This hub covers secondary schools in England through two guides, each a sample of 100 schools drawn from England’s official Get Information About Schools directory. The grammar-schools guide lists 100 open, state-funded selective secondary schools, spread across local authorities by round-robin. The high-schools guide lists 100 open, state-funded non-selective secondary schools — academies and local-authority-maintained schools — spread across England’s nine regions. Both guides cover England only: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use different school systems and are not in scope. It is not every secondary school in England.

Directory sample or ranking? Read the label

The “Top 100” in each guide’s title counts the records in the sample — neither table is a rank order, and both guides state this themselves. The grammar-schools guide is not a UK-wide examination-results ranking, and the high-schools guide is a directory selection, not a results league table. In both tables the row numbers are navigation identifiers, there so the sample spreads geographically; no examination score was used to order them. A directory listing answers which schools are in scope and records each school’s identity and status; only a published metric, with a named source and edition, can support a ranking.

Before you apply: five checks

1. Start with the school type and its admission authority: every school in these guides is state-funded — the grammar-schools guide lists selective schools, the high-schools guide non-selective ones. The admission authority (the school itself or the local authority) publishes the arrangement for the intended entry year; read it first, because the directory records a school’s identity and status, not whether a particular child can take a place there.
2. Check eligibility and catchment honestly: non-selective does not mean unrestricted. Oversubscription criteria, residence, distance and other published priorities can decide allocation, and a directory entry does not establish that a particular address qualifies. For grammar schools, passing an entrance test and receiving a place are separate outcomes — oversubscription rules can still apply after a qualifying score.
3. If the school is selective, build the test calendar from official dates: test registration can close before the local authority’s secondary-school application deadline, so record registration, test, results and preference submission as distinct steps, check whether one registration covers a consortium or separate applications are required, and ask the test administrator about access arrangements before the deadline if they are needed. A previous year’s allocation score is historical evidence, not a promised threshold, and arrangements can differ between Year 7 and sixth-form entry.
4. Take documents, dates and costs only from current official sources: these directory records are checked snapshots and publish no application dates or fee schedules. The state-funded schools here charge no tuition fees, but build the full cost picture from the school’s own current information — transport, uniforms, meals, devices and activities. Independent schools sit outside these guides entirely (the grammar guide excludes even independent schools with “Grammar” in their name), so if you are also considering one, take its fees only from its own published schedule and leave any unpublished figure unresolved.
5. Test the daily journey and the support on offer: compare the real journey at morning and afternoon times — a school outside the immediate neighbourhood can add transport cost and fatigue. Ask about homework, pastoral support, learning needs and how concerns are raised, read the latest inspection report alongside the school’s current response, and confirm the post-16 route: not every school in these guides has an on-site sixth form.

For schools outside England, start from the Top Schools Worldwide hub, which links the same labelled guides by region.

How to use the comparisons

1. Read the source, edition and geographic limits.
2. Shortlist feasible programmes or year groups.
3. Save current admission, qualification and fee evidence.
4. Resolve missing answers with the actual campus.

A directory listing, membership record and academic performance measure answer different questions. They are labelled separately throughout these guides.