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Ribston Hall High School

Academy converter in Gloucester, GL1 5LE, taking ages 11 to 18, girls, 939 on roll.

Report card Ofsted, May 2026
No limit Distance did not limit entry, 2024/25
94% Full
67.7 Attainment 8, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

Distance did not limit entry in 2024/25: Gloucestershire records the furthest offer at 478 miles, further than any school run. Distance is not what will decide a place here.

Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.

No circle to draw: 478 miles is not a distance limit.

This is not a catchment area. 478 miles was last year's outcome, not a boundary and not a promise.
How to read this

Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Ribston Hall High School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.

Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.

With no distance limit the map shows the school and the postcode you check, and claims nothing about a boundary.

The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.

One published year so far: 2024/25, from Gloucestershire. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: Gloucestershire, published admission distances, 2024/25

Two schools, both in reach

Two children, or a first and second preference? Add a second school to see where both are in reach, cheapest districts first. Only a school with a published distance can be added.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Gloucestershire, 140 of 543 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (25.8%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.

Other schools nearby with a published distance

The closest schools to Ribston Hall High School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Linden Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.42 mi 2024/25 0.4 mi
Tredworth Junior School Both in reach Primary 1.62 mi 2024/25 0.5 mi
Finlay Community School Both in reach Primary 0.92 mi 2024/25 0.6 mi
The Crypt School Secondary No limit 2024/25 0.6 mi
St Paul's Church of England Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.53 mi 2024/25 0.8 mi
Gloucester Academy Both in reach Secondary 10.95 mi 2024/25 1.0 mi

The distance as a picture

Ribston Hall High School catchment area map: the 478 mile admission distance, 2024/25
Drawn to scale from the published figure. Save the picture, or share this page and this is the card that appears.

What kind of school this is

AdmissionsSelective
Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formHas a sixth form
How full 939 pupils in 1,000 places (94% full)
TrustRIBSTON HALL HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMY TRUST
Local authorityGloucestershire

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Report card, May 2026: 4 areas strong or exceptional, 3 at the expected standard
Report card
  • Safeguarding Met
  • Inclusion Expected standard
  • Curriculum and teaching Strong standard
  • Achievement Strong standard
  • Attendance and behaviour Strong standard
  • Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
  • Early years Not applicable
  • Post-16 provision Expected standard
  • Leadership and governance Expected standard
Ofsted stopped giving schools a single overall grade in 2024; from November 2025 each area is judged on this five-point scale.
Attainment 8 67.7 (2024/25)
YearProgress 8
2024/25 not published
2023/24 +0.24
2022/23 +0.11

Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.

Who goes to Ribston Hall High School

Girls and boys99.0% girls, 1.0% boys
English as an additional language14.7% of pupils
Free school meals7.7% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Where Ribston Hall High School's Year 11 went next

Stayed for the sixth form69.1%
Sixth-form college4.1%
Further education college20.3%
Apprenticeship1.6%
Employment0.8%
No sustained destination recorded3.3%

DfE destination measures, 2022/23. Broad categories only: the DfE does not publish which named schools or colleges pupils moved to.

Getting to Ribston Hall High School by bus

Best-served stop: Ribston Hall School, 0.1 mi away, with 4.2 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:05, last 23:21.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Ladysmith Road0.1 mi0.20.00.011
Ribston Hall School0.1 mi4.01.02.064, 63, 62, 33, Glos Route 1, JD4
Lewisham Road0.1 mi0.20.00.011

These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.

Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026

The fee-paying alternative

Weighing Ribston Hall High School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around GL1: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at GL1 5LE, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →

Checking the house as well as the school

The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.

Common questions

What is the catchment area for Ribston Hall High School?

Ribston Hall High School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in 2024/25 lived 478 miles away, per Gloucestershire.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Ribston Hall High School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 478 miles was enough in 2024/25. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.

Does buying a house near Ribston Hall High School guarantee a place?

No. This is a selective school, so admission turns on the entrance assessment before distance is considered at all. The test's own free familiarisation papers are published by GL Assessment, CSSE (Essex and Southend) and Kent County Council; the school's admissions page says which test it uses and when to register. All grammar schools in England, by council. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.

Every Gloucestershire school's distance

All Gloucestershire schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →

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Admission distance published by Gloucestershire. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.