There are now just weeks to go for parents of children soon to leave primary school to pick out their future secondary.
We may only be a few weeks into the new 2025/26 school year, but applications for a place at a state-funded secondary school for 2026/27 have already opened. There isn’t much time left for attending open days or browsing league tables either, with these set to close on October 31.
While you are able to apply at a later date, your child may be less likely to receive an offer from one of your preferred schools. With this in mind, we’ve revisited the top-performing state secondary schools across each of the East Midlands’ council areas - using our own ‘gold standard’ for schools.
The key figure this is based on is each school’s Progress 8 score for the most recently-available exam season (currently 2023/24). This is official metric which shows how quickly pupils have progressed from primary school to when they sit their GCSEs, compared to peers from a similar starting point.
This data has now been finalised, so it is worth noting that results and placings may differ slightly from earlier reports based on interim results. Where more than one school had the same score, they have been sorted alphabetically.
But grades shouldn’t be the only thing you consider when finding the right school environment for your child, so we’ve also made sure each one included also had a positive mark in its latest Ofsted inspection. These will undergo some changes before the end of the year, but for now, we’ve limited our league table to schools with either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall grade before last September, or positive ratings across all categories if they’ve been inspected since. This means that quality of education, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and safeguarding practices all met or exceeded Government standards.
Here are the 22 highest-ranking secondary schools from across the region:
1. Madani Girls’ School
At the top of the list is Madani Girls’, a local authority-maintained Islamic girls’ secondary school in Leicester, which shares a site with Madani Boys School. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an outstanding Progress 8 score of 1.14, placing it in the ‘well above average’ band – the highest available. | Google
2. The King's School, Grantham
Next up is The King's School, a selective boys’ secondary academy in Grantham, Lincolnshire. It was most recently rated ‘good’ by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score of 1.1. | Google
3. Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School
Also based in Grantham, Lincolnshire, this is a selective girls’ secondary academy. It was most recently rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score of 1.04. | Google
4. Bishop Stopford School
Bishop Stopford is an Anglican secondary academy in Kettering, North Northamptonshire. In a recent Ofsted inspection, it was found to be ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in all categories. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score of 1.02. | Google