Which school has the best GCSE results in Herefordshire?

On 2026 Attainment 8, St Mary's RC High School tops the table in Herefordshire with 53.2, against an England average of 46.2. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so compare a school's grade 5+ pass rate and, where published, its Progress 8 before reading the rank as a verdict.

When are the 2026 GCSE results for Herefordshire schools published?

Pupils receive their results in August, but school-by-school figures come from the DfE performance tables, which publish provisional results in the autumn (usually mid-October) and revised figures early in the new year. This table shows 2026 results, the 2025/26 academic year, and updates when the next release is imported.

What is Attainment 8?

Attainment 8 is the DfE's headline GCSE measure: the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight qualifications, with English and maths counted twice. A score of 50 means pupils averaged roughly a grade 5 across those subjects. No Progress 8 exists for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021.

Why does a school in Herefordshire show no GCSE results?

A school has no published figure when it had no Year 11 cohort in the year (a new school, or one that opened with younger year groups), when it converted to an academy and the DfE published results under its previous identity, or when it is independent and its pupils sat IGCSE, Pre-U or IB qualifications that the DfE tables do not count. Independent schools with a published figure are listed separately and unranked for that reason.

Herefordshire GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

15 state secondary schools in Herefordshire ranked on their 2026 GCSE results (Attainment 8, the 2025/26 academic year, the latest DfE has published for every school), with grade 7+, grade 5+ and grade 4+ in English and maths, cohort size for each school against the England average. 2 independent schools with published results are listed separately, unranked.

Local Authority 15 state secondary schools 2025/26 results

Secondary schools in Herefordshire ranked on Attainment 8

15 of 15 schools have published 2026 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2025/26.

Secondary schools in Herefordshire ranked on Attainment 8, 2026 results
Rank	School	Attainment 8	Grade 7+ English & maths	Grade 5+ English & maths	Grade 4+ English & maths	EBacc APS	Pupils
–	England average	46.2	14%	46%	65%	–	–
1	St Mary's RC High School Hereford · Voluntary aided school	53.2	13%	64%	82%	–	149
2 , up 1 place since 2025	Fairfield High School Hereford · Academy converter	51.9	14%	56%	75%	–	121
3 , up 4 places since 2025	Whitecross Hereford Hereford · Academy converter	50.1	12%	41%	67%	–	189
4 , down 2 places since 2025	The Steiner Academy Hereford Hereford · Academy sponsor led	47.7	18%	54%	79%	–	28
5 , up 3 places since 2025	John Masefield High School Ledbury · Academy converter	47.0	9%	46%	70%	–	152
6	John Kyrle High School and Sixth Form Centre Academy Ross-on-Wye · Academy converter	46.8	10%	44%	69%	–	237
7 , down 3 places since 2025	Wigmore School Leominster · Academy converter	46.4	8%	42%	66%	–	89
8 , up 1 place since 2025	The Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School Hereford · Voluntary aided school	46.3	12%	45%	65%	–	206
9 , down 4 places since 2025	Weobley High School Hereford · Community school	45.0	14%	39%	61%	–	106
10	Lady Hawkins' School Kington · Academy converter	44.7	15%	47%	68%	–	47
11	Kingstone High School Hereford · Academy converter	41.6	11%	38%	54%	–	118
12 , up 1 place since 2025	The Hereford Church of England Academy Hereford · Academy sponsor led	41.5	6%	30%	51%	–	126
13 , up 2 places since 2025	Aylestone School Hereford · Community school	40.7	5%	30%	44%	–	84
14	Earl Mortimer College Leominster · Community school	38.9	2%	31%	51%	–	102
15 , down 3 places since 2025	Queen Elizabeth High School Bromyard · Academy converter	37.0	4%	23%	47%	–	79

Under each rank: the change since the 2025 table, in places gained (+) or lost (−). No figure means the rank is unchanged or the school had no ranked 2025 result.

Independent schools in Herefordshire with published GCSE results

Listed as published, not ranked. The DfE tables count only reformed GCSEs, so a school whose pupils sit IGCSE, Pre-U or the IB reports a lower figure than its results merit, or none at all. Compare independent schools on their own published examination results and inspection reports.

School	Attainment 8 (as published)	Grade 5+ English & maths	Pupils
Hereford Cathedral School With A Junior School Hereford · Other independent school	34.9	0%	84
Lucton School Leominster · Other independent school	23.9	0%	25

How to read this table

Attainment 8 is the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight GCSE subjects: English and maths (double-weighted), three EBacc subjects (sciences, computing, history, geography, languages) and three further approved qualifications. The DfE publishes it for every state school; the England average for 2026 was 46.2.

Grade 7+ in English and maths is the share of pupils reaching the top grades, 7 to 9, in both; grade 5+ is the "strong pass"; grade 4+ is the "standard pass". The DfE stopped publishing EBacc entry and the EBacc average point score from the 2025/26 results, so that column is empty for 2026.

Progress 8 is not shown: the DfE published no Progress 8 for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021, the baseline it is measured from. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so a selective school will usually top an attainment-only table.

Ranks are shared where scores tie. Schools are ranked here on published results alone; our composite score, which also weighs Ofsted inspection, progress and attendance, orders the same schools on the best secondary schools page.

See the best secondary schools in Herefordshire on our composite score

Herefordshire GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

Secondary schools in Herefordshire ranked on Attainment 8

Independent schools in Herefordshire with published GCSE results

More about schools in Herefordshire

Herefordshire GCSE results: common questions