Bitterne Park School
Foundation school · sixth form · 2,036 pupils
87% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.1
Academy converter
Upper Shirley High School
- Pupils on roll
- 1,062of 990 places
- Free school meals
- 30.4%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 217
- Ofsted
- Standards maintained, 22 January 2025Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Upper Shirley High School (URN 116457, until 1 August 2011).
What the data says
Upper Shirley High School has no sixth form. Of the 180 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 67% moved to a sixth form college, 22% to a further education college and 2% started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 67% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
Physical Education is unusually popular at GCSE: 32% of the year group took it, against 11% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were in line with the national picture: Attainment 8 of 47.0 against 46.1 across England and 41.9 in Southampton, with 49% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Southampton and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Upper Shirley High School | Southampton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 180 | 2,315 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 92% | 90% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 89% | 84% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 0% | 5% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 67% | 53% | 13% |
| — further education college | 22% | 24% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 1% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 5% | 7% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 3% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Upper Shirley High School | Southampton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 47.0 | 41.9 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 49% | 39% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 68% | 57% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 30% | 36% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.09 | 3.71 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 29% | 39% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 34.6 | 31.1 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 52.0 | 48.8 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 38% | 30% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 216 | 100% | 89% | 21% | 20% | 71% |
| Mathematics | 216 | 100% | 88% | 19% | 22% | 75% |
| English Literature | 210 | 97% | 86% | 13% | 21% | 70% |
| Combined Science | 189 | 87% | 65% | 11% | 9% | 67% |
| Geography | 122 | 56% | 41% | 17% | 25% | 70% |
| Physical Education | 70 | 32% | 11% | 14% | 24% | 79% |
| Business Studies | 66 | 30% | 18% | 12% | 20% | 73% |
| History | 61 | 28% | 41% | 21% | 26% | 69% |
| Spanish | 49 | 23% | 19% | 35% | 27% | 80% |
| Computer Science | 45 | 21% | 13% | 11% | 30% | 49% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 37 | 17% | 8% | 38% | 21% | 86% |
| Photography | 36 | 17% | 6% | 31% | 19% | 97% |
| Fine Art | 32 | 15% | 9% | 28% | 28% | 97% |
| Religious Studies | 28 | 13% | 31% | 11% | 32% | 57% |
| Citizenship Studies | 26 | 12% | 3% | 19% | 19% | 73% |
| French | 25 | 12% | 18% | 36% | 29% | 92% |
| Drama | 22 | 10% | 7% | 36% | 27% | 91% |
| Physics | 21 | 10% | 23% | 43% | 46% | 95% |
| Chemistry | 21 | 10% | 23% | 48% | 47% | 95% |
| Biology | 21 | 10% | 23% | 52% | 45% | 100% |
| Textiles | 21 | 10% | 2% | 19% | 27% | 95% |
| Design and Technology | 21 | 10% | 11% | 10% | 23% | 86% |
| Film Studies | 17 | 8% | 1% | 18% | 20% | 76% |
| Polish | 17 | 8% | 1% | 71% | 84% | 94% |
| Russian | 3 | 1% | 0% | — | 87% | — |
| Arabic | 2 | 1% | 1% | — | 47% | — |
| Punjabi | 2 | 1% | 0% | — | 48% | — |
| Urdu | 1 | 0% | 1% | — | 42% | — |
| Chinese | 1 | 0% | 1% | — | 75% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Studies | 39 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 29 | — | — |
| Building / Construction Operations (General / Combined) | 19 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 15 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 12 | — | — |
| Tourism | 9 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Southampton
Cantell School
Foundation school · 1,313 pupils
83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 46.9
Oasis Academy Lord's Hill
Academy sponsor led · 667 pupils
69% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.0
Oasis Academy Mayfield
Academy sponsor led · 884 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.0
Oasis Academy Sholing
Academy sponsor led · 1,030 pupils
81% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.3
Redbridge Community School
Foundation school · 1,106 pupils
67% stayed in education · Attainment 8 32.2
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.