Plymouth High School for Girls
Secondary · Academy converter · Girls · Plymouth
St Lawrence Road, Plymouth, PL4 6HT
93
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
68%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
94.1%
14.2% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
782
Capacity used
Nearly full97%
804 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
68%
1st preference success rate
90 of 133 families who put it first got an offer
120
Places offered
362
Total applications
3.0
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 133 | 90 | ● 68% |
| 2nd preference | 213 | 30 | ● 14% |
| 3rd preference | 16 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 362 | 120 | 33% |
1st preference success by year
Plymouth lets families list 3 preferences. 112 applications came from outside the council area (50 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Girls
- Admissions policy
- Selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Simon Underdown
- Address
- St Lawrence Road, Plymouth, PL4 6HT
- Phone
- 03333602230
- Local authority
- Plymouth
- Ward / constituency
- Drake · Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 148369
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 14% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 7% | — | — |
| SEN support | 0% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 3 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST
782 pupils · 804 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
18 April 2024
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 592 pupils
Attendance
94.1%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
5.9%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
14.2%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.2%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.3%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 65.3 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.24 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 91% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 97% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 5.82 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 34.33 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 65.5 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 90.3% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 97.1% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 53.4% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 5.93 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 103 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 35.28 | 35 |
| Average grade | B- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 14.8% | 17% |
| A-level students | 109 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 102 | 49% | 92% | 99% | |
| English Language | 102 | 56% | 92% | 97% | |
| English Literature | 101 | 46% | 92% | 97% | |
| Combined Science | 63 | 37% | 86% | 97% | |
| Geography | 62 | 47% | 84% | 97% | |
| History | 60 | 60% | 90% | 97% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 45 | 51% | 91% | 98% | |
| German | 40 | 28% | 78% | 95% | |
| Biology | 39 | 51% | 92% | 97% | |
| Physics | 39 | 49% | 87% | 95% | |
| Chemistry | 39 | 49% | 92% | 97% | |
| Physical Education | 39 | 36% | 85% | 95% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biology | 34 | 9% | 29% | 50% | |
| Chemistry | 30 | 17% | 37% | 73% | |
| Psychology | 30 | 3% | 13% | 27% | |
| Mathematics | 29 | 10% | 38% | 55% | |
| Law | 25 | 8% | 20% | 44% | |
| English Literature | 24 | 4% | 17% | 67% | |
| History | 21 | 19% | 24% | 48% | |
| Business Studies | 21 | 5% | 14% | 43% | |
| Geography | 17 | 6% | 6% | 41% | |
| Media / Film / TV Studies | 14 | 7% | 29% | 71% | |
| Religious Studies | 13 | 0% | 46% | 62% | |
| Government and Politics | 12 | 0% | 17% | 42% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 10468: Plymouth High School for Girls
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | ≤5 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 54% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 100% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 63% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Plymouth council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.