Reading, Berkshire · Reading
Kendrick School
No candidate living outside its designated area has been offered a place since 2013, regardless of test score — a wide catchment stretching from Reading into Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, and West Berkshire, but still a real boundary in practice.
Founded in 1877 from bequests of John and Mary Kendrick, this is one of two entirely independent grammar schools in Reading — sharing no test, no consortium, and no score data with neighbouring Reading School (boys), which uses a completely different provider under a separate contract. Kendrick's own qualifying score is recalculated annually to two decimal places and never published. Its own admissions policy states plainly that up to 75% of its 128 places go to qualifying candidates across a combined two-tier 'designated area' by rank order, with the remaining 25% split strictly between the two priority tiers — and that no candidate from outside the designated area, however high their score, has been offered a place since 2013.
Key facts
- Gender
- girls
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- South East
- Local authority
- Reading
- Established
- 1877
- DfE URN
- 136448
- Website
- https://www.kendrick.reading.sch.uk
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- The school sets its own test and criteria
- Entrance test board
- GL Assessment.
- Test format
- Two papers of around one hour each with a short break between, covering English, Mathematics, Non-Verbal Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning — no creative writing element. Raw scores are age-standardised and ranked by the aggregate of both papers.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- Not published as a fixed number — determined afresh each year to two decimal places based on that cohort's results, a norm-referenced threshold rather than a stable figure. Widening-Horizons-eligible applicants (Pupil Premium, Service Premium, or looked-after children) receive a qualifying score 5 points lower than the standard threshold.verify with school
Confirmed non-disclosure by design — the school's own policy states this is recalculated annually and never published as a fixed figure.
- Superselective?
- No
The school uses a pass/fail qualifying-score threshold rather than ranking every applicant purely by score, then allocates the large majority of places through a two-tier geographic designated area rather than by score-rank across an open pool. Up to 75% of the 128 places go by rank to qualifying applicants living in either priority area combined; the remaining 25% go first to Priority Area 1, then Priority Area 2, by rank. The school states plainly that no candidate living outside the designated area has been offered a place since at least 2013, whatever score they attain — a catchment-gated model, distinct from a true superselective.
Catchment & priority criteria
A two-tier 'designated area' defined by postcode sectors, stretching well beyond Reading itself into Wokingham Borough, Bracknell Forest, West Berkshire, and touching Hart (Hampshire) and Windsor & Maidenhead postcode areas.
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children meeting the qualifying score, admitted regardless of rank
- Pupil Premium/Service Premium-eligible applicants in the designated area meeting a qualifying score set 5 points below the standard threshold, admitted regardless of rank within the top 128
- Up to 75% of places (96), in rank order: applicants meeting the standard qualifying score living in either priority area
- Remaining 25% of places (32), in rank order: Priority Area 1 residents first, then Priority Area 2 residents
- Applicants outside the designated area — no offers made to this category since at least 2013
- Tie-break for waiting-list places only: distance from home to the school's front gate, then random allocation for exact ties
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | verify with school | verify with school | +1.07 — reported directly on the school's own results page as a genuine DfE-calculated figure; this cohort's KS2 baseline predates the COVID-era gap | — | — |
| Could not independently cross-check against DfE directly due to a technical access issue during this research. | |||||
| 2025 | 84 | 100.0% | Not calculated — confirmed both by DfE directly and independently by the school's own results page, which states there will be no Progress 8 score published for this cohort because it missed KS2 assessments due to the pandemic | — | 79% |
| EBacc entry 93.8% (England 40.5%), 99% stayed in education, apprenticeship or employment. A-level: average grade B+ (44.47 points per entry). Two extractions of the school's own results page gave conflicting A*-A percentages (26% vs 30%) for this cohort — not reconciled. A*-B reported at 79%. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Outstanding, in every category: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. This was a full graded inspection under the pre-September 2024 framework, and the school's first Section 5 inspection as an academy — no inspection has occurred since.
- Date
- 8-9 November 2022
- Report
- Read the full report
Sources
- 1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/136448
- 2. School's own Year 7 Admission Policy, September 2027 entry — https://www.kendrick.reading.sch.uk/_site/data/files/users/admissions/2027/D039468B171229E7923E1DA62CF0D6C4.pdf
- 3. School's own Results and Destinations page — https://www.kendrick.reading.sch.uk/page/?title=Results+and+Destinations&pid=67
- 4. Ofsted report, inspected 8-9 November 2022 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50204640
- 5. School's own History page — https://www.kendrick.reading.sch.uk/page/?title=School+History&pid=56
Last updated 2026-09-01. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.