These principles are encapsulated in our vision, ‘educating today’s students for the world of tomorrow’.

Set in the heart of the West Berkshire Downs, The Downs School is a special place where the staff are totally committed to excellence in all its different forms.

We know that an exceptional school remains true to its traditions while always embracing innovative and challenging teaching practices.

The school provides a balanced approach to the pursuit of excellence by offering a vibrant and ambitious curriculum, including a rich variety of value extra-curricular activities, leadership opportunities and trips.

As a result, our students gain academic, creative, sporting and social skills, both in and out of the classroom, ensuring a well-rounded learning experience for all.

The Downs School Sixth Form is at the heart of the school, providing our younger students with a destination to aim for and role models to look up to.

Our Sixth Form is exceptionally successful at providing our students with the academic challenge and the pastoral support they need to reach their chosen universities, apprenticeships and careers.

Our high-performing school is founded on extremely strong partnerships between staff, students and parents. We achieve extremely impressive results at GCSE, A-level and BTEC, maintaining our tradition of being one of the top performing schools in West Berkshire. Our ethos values success, but also provides students with high levels of support through our highly effective pastoral system.

Our reputation for excellence means that we are always heavily oversubscribed, as a result of which we have increased our intake from 180 to 210 students.

We are proud of our school, rated outstanding by Ofsted, and look forward to welcoming prospective students, parents and carers at one of our open morning or open evening events.