Slough GCSE results 2026: 72.7% pass English and maths

Slough Borough Council says 72.7% of the borough’s pupils achieved grade 4 or above in both English and maths this summer, up from 68.2% last year. It puts the grade 5 figure at 57.0%, up from 53.3%. (Slough Borough Council, 20 August 2026)

Those are the only two numbers the council has published. There is no school breakdown, no entry count and no statement of which schools are counted.

Cllr Puja Bedi is the council’s lead member for children and lifelong learning. She said the results showed “the effort you have put in, the determination you have had to succeed and your resilience”. She also thanked staff who “go above and beyond to help our students achieve their potential.”

What the 72.7% actually counts

This is not a pass rate across subjects. It is the Department for Education’s per-pupil “basics” measure, and a pupil only counts if they got grade 4 or better in English and in maths, both. Two grade 4s. A pupil with nine good grades but a 3 in maths counts as a miss.

That matters because it is a different thing from the figures the exam boards publish on results-day morning, which count individual results rather than pupils. The DfE says so itself: the national results-day breakdowns are “at exam entry level for those age 16, whereas the statistics in this release are at pupil level for those at the end of Key Stage 4.” (DfE, Key stage 4 performance)

So a national average lifted from a results-day headline will not compare with Slough’s 72.7%, however tempting it looks.

There is no national figure to compare it with yet

The DfE’s own comparator for this measure runs a year behind. Its latest release covers 2024/25 and was published on 23 April 2026. The next one, covering this summer, is due in October 2026.

Until then, nobody has a fair England or South East number for summer 2026. Any comparison published this week is either last year’s or a different measure wearing the same name.

What the official record does show

On the DfE’s confirmed figures for all state-funded schools, Slough sits well clear of both its region and England, and second in Berkshire:

Set against all 152 English local authorities in 2024/25, Slough came 21st on the grade 4 measure, and 12th on both the grade 5 measure and Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score of 53.1 was 7.1 points above England’s 46.0. (DfE, Key stage 4 performance 2024/25, “Geography by school types” data)

Slough’s four grammar schools are a large part of why. The borough is unusual for its size in having a fully selective tier alongside its comprehensives, and any borough-wide average carries that.

The number the council did not mention

Here is the awkward part. The council’s starting point for its comparison, 68.2% in 2025, does not match the DfE’s confirmed figure for Slough in 2024/25, which is 72.2%. On grade 5 the gap is the same shape: the council uses 53.3%, the DfE’s record says 57.5%.

Results-day figures and official statistics routinely differ, because a council collects what schools report on the morning and the DfE publishes months later after checking exercises and appeals. That is a reasonable explanation. It is also not one the council offers: the release states no basis at all.

The practical consequence for a reader is simple. A rise from 68.2% to 72.7% is a rise on the council’s own basis, and only on the council’s own basis. It cannot be lined up against the DfE’s series, and this summer’s official number does not exist yet.

Progress 8 has gone, for the second year running

If you go looking for a school’s Progress 8 score this year, there is not one, and that is not the school hiding it.

The DfE has confirmed that “it is not possible to calculate Progress 8 for academic years 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026, as there is no Key Stage 2 (KS2) prior attainment data available”. This cohort’s primary tests were cancelled during the pandemic. There is no replacement measure. (DfE, Secondary accountability measures 2025 guidance)

Progress 8 was the measure that adjusted for what pupils arrived with. Without it, published tables reward schools with the strongest intakes and tell you less about the teaching. In a borough with four grammar schools, that distortion is larger than average.

Which Slough schools published anything

We checked the websites of all 15 mainstream state secondaries in the borough, using the Department for Education’s own register of school addresses. Four had published something about summer 2026 by 25 August. Three gave a school-wide figure.

St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School published a full press release. Across all subjects, 65% of its grades were awarded at grades 9 to 7. By department: history 83% at 9 to 7, maths 82%, computing 77%, Japanese 75% and drama 100%. Two students got 11 GCSEs all at grade 9. Headteacher Paul Kassapian singled out the progress of disadvantaged students and students with SEND. (St Bernard’s GCSE press release, 20 August 2026)

Baylis Court School published headline figures for its Year 11 girls:

• 82% achieved grades 9 to 5 in English, with 40% at grade 7 or above
• 76% achieved grades 9 to 4 in maths
• 86% achieved grades 9 to 5 in Spanish

Principal Mrs MacInnes said “behind every grade is a story of commitment”. (Baylis Court School, 20 August 2026)

Lynch Hill Enterprise Academy in Britwell published a four-year table, which is the most useful thing any Slough school has put out this month, because it lets you see a direction rather than a snapshot:

That is Attainment 8 up for a fourth straight year, a gain of 6.61 points since 2023, at a non-selective academy. The school also notes on the same page that “in 2025 and 2026, there is no Progress 8 measure published for schools.” (Lynch Hill Enterprise Academy results)

Eden Girls’ School, Slough published a celebration piece naming three pupils and their individual grades, but no school-wide figure. Principal Asma Baig said their success was “the result of years of hard work, resilience and self-belief”. (Eden Girls’ School, Slough, 20 August 2026)

The other 11 schools had published nothing for 2026 by the time we checked. Several still show 2025 on their results pages, one shows 2024 and one shows 2022.

Why school percentages will not line up

If you try to rank the four above against each other, you will get a meaningless answer, because they are not measuring the same thing.

• St Bernard’s reports a percentage of grades. Baylis Court and Lynch Hill report percentages of pupils.
• St Bernard’s is selective, Baylis Court is a girls’ school, Lynch Hill is a mixed non-selective academy. Their intakes are not comparable.
• The grade thresholds differ: 9 to 7, 9 to 5 and 9 to 4 all appear above.

The comparable school-level data arrives in the DfE performance tables in October, on one basis for every school.

What it means for you

• If your child is appealing a grade, the clock is short. Schools request reviews on a candidate’s behalf, and awarding-body deadlines are fixed. Herschel Grammar’s published deadline for a clerical check or a review of marking is 11 September at 12.30pm, with fees of £15 for a clerical check and £70 for a review of marking. A review can move a grade down as well as up. Check your own school’s deadline, because they are set individually. (Herschel Grammar School exams information)
• If you are choosing a secondary school, wait for the October tables rather than this month’s press releases. They will be on one basis for every school, and this month’s are not.
• Treat any “Slough beat the national average” line with care until October. The national figure on this measure has not been published for summer 2026.
• Do not expect a Progress 8 score for this cohort or next year’s. There is not one to publish.

Slough’s own new Local Plan work and its school-place planning both draw on this data. Our Slough planning news page tracks the applications and policy documents behind that, and our Slough house prices page covers the catchment effect that follows results season every year.