Bracknell GCSE results 2026: 68.3% got English and maths

Bracknell Forest has had its strongest GCSE year since at least 2023. Figures published by the council put 68.3% of the borough’s state school pupils at grade 4 or above in both English and maths, and its Attainment 8 score at 47.9. Both are the highest in four years of published data.

The council’s headline figures for this summer are:

• 77.9% at grade 4 or above in English language or English literature
• 74.3% at grade 4 or above in maths
• 68.3% at grade 4 or above in both English and maths
• Attainment 8 score of 47.9, the average across a pupil’s best eight subjects

Grainne Siggins, the council’s executive director for people, said results day was “a significant moment” in students’ lives. Cllr Megan Wright, cabinet member for children, young people and health, said the results “reflect the hard work” of the year group. (Bracknell Forest Council, 21 August 2026)

Four years of borough figures, side by side

The council published no comparison with previous years, so here is one. The Department for Education’s key stage 4 statistics report the same two measures for every local authority, on the same per-pupil basis, for all state-funded schools. The last confirmed year is 2024/25.

Sources: DfE, Key stage 4 performance, Geography by school types for 2023 to 2025, and the council’s own release for 2026.

Two cautions before anyone treats 2026 as settled. The council’s number is its own, published on results day. DfE does not publish confirmed 2025/26 figures for local authorities until later in the year, and those figures are revised again after appeals. Every earlier row in that table has been through that process, and this summer’s has not.

For scale, in 2024/25 the borough’s 66.8% sat above England’s 64.8% and just below the South East’s 66.9%. It ranked 51st of 152 local authorities. Within Berkshire it was fifth of six, on figures from the same file:

• Wokingham 77.3%, eighth in England
• Slough 72.2%
• West Berkshire 68.5%
• Windsor and Maidenhead 68.4%
• Bracknell Forest 66.8%
• Reading 66.4%

What each school published

Three of the seven state-funded schools in the borough with a Year 11 put figures out. They do not all measure the same thing, so they are set out here rather than ranked.

Edgbarrow School, Crowthorne reported 82% of students at grade 4 or above in both English and maths, and 63% at grade 5. The school said some students achieved straight 8s and 9s. Headteacher Stuart Matthews said the results “reflect their hard work and dedication”. (Edgbarrow School)

Brakenhale School, Bracknell called this its best year on record. It reported an Attainment 8 score of 47, with 68% at grade 4 or above in both English and maths, 49% at grade 5 or above, and 22% of all entries at grade 7, 8 or 9. Headteacher Camilla Douglas said the results reflect “relentless hard work, resilience and ambition”. (Brakenhale School)

Garth Hill College, Bracknell published the fullest breakdown, for 252 students entered: 52.8% at grade 4 or above in English and maths, an Attainment 8 score of 42.02, English at 67.1% for a standard pass and 50.0% for a strong pass, maths at 59.5% and 40.1%. Principal Keith Grainger said staff were “very proud of what they have achieved”. (Garth Hill College)

Four schools had published no 2026 figures when this was written: Ranelagh School, Sandhurst School, King’s Academy Easthampstead Park and King’s Academy Binfield. Ranelagh’s most recent published set is 2025, when it recorded an Attainment 8 of 53.62 and 77% at grade 4 or above in English and maths. Sandhurst School’s page still ends at 2025, when it recorded 68% and an Attainment 8 of 45.8.

That matters for how the borough figure reads. With four of the seven silent, the council’s 68.3% is the only published number this summer that covers every Year 11 in Bracknell Forest.

The national picture on the same day

The Joint Council for Qualifications published its provisional England tables on GCSE results day. For 16 year olds across England:

• 70.7% of all GCSE entries were graded 4 or above
• 55.5% were graded 5 or above
• 23.1% were graded 7 or above
• English language was 71.4% at grade 4 or above, maths 71.8%

(JCQ, GCSE results, 20 August 2026)

The widely quoted England figure of 67.0% is the all-ages one, which includes 500,277 entries from students aged 17 and over, most of them resits. That is 8.1% of all entries, and it pulls the number down. A Year 11 cohort contains none of it, so the 16 year old row is the fairer comparison.

Even then, JCQ counts entries and the council counts pupils. A borough figure of 74.3% of pupils passing maths and a national figure of 71.8% of maths entries at grade 4 are close, but they are not the same measurement, and neither is a league position.

What it means for you

If a grade looks wrong. Reviews of marking are requested through the school, not by the student. Awarding bodies must receive requests by 24 September 2026. Copies of scripts can be requested from 20 August, with the same September deadline for copies used to support teaching. A review can move a grade down as well as up, and the school should explain that before anyone commits. (JCQ post-results services)

If English or maths came out below grade 4. Study continues after 16. A student with a grade 3 must study towards the GCSE again. A student with grade 2 or below can take either the GCSE or a functional skills level 2 qualification. This is a condition of the college’s or sixth form’s funding, so it is not optional, and it applies for the 2026 to 2027 year. (Department for Education)

If plans have changed. Sixth form and college enrolment in the borough runs through late August and early September, and schools with sixth forms take direct applications from their own Year 11s.

We covered this summer’s A level results across Bracknell Forest earlier in the month, where the same three schools were the only ones to publish.