Didcot Girls' School

What Didcot Girls' School does

Didcot Girls' School is a state-funded secondary school located in Didcot, Oxfordshire, and the only all-girls comprehensive school in Oxfordshire. It operates as an academy within the Ridgeway Education Trust (company number 8104201, an exempt charity), a multi-academy trust that also runs St Birinus School; the two schools jointly deliver a co-educational Sixth Form. The school serves girls aged 11-16 (Key Stages 3 and 4) plus a mixed-gender Sixth Form (Key Stage 5), with a curriculum spanning 18+ subjects including Art, Computer Science, Modern Languages, Sciences, and Social Sciences. It has been awarded Ofsted Outstanding Provider status and was ranked second in Oxfordshire on 2025 GCSE results.

The institution's "products" are educational and ancillary services: a full Key Stage 3-5 curriculum, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award programme, an extensive extracurricular clubs offering, library services, careers guidance via the Brilliant Club Scholars Programme, SEND/EAL/young carers support, and a cashless catering operation across four outlets (Frideswides Bistro, Sherwood Café, snack box, and Eats) with a 5-star hygiene rating. Underlying technology is built on third-party platforms rather than proprietary systems: Arbor for student information management, CPOMS for safeguarding, Satchel: One for homework, Microsoft 365 for productivity, OliverASP for library management, ParentPay plus PayPoint for payments, and a biometric fingerprint/PIN cashless catering system supplied by Nationwide Retail Systems Ltd and introduced in 2015. International activities include the MEP programme to Tianjin, China, via the Confucius Institute at Oxford Brookes University.

The revenue model is dominated by per-pupil government grant funding channelled through Oxfordshire County Council under the UK state school system, supplemented by minor fee-based income from cashless catering (with a default £5 daily spend cap), small charges for archery and fencing clubs, voluntary parental donations, and parent-led fundraising via the Friends of Didcot Girls' School. The school does not charge tuition. Distribution is through the national UK school admissions system coordinated by the local authority, with enrolment determined primarily by catchment area and published oversubscription criteria. Day-to-day leadership is shared between Co-Headteachers Martha Hawes and Sarah Roberts, with oversight from a Local Governing Body under the trust's authority.

Name

Didcot Girls' School

Legal name

Ridgeway Education Trust

Website

https://didcotgirls.oxon.sch.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Didcot Girls' School is an Ofsted Outstanding all-girls secondary school in Oxfordshire serving students aged 11-16 plus a co-educational Sixth Form shared with St Birinus School under the Ridgeway Education Trust, funded primarily through UK government per-pupil grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Secondary Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111), Elementary and Secondary Schools (611110), Elementary and Secondary Schools (61111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

International/Global Curriculum Schools (IB, Cambridge, etc.) (EDAJABAG)

Keywords

• Secondary education services
• Comprehensive school education
• Sixth form education
• School catering services
• Extracurricular programmes

Headquarters

HQ city

Didcot

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Didcot Girls' School is an all-girls comprehensive secondary school in Didcot, Oxfordshire, providing full-time education for girls in Years 7–11 and operating a co-educational Sixth Form (Years 12–13) jointly with St Birinus School. The school delivers a curriculum across Key Stages 3, 4, and 5, supported by in-house catering services, cashless biometric meal payment, a termly extracurricular clubs programme, Duke of Edinburgh's Award participation, library services, and student wellbeing and SEND support.

Product overview

Didcot Girls' School offers a comprehensive educational programme as an all-girls comprehensive school in Oxfordshire with a co-educational Sixth Form shared with St Birinus School. The school's service portfolio includes a Cashless Catering System with biometric payment technology, professional Catering Services across four outlets, a termly Clubs & Activities Programme, and a full Curriculum spanning Key Stages 3-5 across 18+ subjects. Supporting services include Digital DGS technology platform, Library Services, and Duke of Edinburgh's Award participation. The school integrates with ParentPay for payments, CPOMS for safeguarding, Arbor for student management, and Microsoft 365 for productivity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Secondary Curriculum Programme

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Ridgeway Education TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDidcot Girls' School is an academy managed by Ridgeway Education Trust, which is an exempt charity and company limited by guarantee (registered company number 8104201). The trust operates multiple schools in the Didcot area including St Birinus School. The trust provides shared services, governance oversight, and strategic direction.
• St Birinus SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-educational Sixth Form shared with St Birinus School, offering excellent progression for students in a vibrant and growing Sixth Form community. Students from both schools attend Sixth Form together.
• Confucius Institute, Oxford Brookes UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Chinese language and culture education through the Confucius Institute programme, supporting international dimension of the curriculum.
• 270 ClimbingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOutdoor aerial adventure centre on the edge of the Cotswolds providing climbing walls, high ropes courses, and freefall activities for Year 8 students as part of enrichment programme.
• The Brilliant ClubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity programme widening access to highly selective universities. Students from Years 9 and 10 participate in The Scholars Programme with PhD tutors and university-style assignments.
• Be Free Young CarersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity providing support and opportunities for young carers in Oxfordshire. Arranged virtual Q&A session with Sir Ed Davey for DGS Young Carers.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Wallingford School: Secondary school in Wallingford, South Oxfordshire, operating as a comparable comprehensive in the same county and competing for similar cohorts of students under the Oxfordshire admissions system.
• The Henry Box School: Secondary comprehensive in Witney, Oxfordshire, serving a similar 11-18 cohort under the same county admissions framework. Comparable in scale and curriculum breadth, drawing from overlapping feeder primaries and competing for the same parental choice pool.
• Fitzharrys School: Secondary school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, operating as a comparable comprehensive within the same county admissions framework. Competes for similar cohorts in the Abingdon/South Oxfordshire catchment and operates at a similar size scale.
• Larkmead School: Secondary school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, serving a comparable 11-18 age range within the same county. Comparable academy-style comprehensive serving a similar mix of abilities and competing for parental choice within South Oxfordshire.

Direct peers

• St Birinus School: Co-located in Didcot within the same Ridgeway Education Trust and the school's partner for the shared co-educational Sixth Form. Operates the same catchment dynamics and academy funding model, making it the closest operational and geographic peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/didcotgirlsschool
• Instagraminstagram.com/didcot.girls.school
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/didcot-girls-school

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Didcot Girls' School