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Lawrence Sheriff School vs Rugby High School

Both are grammar schools in Warwickshire, 1.9 miles apart. Side-by-side on official DfE, Ofsted and council admissions data.

Side by side

Lawrence Sheriff School Rugby High School
Phase Secondary Secondary
Gender Boys Girls
Pupils on roll 1,201 929
Free school meals 8.9% 8.4%
Ofsted rating Outstanding Good
Attainment 8 — 2024/25 75.1 74.9
A-level average points — 2024/25 40.5 40.31
11+ test board GL Assessment GL Assessment
Admission system pass/fail then criteria order pass/fail then criteria order
Places offered — 202627 150 150
First preferences per place — higher means more competition for a first-preference place 2.13 1.66

Qualifying scores

Lawrence Sheriff School

212 (2025 entry)

Automatic Qualifying Score (AQS) = 212. Eastern Warwickshire (Cat4) cutoff = 212 (=AQS; 123 places). Priority Circle (Cat5) = 232 (13 places). Minimum waiting list = 209.

Council source ↗

Rugby High School

213 (2025 entry)

Automatic Qualifying Score (AQS) = 213. Competitive cutoffs: Area 1 East Warks (Cat3) = 234 (50 places), Area 2 Priority Circle (Cat4) = 222 (62 places). Total 120 offers. Minimum waiting list = 210.

Council source ↗

Who gets priority

Where a school is oversubscribed, these are the first criteria applied, in order. This is usually what decides an application.

Lawrence Sheriff School

  1. Looked-After/Previously Looked-After Children at/above AQS, or up to 20 marks below it
  2. Up to 30 places: Pupil Premium children in the Eastern Area or Priority Circle, at/above AQS or up to 20 marks below
  3. Up to 5 places: Service Premium children in the Eastern Area or Priority Circle, at/above AQS or up to 20 marks below
  4. Children of staff employed ≥2 years, at/above AQS

Source: school admissions policy.

Rugby High School

  1. Looked-After/Previously Looked-After Children at/above AQS, or up to 15 marks below it
  2. Up to 20 places: Pupil Premium children in the priority areas, at/above AQS or up to 15 marks below
  3. Up to 50 places: children in Area 1 - East Warwickshire at/above AQS
  4. Children in Area 2 - Eastern Priority Circle at/above AQS

Source: school admissions policy.

Choosing between them

Lawrence Sheriff School is a boys school and Rugby High School is a girls school, so for many families the starting point is which one can admit their child. The figures on this page are the published ones — they describe intakes and results, not what either school would be like for your child. The right choice depends on your family's own priorities and circumstances.

Full detail for each school: Lawrence Sheriff School · Rugby High School
Or see all secondary schools in Warwickshire ranked.

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