Starting at age 11 in Year 7, The Downs has approximately 1150 pupils, which includes 260 students in the sixth-form. The head-teacher is Chris Robert Prosser, previously Deputy Head-teacher before Valerie Holdey's retirement in December 2013. The school is located on Manor Crescent, with the nearest major town being Newbury 8 miles away. Other neighbouring towns include Wantage, Didcot, Thatcham and Reading.
For the past 2 years[when?] it has been the highest attaining school in West Berkshire using the measure of 5A*-C GCSEs including higher passes in English and mathematics.[citation needed]It is also the last remaining West Berkshire Authority secondary school to retain its own swimming pool after St Bartholomew's School removed its pool in Summer 2009.
The school has a sixth-form centre of about 260 students. Previously located on the bottom floor of the Graham Taylor building (GT), It is located in the newly renovated old science block, after moving there when the new Science building (Hubble) was built. Subjects range from all the sciences to politics, economics, law and media studies. The current head of sixth-form is Phil Wilson. Its results at A-Level are exceptional for a non-selective state school.
