If you were me, which of these schools would you put as your first choice?

Starting GCSE courses in y9 is generally considered to be a “bad” thing, it limits and reduces choices very early on, it will mean by Jan of y8 your dd needs to decide what subjects to drop. Single sex girls schools can be very intense but they also tend to have much higher %s of kids doing physics at A level which obviously opens all sorts of career opportunities. iMedia would generally be considered a GCSE for less able kids.

Interesting read as we have very similar options although DD2 is neurotypical. School A in my area has stopped setting altogether which in a way is positive - more inclusive, supportive - but reports of behaviour in class that I hear from friends in Y8 is not encouraging. It does have good Senco and pastoral care but my impression is that it isn't stretching at the higher end.

But DD2 is definitely keener on mixed than the more academic girls school.

It's so hard with the covid years skewing results, and probably behaviour.

Speaking as someone with a ds with ASD I would visit and meet the SENCO for each school. Ask to meet a pupil or pupils with ASD in the school. Most will facilitate this and you ask what support they get. Even if they say no that might give you useful information.
I found this highly beneficial in investigating schools as they all say basically the same things on the surface.
my ds definitely does better in a supportive more flexible less competitive environment even if the overall results of the school are not stellar
good luck!

It will get re-inspected soon, and statistically, is more likely than not to lose that outstanding grading.

Assuming school A isn't likely to be heavily oversubscribed, I would definitely consider this. I found that decisions regarding school choices seemed set in stone and the pressure to make the "right" choice was immense. In reality, I was amazed at how many of my DCs cohort changed schools in Yr7.

How long ago was the Outstanding Ofsted awarded? Don't necessarily be swung by that as many "Outstanding" schools haven't been inspected for as many as 15 years.
Inspections are now happening again, and under the new inspection framework, it's much harder to secure a top grading. Supposedly outstanding schools near me are being downgraded left, right and centre.

My DD has just left a school A with a great set of GCSEs, so while the academic progress for the whole school cohort isn’t great, it hasn’t held her back. BUT she is on an ASD pathway and found some aspects of the co-Ed environment really difficult: low level (and some major) disruption in class, mixed ability class groups, and ever stricter rules in an attempt to control even minor infringements of behaviour policies. But there were excellent extra curricular options that she enjoyed, so-so pastoral support, and eventually some recognition of her likely ASD characteristics - still awaiting assessment.

Had she had the option of a school B locally she might have had a calmer experience that hadn’t triggered her so badly, but maybe that would have just bumped some of those reactions further down the line.
Keep an open mind - visit both, and see what she thinks.

My DD wanted to start again, be in a class where nobody knew her and preferred the company/interests of boys. These factors featured heavily in us rejecting a shiny bells and whistles academic school and choosing a school which was smaller and absolutely brilliant at pastoral care. DD is very bright.

She's in y11 now, has a strong and brilliant group of all male friends and just got all 8s and 9s in her mocks. She has blossomed/thrived and it was absolutely the right choice.

We visited 3 schools and we knew from that which way to go. I was torn beforehand but the settings sold themselves in different ways.

My autistic DD has just completed GCSEs and sounds a lot like yours - academically able but struggles with social anxiety, friendships etc.

Please, for the sake of your daughter, go for the school that has the best pastoral care.

My DD really struggled with school - too loud, too many people, confusing social expectations - but went into year 10 predicted 10 grade 9s. However it just became too much for her, and to cut a (very!) long story short, she ended up on our local council's outreach program being taught at home, and got 4 GCSEs mixed grades.

Your DDs mental health is far more important than grades - she can always retake, or study in later life, so please consider her well-being first.

As a side note, my DD has just started an art diploma at a local college and is loving it, but it has been a rocky road to get here!

School B, especially if it has a sixth form which i think it will. Have you compared KS 5 results? Was your mum an EA in the same area?

Do they put the children into sets in school A?

I think I might be drawn to B simply because if she hates school B then she would probably still be able to transfer to school A, whereas I'm guessing school B is oversubscribed.

It's so hard to make a decision. They should let pupils do trial weeks at several schools before applications.

My dd sounds very similar to yours - ASD, bright, prefers boys - and she hated the idea of the single sex school so she went to the mixed academy and hated that too. We had years of misery and we ended up taking her out in years 10 and 11 and sending her to a more nurturing, but still academic, private school which she absolutely loved - wish we'd done it sooner - but I appreciate that not everybody has this option.

There are pros and cons to the Fast tracking approach but it sounds like it could be a great fit in this case.

It's quite hard to swim against the tide when your friends are all keen on school B but your update on school A is positively glowing. Talk to the Sencos though. On paper either school should be able to meet her needs, but the way that is delivered in practice can vary so much.

Also ask how many DC they have with EHCPs. Lots can mean they are better at securing help for children who need it. Also a broad brush perception of need is really important for kids like your DD. Ask them how many academically able children they have with EHCPs, even if you don't think she'll need one. It might give an indication of how tuned in they are to academically able children needing substantial support.

B without a doubt for a bright ASD girl. If B doesn't work out she will always get a place at A.

I am going against the grain here but would definitely choose A. If most of the academic girls are being peeled off to school B, then of course the academic results will be below national average. Do they even account for the boy heavy intake when they calculate progress score?

I have an autistic DD and I really feel that she struggles most in a homogenous environment, where she is likely to stand out more. If she's surrounded by academic girls, she will start to see herself as the odd one. If she's surrounded by all sorts of people, she'll see herself as an academic girl.

Of course, all ASD children are different, but I wouldn't hesitate to pick A.

Your sense of self develops in high school along with your grades. It sounds as if you are weighing up straight As and low self esteem with the risk of a single B and a more secure child.

I'd choose B in a heartbeat but then I read that your dd gets on better with boys than girls, so on that basis, I'd go for A

I would have said B until you said she prefers the company of boys! Is that likely to continue through the teenage years though...

Subject to that, if you like them both well, I'd be guided by her. At least she will feel listened to.

I was going to pick up on the boys thing. Where are the boys from her primary going? Is there a third choice?

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal in your OP you mention that your daughter isn't keen on a single sex school school and seems to prefer hanging around with boys rather than girls. That alone would make me nervous about her going to an all-girls school.

If your daughter is "extremely bright and academic", I would look not so much at the progress 8/ attainment 8 scores, but at the actual results and the number of top grades in core subjects. If you can see that they are getting a decent number of top grades in the core subjects (option subjects will vary according to which children choose them), then your daughter is likely to do likewise. It might be a low percentage that are getting those grades, but they are not prevented from doing so by the overall academic profile.
If there are very few top grades, that doesn't necessarily mean the teaching isn't good enough, but it might mean your daughter would struggle to find like-minded peers.

Also I take progress 8 scores with a bit of a pinch of salt, because you can almost predict them round here based on how middle class the intake is. They are meant to be a leveller but in practice I do think schools taking from more deprived areas are disadvantaged.

I am more interested in how well their most academic kids do. If some of them do really well, then your child can too. But, crucially, only if their mental health stays good enough for them to stay in school and sit their exams. We have learned the hard way not to take that for granted.