Highcliffe School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Parkside, Christchurch, BH23 4QD
72
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
93.0%
18.2% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,519
Capacity used
Over capacity104%
1,461 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
248 of 249 families who put it first got an offer
252
Places offered
463
Total applications
1.8
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 249 | 248 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 140 | 4 | ● 3% |
| 3rd preference | 68 | 0 | ● 0% |
| 4th preference | 6 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 463 | 252 | 54% |
1st preference success by year
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole lets families list 4 preferences. 200 applications came from outside the council area (88 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Patrick Earnshaw
- Address
- Parkside, Highcliffe, Christchurch, BH23 4QD
- Phone
- 01425273381
- Local authority
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Ward / constituency
- Highcliffe & Walkford · Christchurch
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 136763
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 16% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 3% | — | — |
| SEN support | 10% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: HISP MULTI ACADEMY TRUST LTD
1,519 pupils · 1,461 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
28 June 2023
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,345 pupils
Attendance
93.0%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.0%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
18.2%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.0%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.7%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 50.6 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.05 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 55% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 77% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.64 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 34.86 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 47 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 45.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 75.2% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 45.7% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.26 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 254 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 34.58 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 12.2% | 17% |
| A-level students | 107 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 252 | 19% | 63% | 86% | |
| English Language | 252 | 14% | 49% | 75% | |
| English Literature | 244 | 11% | 50% | 71% | |
| Combined Science | 195 | 7% | 39% | 64% | |
| Art and Design | 177 | 14% | 46% | 66% | |
| Geography | 135 | 16% | 57% | 73% | |
| History | 132 | 23% | 55% | 70% | |
| Business | 96 | 3% | 27% | 52% | |
| Spanish | 80 | 10% | 44% | 61% | |
| Biology | 54 | 26% | 78% | 91% | |
| Physics | 54 | 31% | 85% | 94% | |
| Chemistry | 54 | 41% | 78% | 94% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 25 | 0% | 20% | 48% | |
| Business Studies | 25 | 8% | 16% | 48% | |
| Mathematics | 23 | 26% | 48% | 74% | |
| Geography | 22 | 0% | 5% | 45% | |
| Economics | 20 | 5% | 25% | 45% | |
| History | 17 | 6% | 18% | 41% | |
| Biology | 16 | 0% | 0% | 31% | |
| Graphics | 14 | 14% | 21% | 50% | |
| Media / Film / TV Studies | 12 | 0% | 0% | 17% | |
| Physics | 11 | 18% | 36% | 45% | |
| English Language and Literature | 11 | 0% | 0% | 36% | |
| Sociology | 10 | 0% | 30% | 90% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 17106: Highcliffe School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | 0 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 44% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 3% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 52% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.