Saffron Walden County High School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Essex
Audley End Road, Saffron Walden, CB11 4UH
81
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Outstanding
Graded 26/03/2024
Application demand
81%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
92.8%
17.6% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
2,157
Capacity used
Over capacity105%
2,050 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
81%
1st preference success rate
296 of 367 families who put it first got an offer
298
Places offered
559
Total applications
1.9
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 367 | 296 | ● 81% |
| 2nd preference | 94 | 2 | ● 2% |
| 3rd preference | 36 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 62 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 559 | 298 | 53% |
1st preference success by year
Essex lets families list 6 preferences. 34 applications came from outside the council area (2 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
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Polly Lankester
- Address
- Audley End Road, Saffron Walden, CB11 4UH
- Phone
- 01799513030
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward / constituency
- Saffron Walden Audley · North West Essex
- Area
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 136776
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 10% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 5% | — | — |
| SEN support | 15% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: SAFFRON ACADEMY TRUST
2,157 pupils · 2,050 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
26 March 2024
Full graded inspection
Outstanding overall effectivenessSixth form Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Quality of education Outstanding Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,531 pupils
Attendance
92.8%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.2%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
17.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.3%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.6%
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 | 56.7 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.28 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 63% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 82% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 5.42 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 39.21 | — | — |
Average grade: B (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 59.7 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 66.3% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 84.5% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 55.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 5.57 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 303 | — |
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 | 39.97 | 35 |
| Average grade | B | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 20.2% | 17% |
| A-level students | 279 | — |
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 | 299 | 40% | 70% | 88% | |
| English Language | 299 | 33% | 72% | 87% | |
| English Literature | 297 | 38% | 78% | 91% | |
| Combined Science | 237 | 26% | 68% | 85% | |
| History | 205 | 50% | 78% | 84% | |
| Religious Studies | 126 | 42% | 78% | 87% | |
| Geography | 122 | 43% | 75% | 83% | |
| Art and Design | 98 | 35% | 82% | 92% | |
| French | 93 | 60% | 83% | 91% | |
| Business | 83 | 39% | 78% | 90% | |
| Physical Education | 75 | 29% | 69% | 85% | |
| Biology | 62 | 89% | 100% | 100% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 79 | 28% | 49% | 71% | |
| History | 47 | 4% | 23% | 66% | |
| Business Studies | 47 | 17% | 36% | 60% | |
| Psychology | 42 | 7% | 29% | 60% | |
| Geography | 40 | 5% | 25% | 57% | |
| Economics | 38 | 29% | 55% | 87% | |
| English Literature | 38 | 32% | 45% | 82% | |
| Biology | 36 | 8% | 31% | 67% | |
| Physics | 32 | 9% | 38% | 69% | |
| Chemistry | 32 | 19% | 44% | 63% | |
| English Language | 28 | 0% | 4% | 75% | |
| Geology | 26 | 12% | 27% | 62% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #124 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 10726: Saffron Walden County High School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | 11 |
| Offers | 6 |
| Success rate | 55% |
| Accepted offers | ≤5 |
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) | 64% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 5% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 65% | — | — |
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 Essex 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.