Vandyke Upper School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Central Bedfordshire
Vandyke Road, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 3DY
64
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
87%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
92.2%
20.7% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,517
Capacity used
Over capacity105%
1,440 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
87%
1st preference success rate
343 of 395 families who put it first got an offer
343
Places offered
533
Total applications
1.6
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 395 | 343 | ● 87% |
| 2nd preference | 136 | 0 | ● 0% |
| 3rd preference | 2 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 533 | 343 | 64% |
1st preference success by year
Central Bedfordshire lets families list 3 preferences. 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
- 13–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Leah Ferguson-Moore
- Address
- Vandyke Road, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 3DY
- Phone
- 01525636700
- Local authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Ward / constituency
- Leighton-Linslade North · Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 137169
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 17% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 5% | — | — |
| SEN support | 5% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: VANDYKE UPPER SCHOOL
1,517 pupils · 1,440 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
24 January 2024
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,102 pupils
Attendance
92.2%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.8%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
20.7%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.9%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.8%
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 | 44.7 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.01 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 43% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 63% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.86 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 32.41 | — | — |
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 | 48.2 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 48% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 71% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 24.7% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.16 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 352 | — |
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 | 34.96 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 14.5% | 17% |
| A-level students | 200 | — |
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 | 351 | 21% | 56% | 78% | |
| English Language | 351 | 19% | 57% | 75% | |
| English Literature | 344 | 20% | 63% | 76% | |
| Combined Science | 247 | 8% | 39% | 65% | |
| History | 203 | 22% | 56% | 69% | |
| Geography | 193 | 20% | 55% | 73% | |
| Art and Design | 171 | 2% | 26% | 50% | |
| Business | 124 | 8% | 48% | 71% | |
| Media / Film / TV | 118 | 25% | 74% | 87% | |
| Physics | 97 | 23% | 65% | 77% | |
| Physical Education | 89 | 17% | 64% | 75% | |
| Biology | 86 | 27% | 66% | 87% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| History | 59 | 7% | 20% | 46% | |
| Mathematics | 46 | 13% | 26% | 43% | |
| Law | 44 | 0% | 18% | 43% | |
| Media / Film / TV Studies | 43 | 2% | 23% | 63% | |
| Psychology | 42 | 2% | 19% | 52% | |
| Business Studies | 35 | 3% | 14% | 40% | |
| Geography | 30 | 3% | 23% | 57% | |
| English Literature | 30 | 3% | 17% | 50% | |
| Chemistry | 26 | 15% | 42% | 69% | |
| Biology | 25 | 16% | 28% | 44% | |
| Government and Politics | 16 | 0% | 31% | 63% | |
| English Language | 15 | 0% | 7% | 33% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 15639: Vandyke Upper School and Community College
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| Success rate | — |
| 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) | 44% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 7% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 49% | — | — |
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 Central Bedfordshire 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.