The Bicester School
Secondary · Academy sponsor led · Mixed · Oxfordshire
Queen's Avenue, Bicester, OX26 2NS
65
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 12/03/2024
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
91.3%
22.4% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,176
Capacity used
Has space82%
1,430 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
168 of 168 families who put it first got an offer
176
Places offered
357
Total applications
2.0
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 168 | 168 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 136 | 4 | ● 3% |
| 3rd preference | 40 | 0 | ● 0% |
| 4th preference | 13 | 2 | ● 15% |
| Total | 357 | 174 | 49% |
1st preference success by year
Oxfordshire lets families list 4 preferences. 1 applications came from outside the council area (0 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 sponsor led
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Sam Knowlton
- Address
- Queen's Avenue, Bicester, OX26 2NS
- Phone
- 01869243331
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Ward / constituency
- Bicester West · Bicester and Woodstock
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 142024
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 18% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 13% | — | — |
| SEN support | 15% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: ACTIVATE LEARNING EDUCATION TRUST
1,176 pupils · 1,430 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
12 March 2024
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,030 pupils
Attendance
91.3%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.7%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
22.4%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
4.0%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.5%
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 | 45.4 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.16 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 41% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 66% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.12 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 33.03 | — | — |
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 | 47.9 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 49% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 65.2% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 44.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.37 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 204 | — |
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 | 30.25 | 35 |
| Average grade | C | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 9.8% | 17% |
| A-level students | 60 | — |
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 | 203 | 28% | 54% | 71% | |
| English Language | 203 | 16% | 55% | 73% | |
| English Literature | 199 | 9% | 58% | 73% | |
| Combined Science | 166 | 10% | 43% | 61% | |
| History | 113 | 19% | 41% | 58% | |
| Geography | 103 | 29% | 52% | 64% | |
| Business | 77 | 25% | 47% | 65% | |
| Spanish | 73 | 26% | 52% | 66% | |
| Art and Design | 70 | 13% | 47% | 70% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 35 | 14% | 37% | 49% | |
| Biology | 33 | 79% | 97% | 97% | |
| Physics | 32 | 88% | 100% | 100% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 20 | 10% | 25% | 45% | |
| Psychology | 14 | 0% | 0% | 21% | |
| Physics | 13 | 0% | 15% | 31% | |
| Chemistry | 13 | 8% | 23% | 54% | |
| Economics | 13 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Biology | 11 | 0% | 18% | 36% | |
| History | 8 | 0% | 13% | 50% | |
| Geography | 8 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Sociology | 8 | 0% | 0% | 63% | |
| Religious Studies | 8 | 0% | 25% | 50% | |
| English Literature | 8 | 0% | 0% | 50% | |
| Physical Education / Sports Studies | 7 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 12511: The Bicester 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) | 43% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 5% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 45% | — | — |
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 Oxfordshire 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.