Old Buckenham High School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Norfolk
Abbey Road, Attleborough, NR17 1RL
63
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
91.7%
25.5% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
501
Capacity used
Has space87%
575 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
87 of 87 families who put it first got an offer
100
Places offered
192
Total applications
1.9
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 87 | 87 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 59 | 9 | ● 15% |
| 3rd preference | 32 | 2 | ● 6% |
| 4th preference | 14 | 1 | ● 7% |
| Total | 192 | 99 | 52% |
1st preference success by year
Norfolk lets families list 4 preferences. 2 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 converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Paul Beale
- Address
- Abbey Road, Old Buckenham, Attleborough, NR17 1RL
- Phone
- 01953860233
- Local authority
- Norfolk
- Ward / constituency
- The Buckenhams & Banham · Mid Norfolk
- Area
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 146144
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 26% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 9% | — | — |
| SEN support | 13% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: SAPIENTIA EDUCATION TRUST
501 pupils · 575 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
29 March 2023
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 525 pupils
Attendance
91.7%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.3%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
25.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.7%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.6%
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 | 44.3 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.00 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 43% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 64% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.09 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 37.8 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 29.3% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 52.4% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 56.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.53 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 82 | — |
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.
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 | 79 | 9% | 41% | 73% | |
| English Language | 79 | 10% | 32% | 56% | |
| English Literature | 76 | 5% | 36% | 53% | |
| History | 64 | 13% | 42% | 50% | |
| Combined Science | 51 | 0% | 16% | 51% | |
| French | 28 | 14% | 25% | 32% | |
| Art and Design | 27 | 11% | 22% | 30% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 27 | 19% | 41% | 59% | |
| Biology | 25 | 24% | 72% | 92% | |
| Physics | 25 | 24% | 68% | 92% | |
| Chemistry | 25 | 8% | 44% | 80% | |
| Geography | 22 | 18% | 36% | 45% |
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 Norfolk 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.