Ferndown Upper School
Cherry Grove, Ferndown, BH22 9EY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 13 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Philip Jones
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Christchurch
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,146
- Pupils on roll
- 1,134
- URN
- 113854
- Local authority
- Dorset
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01202871243
About this school
Ferndown Upper School is a community secondary school in Ferndown. It teaches children aged 13 to 19 and has 1,134 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 225 | 232 | 249 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.3 | 48.3 | 45.7 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.72 +0.53 to +0.91 | +0.34 +0.16 to +0.53 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 48% | 50.4% | 45.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 74.1% | 70.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15% | 8.2% | 12.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Ferndown Upper School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Dorset average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.3 | 36.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.3 | 36.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45.7 | 35.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,030 |
| 2023/24 | 1,161 |
| 2024/25 | 1,169 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ferndown Upper School compares
Ferndown Upper School ranked 8th of 19 secondary schools in Dorset for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 60% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 45.7 | 8.1% | 22.6% | 1,134 | — |
| LeAF Studio | 42.4 | 9.5% | 23.4% | 458 | 2.9 miles |
| Oak Academy | 32.5 | 11.2% | 46.2% | 647 | 3.1 miles |
| The Bourne Academy | 44.2 | 9.5% | 37.7% | 958 | 3.4 miles |
| Glenmoor Academy | 60.7 | 5.4% | 23.7% | 902 | 4.1 miles |
| Winton Academy | 55.4 | 4.5% | 18.9% | 902 | 4.1 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 22.55%
- English as an additional language
- 5.8%
- Overall absence
- 8.08%
- Persistent absence
- 21.31%
Location
Nearby schools
-
LeAF Studio2.9 miles
Secondary · Bournemouth
-
Oak Academy3.1 miles
Secondary · Bournemouth
-
The Bourne Academy3.4 miles
Secondary · Bournemouth
-
Glenmoor Academy4.1 miles
Secondary · Bournemouth
-
Winton Academy4.1 miles
Secondary · Bournemouth
Other schools in Ferndown
- Ferndown First School Primary
- Oakhurst Community First School Primary
- Parley First School Primary
- St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery Primary
- Ferndown Middle School Middle deemed secondary
- West Moors Middle School Middle deemed secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Ferndown Upper School teach?
- Ferndown Upper School teaches children aged 13 to 19. It is a secondary school in Ferndown.
- Who is the headteacher of Ferndown Upper School?
- The headteacher of Ferndown Upper School is Mr Philip Jones, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ferndown Upper School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ferndown Upper School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Ferndown Upper School?
- Ferndown Upper School has 1,134 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 13 to 19.
- Is Ferndown Upper School full?
- Ferndown Upper School has capacity for 1,146 pupils and 1,134 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Ferndown Upper School a faith school?
- No. Ferndown Upper School has no designated religious character.
- Is Ferndown Upper School a selective school?
- No. Ferndown Upper School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does Ferndown Upper School have?
- The schools register lists Ferndown Upper School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Ferndown Upper School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.3 in 2022/23 and 45.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ferndown Upper School rank locally?
- Ferndown Upper School ranked 8th of 19 secondary schools in Dorset for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 60% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ferndown Upper School's absence rate?
- Ferndown Upper School's overall absence rate is 8.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ferndown Upper School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ferndown Upper School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.