The Bishop's Stortford High School
Beaumont Avenue, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 4SH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Boys
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Mr Dale Reeve
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Hertford and Stortford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,211
- Pupils on roll
- 1,279
- URN
- 117577
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01279868686
About this school
The Bishop's Stortford High School is a boys' foundation secondary school in Bishop's Stortford. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,279 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 25 May 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Outstanding. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 168 | 168 | 169 |
| Attainment 8 score | 59.2 | 56.1 | 60.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.49 +0.27 to +0.71 | +0.23 +0.01 to +0.45 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 68% | 68.5% | 69.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 90% | 88.7% | 87% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 71% | 72.6% | 82.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.7 | 5.4 | 5.9 |
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 The Bishop's Stortford High 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 | Hertfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 59.2 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 56.1 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 60.2 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,194 |
| 2023/24 | 1,258 |
| 2024/25 | 1,260 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Bishop's Stortford High School compares
The Bishop's Stortford High School ranked 14th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 93% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 54% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 60.2 | 5.2% | 6.3% | 1,279 | — |
| St Mary's Catholic School | 57.6 | 5.9% | 10.4% | 1,106 | 1.4 miles |
| The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College | 63.6 | 7.5% | 5.6% | 1,508 | 1.5 miles |
| Hockerill Anglo-European College | 61.7 | 6% | 5.2% | 903 | 1.7 miles |
| Leventhorpe | 49.6 | 8.2% | 13.5% | 1,463 | 2.0 miles |
| Birchwood High School | 46.1 | 10.2% | 20.1% | 1,417 | 2.1 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 6.26%
- English as an additional language
- 7.5%
- Overall absence
- 5.23%
- Persistent absence
- 12.75%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Mary's Catholic School1.4 miles
Secondary · Bishop's Stortford
-
The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College1.5 miles
Secondary · Bishop's Stortford
-
Hockerill Anglo-European College1.7 miles
Secondary · Bishop's Stortford
-
Leventhorpe2.0 miles
Secondary · Sawbridgeworth
-
Birchwood High School2.1 miles
Secondary · Bishop's Stortford
Other schools in Bishop's Stortford
The Bishop's Stortford High School ranks 3rd of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Bishop's Stortford.
- Birchwood High School Secondary
- Hockerill Anglo-European College Secondary
- St Mary's Catholic School Secondary
- The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College Secondary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery, Bishop's Stortford Primary
- Avanti Meadows Primary School Primary
- Birchanger Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Farnham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Hatfield Heath Primary School Primary
- Henham and Ugley Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Hillmead Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Bishop's Stortford High School teach?
- The Bishop's Stortford High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Bishop's Stortford.
- Who is the headteacher of The Bishop's Stortford High School?
- The headteacher of The Bishop's Stortford High School is Mr Dale Reeve, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Bishop's Stortford High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Bishop's Stortford High 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 The Bishop's Stortford High School?
- The Bishop's Stortford High School has 1,279 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Bishop's Stortford High School full?
- The Bishop's Stortford High School has capacity for 1,211 pupils and 1,279 on roll (106%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Bishop's Stortford High School a faith school?
- No. The Bishop's Stortford High School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Bishop's Stortford High School a selective school?
- No. The Bishop's Stortford High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have The Bishop's Stortford High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 59.2 in 2022/23 and 60.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Bishop's Stortford High School rank locally?
- The Bishop's Stortford High School ranked 14th of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 93% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 54% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Bishop's Stortford High School's absence rate?
- The Bishop's Stortford High School's overall absence rate is 5.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Bishop's Stortford High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Bishop's Stortford High 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 30 June 2026.