Parkside Community College
Parkside, Cambridge, CB1 1EH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- UNITED LEARNING TRUST
- Head Teacher
- Mrs Dee Wallace
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- United Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Cambridge
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 660
- Pupils on roll
- 667
- URN
- 136636
- Local authority
- Cambridgeshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01223712600
About this school
Parkside Community College is a secondary academy in Cambridge. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 667 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Parkside Community College, and its latest judgement is set out 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 20 April 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 | 114 | 123 | 128 |
| Attainment 8 score | 60.6 | 61.1 | 63.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.82 +0.54 to +1.10 | +0.80 +0.52 to +1.08 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 71% | 73.2% | 78.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 86% | 84.6% | 88.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 82% | 82.9% | 85.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.9 | 6.1 | 6.3 |
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 Parkside Community College has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Cambridgeshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 60.6 | 38.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 61.1 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 63.5 | 36.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 710 |
| 2023/24 | 735 |
| 2024/25 | 694 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Parkside Community College compares
Parkside Community College ranked 2nd of 34 secondary schools in Cambridgeshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 95% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 35% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 63.5 | 6.2% | 18.6% | 667 | — |
| Chesterton Community College | 68 | 5.5% | 17.5% | 1,126 | 1.0 miles |
| Coleridge Community College | 55.1 | 8.9% | 38.9% | 553 | 1.3 miles |
| North Cambridge Academy | 43.9 | 10.1% | 50.4% | 687 | 1.5 miles |
| Trumpington Community College | 50.4 | 8.3% | 38.9% | 613 | 1.7 miles |
| St Bede's Inter-Church School | 61.6 | 6.8% | 16% | 943 | 1.7 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)
- 18.58%
- English as an additional language
- 46.1%
- Overall absence
- 6.23%
- Persistent absence
- 14.66%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Chesterton Community College1.0 miles
Secondary · Cambridge
-
Coleridge Community College1.3 miles
Secondary · Cambridge
-
North Cambridge Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Cambridge
-
Trumpington Community College1.7 miles
Secondary · Cambridge
-
St Bede's Inter-Church School1.7 miles
Secondary · Cambridge
Other schools in Cambridge
Parkside Community College ranks 2nd of the 17 ranked secondary schools in Cambridge.
- Bottisham Village College Secondary
- Cambourne Village College Secondary
- Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology Secondary
- Chesterton Community College Secondary
- Coleridge Community College Secondary
- Comberton Village College Secondary
- Cottenham Village College Secondary
- Impington Village College Secondary
- Linton Village College Secondary
- North Cambridge Academy Secondary
- Sawston Village College Secondary
- St Bede's Inter-Church School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Parkside Community College teach?
- Parkside Community College teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Cambridge.
- Who is the head teacher of Parkside Community College?
- The head teacher of Parkside Community College is Mrs Dee Wallace, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Parkside Community College been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Parkside Community College, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Parkside Community College?
- Parkside Community College has 667 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Parkside Community College full?
- Parkside Community College has capacity for 660 pupils and 667 on roll (101%), 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 Parkside Community College a faith school?
- No. Parkside Community College has no designated religious character.
- Is Parkside Community College a selective school?
- No. Parkside Community College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Parkside Community College part of an academy trust?
- Parkside Community College is part of UNITED LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Parkside Community College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 60.6 in 2022/23 and 63.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Parkside Community College compare with other schools in Cambridgeshire?
- Parkside Community College ranked 2nd of 34 secondary schools in Cambridgeshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 95% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 35% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Parkside Community College's absence rate?
- Parkside Community College's overall absence rate is 6.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Parkside Community College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Parkside Community College'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 1 July 2026.