Copleston High School
Copleston Road, Ipswich, IP4 5HD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- OXLIP LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
- Principal
- Mr Andrew Green
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Oxlip Learning Partnership
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Ipswich
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,780
- Pupils on roll
- 1,930
- URN
- 136827
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01473277240
About this school
Copleston High School is a secondary academy in Ipswich. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,930 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 7 December 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. 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 | 295 | 289 | 320 |
| Attainment 8 score | 51.0 | 49.2 | 46.9 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.56 +0.39 to +0.72 | +0.34 +0.18 to +0.51 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 55% | 52.6% | 48.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 77% | 73% | 70% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 38% | 29.4% | 30.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.2 |
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 Copleston 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 | Suffolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 51 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 49.2 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.9 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,887 |
| 2023/24 | 1,936 |
| 2024/25 | 1,937 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Copleston High School compares
Copleston High School ranked 11th of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 14% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.9 | 8.5% | 19% | 1,930 | — |
| St Alban's Catholic High School | 46.9 | 8.1% | 21.6% | 967 | 0.6 miles |
| Northgate High School | 50.6 | 8.4% | 18.9% | 1,750 | 1.3 miles |
| Ipswich Academy | 37.6 | 11.7% | 39.8% | 981 | 1.7 miles |
| Stoke High School - Ormiston Academy | 34.3 | 11.3% | 40.6% | 811 | 2.1 miles |
| Kesgrave High School | 49.7 | 7.6% | 15.1% | 1,875 | 2.3 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)
- 19.02%
- English as an additional language
- 15.4%
- Overall absence
- 8.45%
- Persistent absence
- 22.12%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Alban's Catholic High School0.6 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Northgate High School1.3 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Ipswich Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Stoke High School - Ormiston Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Kesgrave High School2.3 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
Other schools in Ipswich
Copleston High School ranks 3rd of the 12 ranked secondary schools in Ipswich.
- Chantry Academy Secondary
- Claydon High School Secondary
- Hadleigh High School Secondary
- Holbrook Academy Secondary
- Ipswich Academy Secondary
- Kesgrave High School Secondary
- Northgate High School Secondary
- Ormiston Endeavour Academy Secondary
- St Alban's Catholic High School Secondary
- Stoke High School - Ormiston Academy Secondary
- Westbourne Academy Secondary
- Highfield Nursery School Nursery
Common questions
- What year groups does Copleston High School teach?
- Copleston High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Ipswich.
- Who is the principal of Copleston High School?
- The principal of Copleston High School is Mr Andrew Green, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Copleston High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Copleston 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 Copleston High School?
- Copleston High School has 1,930 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Copleston High School full?
- Copleston High School has capacity for 1,780 pupils and 1,930 on roll (108%), 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 Copleston High School a faith school?
- No. Copleston High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Copleston High School a selective school?
- No. Copleston High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Copleston High School?
- Copleston High School is part of OXLIP LEARNING PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Copleston High School have?
- The schools register lists Copleston High 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 Copleston High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 51 in 2022/23 and 46.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Copleston High School rank locally?
- Copleston High School ranked 11th of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 14% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Copleston High School's absence rate?
- Copleston High School's overall absence rate is 8.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Copleston High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Copleston 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 1 July 2026.