Bury St Edmunds County High School
Beetons Way, Bury St Edmunds, IP32 6RF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- UNITY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Ms Sally Kennedy
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Unity Schools Partnership
- Constituency
- Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,020
- Pupils on roll
- 657
- URN
- 136990
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01284754857
About this school
Bury St Edmunds County High School is a secondary academy in Bury St Edmunds. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 657 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 214 | 186 | 168 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.4 | 46.2 | 49.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.17 -0.36 to +0.02 | -0.09 -0.30 to +0.12 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 39% | 45.7% | 53% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 72% | 69.9% | 69.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 63% | 62.4% | 58.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.6 |
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 Bury St Edmunds County 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 | 46.4 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46.2 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.8 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 659 |
| 2023/24 | 855 |
| 2024/25 | 739 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bury St Edmunds County High School compares
Bury St Edmunds County High School ranked 4th of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 75% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.8 | 9.5% | 24.6% | 657 | — |
| St Benedict's Catholic School | 49.8 | 7.2% | 12.7% | 968 | 0.1 miles |
| King Edward VI CEVC School | 45.4 | 9.9% | 20% | 1,189 | 0.4 miles |
| Sybil Andrews Academy | 49.5 | 7.8% | 14.5% | 657 | 2.5 miles |
| Thurston Community College | 46.9 | 7.8% | 18% | 1,512 | 4.5 miles |
| Ixworth High School | 44 | 9.3% | 22.9% | 512 | 6.6 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)
- 24.63%
- English as an additional language
- 10%
- Overall absence
- 9.45%
- Persistent absence
- 27.17%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Benedict's Catholic School0.1 miles
Secondary · Bury St Edmunds
-
King Edward VI CEVC School0.4 miles
Secondary · Bury St Edmunds
-
Sybil Andrews Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Bury St. Edmunds
-
Thurston Community College4.5 miles
Secondary · Bury St Edmunds
-
Ixworth High School6.6 miles
Secondary · Ixworth
Other schools in Bury St Edmunds
- King Edward VI CEVC School Secondary
- St Benedict's Catholic School Secondary
- Thurston Community College Secondary
- Abbots Green Primary Academy Primary
- All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Lawshall Primary
- Bardwell Church of England Primary School Primary
- Barningham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Barrow Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Beck Row Primary Academy Primary
- Cockfield Church of England Primary School Primary
- Elmswell Community Primary School Primary
- Great Barton Church of England Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Bury St Edmunds County High School teach?
- Bury St Edmunds County High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bury St Edmunds.
- Who is the headteacher of Bury St Edmunds County High School?
- The headteacher of Bury St Edmunds County High School is Ms Sally Kennedy, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Bury St Edmunds County High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bury St Edmunds County 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 Bury St Edmunds County High School?
- Bury St Edmunds County High School has 657 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Bury St Edmunds County High School full?
- Bury St Edmunds County High School has capacity for 1,020 pupils and 657 on roll (64%), so it has space against 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 Bury St Edmunds County High School a faith school?
- No. Bury St Edmunds County High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Bury St Edmunds County High School a selective school?
- No. Bury St Edmunds County High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Bury St Edmunds County High School?
- Bury St Edmunds County High School is part of UNITY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Bury St Edmunds County High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46.4 in 2022/23 and 49.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bury St Edmunds County High School rank locally?
- Bury St Edmunds County High School ranked 4th of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 75% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bury St Edmunds County High School's absence rate?
- Bury St Edmunds County High School's overall absence rate is 9.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bury St Edmunds County High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bury St Edmunds County 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.