Sir John Leman High School
Ringsfield Road, Beccles, NR34 9PG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- KINGFISHER SCHOOLS TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Sarah Hartshorn
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Kingfisher Schools Trust Ltd
- Constituency
- Lowestoft
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,476
- Pupils on roll
- 1,404
- URN
- 137055
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01502713223
About this school
Sir John Leman High School is a secondary academy in Beccles. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,404 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Sir John Leman High School, 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
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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected 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 | 233 | 239 | 244 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.0 | 46.1 | 44.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.18 0.00 to +0.36 | -0.22 -0.40 to -0.04 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 44% | 43.5% | 41.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 75% | 71.5% | 67.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15% | 14.2% | 20.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.7 |
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 Sir John Leman 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 | 48 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46.1 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.8 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,391 |
| 2023/24 | 1,443 |
| 2024/25 | 1,439 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sir John Leman High School compares
Sir John Leman High School ranked 18th of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.8 | 8.9% | 23.1% | 1,404 | — |
| Beccles High School | 27.6 | 11.9% | 51.3% | 182 | 0.6 miles |
| Bungay High School | 41.7 | 10.1% | 23.7% | 922 | 4.9 miles |
| Hobart High School | 46.1 | 9% | 22.8% | 673 | 6.5 miles |
| Pakefield High School | 38.4 | 9.6% | 39.9% | 679 | 7.0 miles |
| East Point Academy | 39.5 | 9.3% | 43% | 846 | 7.3 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 23.12%
- English as an additional language
- 3%
- Overall absence
- 8.93%
- Persistent absence
- 22.55%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Beccles High School0.6 miles
Secondary · Beccles
-
Bungay High School4.9 miles
Secondary · Bungay
-
Hobart High School6.5 miles
Secondary · Norwich
-
Pakefield High School7.0 miles
Secondary · Lowestoft
-
East Point Academy7.3 miles
Secondary · Lowestoft
Other schools in Beccles
- Beccles High School Secondary
- Barnby and North Cove Community Primary School Primary
- Beccles Primary Academy Primary
- Brampton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Gillingham St Michael's Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Glebeland Community Primary School Primary
- Ilketshall St Lawrence School Primary
- Ravensmere Infant School Primary
- Ringsfield Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Benet's Catholic Primary School Primary
- The Albert Pye Community Primary School Primary
- Worlingham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Sir John Leman High School teach?
- Sir John Leman High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Beccles.
- Who is the headteacher of Sir John Leman High School?
- The headteacher of Sir John Leman High School is Ms Sarah Hartshorn, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Sir John Leman High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sir John Leman 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 many pupils are at Sir John Leman High School?
- Sir John Leman High School has 1,404 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Sir John Leman High School full?
- Sir John Leman High School has capacity for 1,476 pupils and 1,404 on roll (95%), 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 Sir John Leman High School a faith school?
- No. Sir John Leman High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Sir John Leman High School a selective school?
- No. Sir John Leman High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Sir John Leman High School part of an academy trust?
- Sir John Leman High School is part of KINGFISHER SCHOOLS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Sir John Leman High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 48 in 2022/23 and 44.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Sir John Leman High School compare with other schools in Suffolk?
- Sir John Leman High School ranked 18th of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Sir John Leman High School's absence rate?
- Sir John Leman High School's overall absence rate is 8.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sir John Leman High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sir John Leman 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 15 July 2026.