Vandyke Upper School
Vandyke Road, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 3DY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 13 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- VANDYKE UPPER SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Mrs Leah Ferguson-Moore
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,440
- Pupils on roll
- 1,517
- URN
- 137169
- Local authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01525636700
About this school
Vandyke Upper School is a secondary academy in Leighton Buzzard. It teaches children aged 13 to 18 and has 1,517 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 24 January 2024, 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 | 374 | 362 | 352 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.0 | 44.7 | 48.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.20 +0.06 to +0.35 | +0.01 -0.13 to +0.16 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 48% | 42.8% | 48% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 75% | 63.3% | 71% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 23% | 24% | 24.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 3.9 | 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 Vandyke Upper 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 | Central Bedfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49 | 41.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.7 | 38.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.2 | 42.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,503 |
| 2023/24 | 1,509 |
| 2024/25 | 1,507 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Vandyke Upper School compares
Vandyke Upper School ranked 2nd of 14 secondary schools in Central Bedfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.2 | 7.8% | 15.1% | 1,517 | — |
| Cedars Upper School | 48.5 | 6.8% | 15.1% | 1,135 | 1.9 miles |
| The Cottesloe School | 45.4 | 8.8% | 15.3% | 1,190 | 4.1 miles |
| Lift Sir Herbert Leon | 33.7 | 12.8% | 55.3% | 589 | 5.1 miles |
| All Saints Academy Dunstable | 36.9 | 8.6% | 34.7% | 520 | 5.4 miles |
| Queensbury Academy | 40 | 8.7% | 14.6% | 1,093 | 6.0 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)
- 15.08%
- English as an additional language
- 5%
- Overall absence
- 7.83%
- Persistent absence
- 20.69%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Cedars Upper School1.9 miles
Secondary · Leighton Buzzard
-
The Cottesloe School4.1 miles
Secondary · Aylesbury
-
Lift Sir Herbert Leon5.1 miles
Secondary · Milton Keynes
-
All Saints Academy Dunstable5.4 miles
Secondary · Dunstable
-
Queensbury Academy6.0 miles
Secondary · Dunstable
Other schools in Leighton Buzzard
- Cedars Upper School Secondary
- Beaudesert Lower School Primary
- Brookmead School Primary
- Clipstone Brook Lower School Primary
- Dovery Academy Primary
- Greenleas School Primary
- Heathwood Lower School Primary
- Hockliffe Lower School Primary
- Leedon Lower School Primary
- Linslade Lower School Primary
- Pulford CofE VA Lower School Primary
- Southcott Lower School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Vandyke Upper School teach?
- Vandyke Upper School teaches children aged 13 to 18. It is a secondary school in Leighton Buzzard.
- Who is the headteacher of Vandyke Upper School?
- The headteacher of Vandyke Upper School is Mrs Leah Ferguson-Moore, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Vandyke Upper School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Vandyke Upper 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 Vandyke Upper School?
- Vandyke Upper School has 1,517 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 13 to 18.
- Is Vandyke Upper School full?
- Vandyke Upper School has capacity for 1,440 pupils and 1,517 on roll (105%), 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 Vandyke Upper School a faith school?
- No. Vandyke Upper School has no designated religious character.
- Is Vandyke Upper School a selective school?
- No. Vandyke Upper School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Vandyke Upper School?
- Vandyke Upper School is part of VANDYKE UPPER SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Vandyke Upper School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49 in 2022/23 and 48.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Vandyke Upper School rank locally?
- Vandyke Upper School ranked 2nd of 14 secondary schools in Central Bedfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Vandyke Upper School's absence rate?
- Vandyke Upper School's overall absence rate is 7.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Vandyke Upper School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Vandyke Upper 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 8 July 2026.