Birchwood High School
Parsonage Lane, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 5BD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- BIRCHWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
- Principal
- Mr Sam Griffin
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Hertford and Stortford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,500
- Pupils on roll
- 1,417
- URN
- 137637
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01279655936
About this school
Birchwood High School is a secondary academy in Bishop's Stortford. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,417 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- 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 | 230 | 231 | 243 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.1 | 48.1 | 46.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.45 -0.64 to -0.26 | -0.08 -0.27 to +0.11 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 38% | 49.4% | 41.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 63% | 68.8% | 64.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 35% | 40.3% | 35.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.0 |
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 Birchwood 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 | Hertfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 45.1 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.1 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.1 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,418 |
| 2023/24 | 1,425 |
| 2024/25 | 1,454 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Birchwood High School compares
Birchwood High School ranked 53rd of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.1 | 10.2% | 20.1% | 1,417 | — |
| Hockerill Anglo-European College | 61.7 | 6% | 5.2% | 903 | 0.5 miles |
| The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College | 63.6 | 7.5% | 5.6% | 1,508 | 0.7 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic School | 57.6 | 5.9% | 10.4% | 1,106 | 1.2 miles |
| Avanti Grange Secondary School | — | 5.3% | 12.9% | 660 | 1.5 miles |
| Forest Hall School | 40.6 | 12.2% | 30.3% | 506 | 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)
- 20.05%
- English as an additional language
- 12.6%
- Overall absence
- 10.22%
- Persistent absence
- 29.89%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hockerill Anglo-European College0.5 miles
Secondary · Bishop's Stortford
-
The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College0.7 miles
Secondary · Bishop's Stortford
-
St Mary's Catholic School1.2 miles
Secondary · Bishop's Stortford
-
Avanti Grange Secondary School1.5 miles
Secondary · Bishops Stortford
-
Forest Hall School1.7 miles
Secondary · Stansted Mountfitchet
Other schools in Bishop's Stortford
Birchwood High School ranks 5th of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Bishop's Stortford.
- Hockerill Anglo-European College Secondary
- St Mary's Catholic School Secondary
- The Bishop's Stortford High School Secondary
- The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College Secondary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery, Bishop's Stortford Primary
- Avanti Meadows Primary School Primary
- Birchanger Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Farnham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Hatfield Heath Primary School Primary
- Henham and Ugley Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Hillmead Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Birchwood High School teach?
- Birchwood High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Bishop's Stortford.
- Who is the principal of Birchwood High School?
- The principal of Birchwood High School is Mr Sam Griffin, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Birchwood High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Birchwood 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 Birchwood High School?
- Birchwood High School has 1,417 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Birchwood High School full?
- Birchwood High School has capacity for 1,500 pupils and 1,417 on roll (94%), 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 Birchwood High School a faith school?
- No. Birchwood High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Birchwood High School a selective school?
- No. Birchwood High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Birchwood High School?
- Birchwood High School is part of BIRCHWOOD HIGH SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Birchwood High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.1 in 2022/23 and 46.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Birchwood High School rank locally?
- Birchwood High School ranked 53rd of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Birchwood High School's absence rate?
- Birchwood High School's overall absence rate is 10.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Birchwood High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Birchwood 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.