Castle Manor Academy
Eastern Avenue, Haverhill, CB9 9JE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- UNITY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mrs Vanessa Whitcombe
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Unity Schools Partnership
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- West Suffolk
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 750
- Pupils on roll
- 760
- URN
- 138162
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01440705501
About this school
Castle Manor Academy is a secondary academy in Haverhill. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 760 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 18 December 2024, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. 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 | 137 | 147 | 146 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.8 | 41.1 | 40.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.04 -0.20 to +0.28 | -0.13 -0.36 to +0.11 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 36% | 31.3% | 32.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 61% | 56.5% | 51.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 23% | 21.8% | 6.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.0 |
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 Castle Manor Academy 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 | 43.8 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.1 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 40.3 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 732 |
| 2023/24 | 751 |
| 2024/25 | 757 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Castle Manor Academy compares
Castle Manor Academy ranked 32nd of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 39% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 40.3 | 9.7% | 29.7% | 760 | — |
| Samuel Ward Academy | 43.8 | 10.1% | 18.9% | 1,076 | 0.9 miles |
| Linton Village College | 52.4 | 7.4% | 16.4% | 766 | 6.7 miles |
| Stour Valley Community School | 44.5 | 10.1% | 19.3% | 569 | 6.9 miles |
| Saffron Walden County High School | 59.7 | 7.2% | 11.6% | 2,157 | 9.6 miles |
| Hedingham School and Sixth Form | 39.9 | 10.4% | 16% | 1,177 | 9.7 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)
- 29.72%
- English as an additional language
- 14.4%
- Overall absence
- 9.74%
- Persistent absence
- 25.29%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Samuel Ward Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · Haverhill
-
Linton Village College6.7 miles
Secondary · Cambridge
-
Stour Valley Community School6.9 miles
Secondary · Sudbury
-
Saffron Walden County High School9.6 miles
Secondary · Saffron Walden
-
Hedingham School and Sixth Form9.7 miles
Secondary · Halstead
Other schools in Haverhill
- Samuel Ward Academy Secondary
- Burton End Primary Academy Primary
- Clements Primary Academy Primary
- Coupals Primary Academy Primary
- Kedington Primary Academy Primary
- New Cangle Community Primary School Primary
- Place Farm Primary Academy Primary
- St Felix Roman Catholic Primary School, Haverhill Primary
- Steeple Bumpstead Primary School Primary
- Thurlow Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Westfield Primary Academy Primary
- Broadlands Hall Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Castle Manor Academy teach?
- Castle Manor Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Haverhill.
- Who is the headteacher of Castle Manor Academy?
- The headteacher of Castle Manor Academy is Mrs Vanessa Whitcombe, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Castle Manor Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Castle Manor Academy, 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 Castle Manor Academy?
- Castle Manor Academy has 760 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Castle Manor Academy full?
- Castle Manor Academy has capacity for 750 pupils and 760 on roll (101%), 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 Castle Manor Academy a faith school?
- No. Castle Manor Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Castle Manor Academy a selective school?
- No. Castle Manor Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Castle Manor Academy?
- Castle Manor Academy 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.
- What SEN provision does Castle Manor Academy have?
- The schools register lists Castle Manor Academy's special educational needs provision as: MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Castle Manor Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.8 in 2022/23 and 40.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Castle Manor Academy rank locally?
- Castle Manor Academy ranked 32nd of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 39% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Castle Manor Academy's absence rate?
- Castle Manor Academy's overall absence rate is 9.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Castle Manor Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Castle Manor Academy'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.