Iceni Secondary Academy
Stoke Road, Methwold, Thetford, IP26 4PE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ACADEMY TRANSFORMATION TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Richard Rushton
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Academy Transformation Trust
- Constituency
- South West Norfolk
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 745
- Pupils on roll
- 555
- URN
- 139058
- Local authority
- Norfolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01366728333
About this school
Iceni Secondary Academy is a secondary academy in Thetford. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 555 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 14 | 15 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 43% | 62% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 8% |
| Expected standard in reading | 57% | 60% |
| Expected standard in maths | 50% | 73% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 36% | 60% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 101.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 100.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.60 | - |
| Writing progress | +0.70 | - |
| Maths progress | -1.30 | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 87 | 143 | 116 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.9 | 34.7 | 39.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.38 -0.69 to -0.07 | -0.73 -0.96 to -0.50 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 32% | 25.2% | 37.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 49% | 45.5% | 56.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 66% | 71.3% | 42.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
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 Iceni Secondary 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 | Norfolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 43% | 49.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 62% | 49.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | — | 52.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Norfolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.9 | 38.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 34.7 | 39.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39 | 38.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 781 |
| 2023/24 | 748 |
| 2024/25 | 582 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Iceni Secondary Academy compares
Iceni Secondary Academy ranked 47th of 53 secondary schools in Norfolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 35% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39 | 11.3% | 24.4% | 555 | — |
| Breckland School | 42.4 | 9.8% | 24.6% | 615 | 6.3 miles |
| Downham Market Academy | 43.8 | 9% | 26.9% | 1,329 | 8.8 miles |
| The Nicholas Hamond Academy | 38.4 | 9.2% | 30.9% | 710 | 9.5 miles |
| The Thetford Academy | 42.4 | 9.8% | 31.8% | 1,398 | 10.9 miles |
| Duchy of Lancaster Methwold CofE Primary School | — | 6.5% | 24.7% | 91 | 0.5 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)
- 24.4%
- English as an additional language
- 4%
- Overall absence
- 11.33%
- Persistent absence
- 28.29%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Breckland School6.3 miles
Secondary · Brandon
-
Downham Market Academy8.8 miles
Secondary · Downham Market
-
The Nicholas Hamond Academy9.5 miles
Secondary · Swaffham
-
The Thetford Academy10.9 miles
Secondary · Thetford
-
Duchy of Lancaster Methwold CofE Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Thetford
Other schools in Thetford
- The Thetford Academy Secondary
- Wayland Academy Secondary
- Admirals Academy Primary
- Ashill Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Drake Primary School Primary
- Duchy of Lancaster Methwold CofE Primary School Primary
- Edmund de Moundeford VC Primary School, Feltwell Primary
- Elveden Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Great Hockham Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Norwich Road Academy Primary
- Parker's Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Queensway Infant Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Iceni Secondary Academy teach?
- Iceni Secondary Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Thetford.
- Who is the principal of Iceni Secondary Academy?
- The principal of Iceni Secondary Academy is Mr Richard Rushton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Iceni Secondary Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Iceni Secondary 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 Iceni Secondary Academy?
- Iceni Secondary Academy has 555 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Iceni Secondary Academy full?
- Iceni Secondary Academy has capacity for 745 pupils and 555 on roll (74%), 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 Iceni Secondary Academy a faith school?
- No. Iceni Secondary Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Iceni Secondary Academy a selective school?
- No. Iceni Secondary Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Iceni Secondary Academy?
- Iceni Secondary Academy is part of ACADEMY TRANSFORMATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Iceni Secondary Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 43% in 2022/23 and 62% in 2023/24. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Iceni Secondary Academy rank locally?
- Iceni Secondary Academy ranked 47th of 53 secondary schools in Norfolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 35% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Iceni Secondary Academy's absence rate?
- Iceni Secondary Academy's overall absence rate is 11.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Iceni Secondary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Iceni Secondary 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.