Ixworth High School
Walsham Road, Ixworth, IP31 2HS
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- SAPIENTIA EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Alistair Gibb
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Sapientia Education Trust
- SEN provision
- HI - Hearing Impairment, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 600
- Pupils on roll
- 512
- URN
- 140047
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01359234050
About this school
Ixworth High School is a secondary academy in Ixworth. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 512 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Ixworth 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 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
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 72 | 60 | 100 |
| Attainment 8 score | 40.5 | 36.4 | 44.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.34 -0.68 to 0.00 | -0.82 -1.18 to -0.45 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 33% | 28.3% | 37% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 58.3% | 64% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 43% | 51.7% | 55% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.3 | 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 Ixworth 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 | 40.5 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.4 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 482 |
| 2023/24 | 528 |
| 2024/25 | 547 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ixworth High School compares
Ixworth High School ranked 21st of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44 | 9.3% | 22.9% | 512 | — |
| Thurston Community College | 46.9 | 7.8% | 18% | 1,512 | 3.5 miles |
| Sybil Andrews Academy | 49.5 | 7.8% | 14.5% | 657 | 5.3 miles |
| St Benedict's Catholic School | 49.8 | 7.2% | 12.7% | 968 | 6.6 miles |
| Bury St Edmunds County High School | 49.8 | 9.5% | 24.6% | 657 | 6.6 miles |
| King Edward VI CEVC School | 45.4 | 9.9% | 20% | 1,189 | 6.8 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)
- 22.85%
- English as an additional language
- 3.5%
- Overall absence
- 9.3%
- Persistent absence
- 28.17%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Thurston Community College3.5 miles
Secondary · Bury St Edmunds
-
Sybil Andrews Academy5.3 miles
Secondary · Bury St. Edmunds
-
St Benedict's Catholic School6.6 miles
Secondary · Bury St Edmunds
-
Bury St Edmunds County High School6.6 miles
Secondary · Bury St Edmunds
-
King Edward VI CEVC School6.8 miles
Secondary · Bury St Edmunds
Common questions
- What ages does Ixworth High School teach?
- Ixworth High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Ixworth.
- Who is the headteacher of Ixworth High School?
- The headteacher of Ixworth High School is Mr Alistair Gibb, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Ixworth High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ixworth 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 Ixworth High School?
- Ixworth High School has 512 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Ixworth High School full?
- Ixworth High School has capacity for 600 pupils and 512 on roll (85%), 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 Ixworth High School a faith school?
- No. Ixworth High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Ixworth High School a selective school?
- No. Ixworth High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Ixworth High School part of an academy trust?
- Ixworth High School is part of SAPIENTIA EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Ixworth High School have?
- The schools register lists Ixworth High School's special educational needs provision as: HI - Hearing Impairment; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Ixworth High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 40.5 in 2022/23 and 44 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ixworth High School compare with other schools in Suffolk?
- Ixworth High School ranked 21st of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ixworth High School's absence rate?
- Ixworth High School's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ixworth High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ixworth 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.