Attleborough Academy
9 Norwich Road, Attleborough, NR17 2AJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SAPIENTIA EDUCATION TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Neil McShane
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Sapientia Education Trust
- Constituency
- Mid Norfolk
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 945
- Pupils on roll
- 976
- URN
- 140534
- Local authority
- Norfolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01953452335
About this school
Attleborough Academy is a secondary academy in Attleborough. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 976 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 142 | 177 | 130 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.9 | 46.2 | 41.4 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.22 -0.02 to +0.45 | +0.27 +0.06 to +0.49 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 42% | 41.8% | 41.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 65.5% | 63.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 19% | 73.4% | 49.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.7 |
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 Attleborough 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 | 45.9 | 38.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46.2 | 39.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.4 | 38.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 884 |
| 2023/24 | 932 |
| 2024/25 | 920 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Attleborough Academy compares
Attleborough Academy ranked 38th of 53 secondary schools in Norfolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 19% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.4 | 7.7% | 21.2% | 976 | — |
| Wymondham College | 56.4 | 5.9% | 10.2% | 1,427 | 2.4 miles |
| Old Buckenham High School | 37.8 | 8.3% | 25.2% | 501 | 2.6 miles |
| Wymondham High Academy | 52.6 | 9% | 16.8% | 1,686 | 5.7 miles |
| Wayland Academy | 52 | 5.6% | 25.7% | 564 | 8.8 miles |
| Hethersett Academy | 59 | 7% | 14.5% | 1,250 | 8.8 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 21.15%
- English as an additional language
- 9.3%
- Overall absence
- 7.68%
- Persistent absence
- 23.65%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Wymondham College2.4 miles
Secondary · Wymondham
-
Old Buckenham High School2.6 miles
Secondary · Attleborough
-
Wymondham High Academy5.7 miles
Secondary · Wymondham
-
Wayland Academy8.8 miles
Secondary · Thetford
-
Hethersett Academy8.8 miles
Secondary · Norwich
Other schools in Attleborough
- Old Buckenham High School Secondary
- Attleborough Primary School Primary
- Caston Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Great Ellingham Primary School Primary
- Old Buckenham Primary School Primary
- Rocklands Community Primary School Primary
- Rosecroft Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Attleborough Academy teach?
- Attleborough Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Attleborough.
- Who is the principal of Attleborough Academy?
- The principal of Attleborough Academy is Mr Neil McShane, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Attleborough Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Attleborough 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 Attleborough Academy?
- Attleborough Academy has 976 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Attleborough Academy full?
- Attleborough Academy has capacity for 945 pupils and 976 on roll (103%), 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 Attleborough Academy a faith school?
- No. Attleborough Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Attleborough Academy a selective school?
- No. Attleborough Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Attleborough Academy?
- Attleborough Academy 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.
- How have Attleborough Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.9 in 2022/23 and 41.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Attleborough Academy rank locally?
- Attleborough Academy ranked 38th of 53 secondary schools in Norfolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 19% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Attleborough Academy's absence rate?
- Attleborough Academy's overall absence rate is 7.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Attleborough Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Attleborough 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.