The Ashcombe School
Ashcombe Road, Dorking, RH4 1LY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SOUTH EAST SURREY SCHOOLS EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Chris Panting
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Dorking and Horley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,476
- Pupils on roll
- 1,533
- URN
- 143901
- Local authority
- Surrey
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01306886312
About this school
The Ashcombe School is a secondary academy in Dorking. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,533 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 23 May 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. 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 | 236 | 251 | 236 |
| Attainment 8 score | 53.6 | 54.0 | 57.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.18 0.00 to +0.37 | +0.27 +0.10 to +0.45 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 56% | 58.6% | 67.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 78% | 81.7% | 84.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 72% | 72.5% | 75% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.1 | 5.1 | 5.4 |
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 The Ashcombe 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 | Surrey average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 53.6 | 38.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 54 | 39.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 57.1 | 38.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,478 |
| 2023/24 | 1,496 |
| 2024/25 | 1,513 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Ashcombe School compares
The Ashcombe School ranked 12th of 54 secondary schools in Surrey for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 90% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57.1 | 7.3% | 11.2% | 1,533 | — |
| The Priory Church of England School | 40.1 | 10.9% | 18.8% | 598 | 1.0 miles |
| Howard of Effingham School | 57.1 | 6.5% | 9.7% | 1,471 | 3.7 miles |
| St Andrew's Catholic School | — | — | — | 1,594 | 4.4 miles |
| Therfield School | 49 | 9.4% | 22.3% | 1,075 | 4.6 miles |
| Reigate School | 52.4 | 7.7% | 20.5% | 1,252 | 6.0 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)
- 11.21%
- English as an additional language
- 6.5%
- Overall absence
- 7.29%
- Persistent absence
- 17.26%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Priory Church of England School1.0 miles
Secondary · Dorking
-
Howard of Effingham School3.7 miles
Secondary · Leatherhead
-
St Andrew's Catholic School4.4 miles
Secondary · Leatherhead
-
Therfield School4.6 miles
Secondary · Leatherhead
-
Reigate School6.0 miles
Secondary · Reigate
Other schools in Dorking
- The Priory Church of England School Secondary
- Dorking Nursery School Nursery
- Newdigate CofE Endowed Aided Infant School Primary
- Powell Corderoy Primary School Primary
- Scott-Broadwood CofE Infant School Primary
- St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Martin's CofE Primary School Primary
- St Michael's CofE Aided Infant School Primary
- St Paul's CofE Primary School Primary
- Surrey Hills All Saints Primary School Primary
- The Weald CofE Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Ashcombe School teach?
- The Ashcombe School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Dorking.
- Who is the headteacher of The Ashcombe School?
- The headteacher of The Ashcombe School is Mr Chris Panting, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Ashcombe School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Ashcombe 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 The Ashcombe School?
- The Ashcombe School has 1,533 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Ashcombe School full?
- The Ashcombe School has capacity for 1,476 pupils and 1,533 on roll (104%), 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 The Ashcombe School a faith school?
- No. The Ashcombe School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Ashcombe School a selective school?
- No. The Ashcombe School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Ashcombe School?
- The Ashcombe School is part of SOUTH EAST SURREY SCHOOLS EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Ashcombe School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 53.6 in 2022/23 and 57.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Ashcombe School rank locally?
- The Ashcombe School ranked 12th of 54 secondary schools in Surrey for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 90% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Ashcombe School's absence rate?
- The Ashcombe School's overall absence rate is 7.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Ashcombe School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Ashcombe 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 10 July 2026.