Old Buckenham High School
Abbey Road, Old Buckenham, Attleborough, NR17 1RL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SAPIENTIA EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Paul Beale
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Sapientia Education Trust
- Constituency
- Mid Norfolk
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 575
- Pupils on roll
- 501
- URN
- 146144
- Local authority
- Norfolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01953860233
About this school
Old Buckenham High School is a secondary academy in Attleborough. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 501 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 29 March 2023, 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 | 87 | 108 | 82 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.3 | 44.3 | 37.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.08 -0.22 to +0.38 | 0.00 -0.27 to +0.27 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 39% | 42.6% | 29.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 63.9% | 52.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 64% | 59.3% | 56.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 4.1 | 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 Old Buckenham 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 | Norfolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 43.3 | 38.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.3 | 39.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.8 | 38.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 504 |
| 2023/24 | 492 |
| 2024/25 | 497 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Old Buckenham High School compares
Old Buckenham High School ranked 50th of 53 secondary schools in Norfolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.8 | 8.3% | 25.2% | 501 | — |
| Attleborough Academy | 41.4 | 7.7% | 21.2% | 976 | 2.6 miles |
| Wymondham College | 56.4 | 5.9% | 10.2% | 1,427 | 4.2 miles |
| Wymondham High Academy | 52.6 | 9% | 16.8% | 1,686 | 7.0 miles |
| Diss High School | 46.6 | 9.6% | 24.6% | 877 | 7.8 miles |
| Long Stratton High School | 50.8 | 9.6% | 20.6% | 679 | 7.9 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)
- 25.15%
- English as an additional language
- 8%
- Overall absence
- 8.29%
- Persistent absence
- 25.52%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Attleborough Academy2.6 miles
Secondary · Attleborough
-
Wymondham College4.2 miles
Secondary · Wymondham
-
Wymondham High Academy7.0 miles
Secondary · Wymondham
-
Diss High School7.8 miles
Secondary · Diss
-
Long Stratton High School7.9 miles
Secondary · Norwich
Other schools in Attleborough
- Attleborough Academy 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 Old Buckenham High School teach?
- Old Buckenham High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Attleborough.
- Who is the headteacher of Old Buckenham High School?
- The headteacher of Old Buckenham High School is Mr Paul Beale, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Old Buckenham High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Old Buckenham 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 big is Old Buckenham High School?
- Old Buckenham High School has 501 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Old Buckenham High School full?
- Old Buckenham High School has capacity for 575 pupils and 501 on roll (87%), 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 Old Buckenham High School a faith school?
- No. Old Buckenham High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Old Buckenham High School a selective school?
- No. Old Buckenham High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Old Buckenham High School?
- Old Buckenham 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.
- How have Old Buckenham High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.3 in 2022/23 and 37.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Old Buckenham High School rank locally?
- Old Buckenham High School ranked 50th of 53 secondary schools in Norfolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Old Buckenham High School's absence rate?
- Old Buckenham High School's overall absence rate is 8.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Old Buckenham High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Old Buckenham 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 10 July 2026.