Pakefield High School
London Road Pakefield, Pakefield, Lowestoft, NR33 7AQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- CLARION CORVUS TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Philip Dougherty
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Clarion Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Lowestoft
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 679
- URN
- 146909
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01502530750
About this school
Pakefield High School is a secondary academy in Lowestoft. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 679 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Pakefield 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. 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 | 155 | 119 | 136 |
| Attainment 8 score | 36.1 | 39.1 | 38.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.74 -0.96 to -0.51 | -0.53 -0.79 to -0.27 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 23% | 29.4% | 27.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 52% | 53.8% | 57.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 13% | 5.9% | 5.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
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 Pakefield 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 | 36.1 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.1 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.4 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 687 |
| 2023/24 | 687 |
| 2024/25 | 701 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Pakefield High School compares
Pakefield High School ranked 37th of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.4 | 9.6% | 39.9% | 679 | — |
| East Point Academy | 39.5 | 9.3% | 43% | 846 | 1.3 miles |
| Ormiston Denes Academy | 40.5 | 9.9% | 57.4% | 711 | 3.0 miles |
| Benjamin Britten Academy of Music and Mathematics | 44.9 | 9.9% | 32% | 1,263 | 3.3 miles |
| Beccles High School | 27.6 | 11.9% | 51.3% | 182 | 6.4 miles |
| Sir John Leman High School | 44.8 | 8.9% | 23.1% | 1,404 | 7.0 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)
- 39.94%
- English as an additional language
- 2.6%
- Overall absence
- 9.57%
- Persistent absence
- 27.57%
Location
Nearby schools
-
East Point Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Lowestoft
-
Ormiston Denes Academy3.0 miles
Secondary · Lowestoft
-
Benjamin Britten Academy of Music and Mathematics3.3 miles
Secondary · Lowestoft
-
Beccles High School6.4 miles
Secondary · Beccles
-
Sir John Leman High School7.0 miles
Secondary · Beccles
Other schools in Lowestoft
- Benjamin Britten Academy of Music and Mathematics Secondary
- East Point Academy Secondary
- Ormiston Denes Academy Secondary
- Blundeston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Carlton Colville Primary School Primary
- Corton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Dell Primary School Primary
- Elm Tree Primary School Primary
- Grove Primary School Primary
- Gunton Primary Academy Primary
- Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Northfield St Nicholas Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Pakefield High School teach?
- Pakefield High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Lowestoft.
- Who is the headteacher of Pakefield High School?
- The headteacher of Pakefield High School is Mr Philip Dougherty, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Pakefield High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Pakefield 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 Pakefield High School?
- Pakefield High School has 679 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Pakefield High School full?
- Pakefield High School has capacity for 900 pupils and 679 on roll (75%), 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 Pakefield High School a faith school?
- No. Pakefield High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Pakefield High School a selective school?
- No. Pakefield High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Pakefield High School part of an academy trust?
- Pakefield High School is part of CLARION CORVUS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Pakefield High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 36.1 in 2022/23 and 38.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Pakefield High School compare with other schools in Suffolk?
- Pakefield High School ranked 37th of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Pakefield High School's absence rate?
- Pakefield High School's overall absence rate is 9.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Pakefield High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Pakefield 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.