Whitelands Academy
Hexham Road, Bicester, OX26 1AY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE WHITE HORSE FEDERATION
- Headteacher
- Mr Haris Hussain
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The White Horse Federation
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Constituency
- Bicester and Woodstock
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 600
- Pupils on roll
- 565
- URN
- 147872
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01869716996
About this school
Whitelands Academy is a secondary academy in Bicester. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 565 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Whitelands Academy, 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
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 114 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.4 |
| Progress 8 score | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 53.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 62.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 |
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 Whitelands 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 | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 361 |
| 2023/24 | 467 |
| 2024/25 | 575 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Whitelands Academy compares
Whitelands Academy ranked 18th of 41 secondary schools in Oxfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.4 | 9.9% | 19.3% | 565 | — |
| The Bicester School | 47.9 | 8.7% | 20% | 1,176 | 0.8 miles |
| The Cooper School | 41.7 | 8.8% | 13.8% | 1,118 | 1.6 miles |
| Gosford Hill School | 45.3 | 10.7% | 22.2% | 825 | 6.9 miles |
| The Marlborough Church of England School | 55.4 | 8.8% | 13.5% | 1,088 | 7.9 miles |
| The Swan School | 55.4 | 7.2% | 21.8% | 1,057 | 8.7 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)
- 19.3%
- English as an additional language
- 18.1%
- Overall absence
- 9.88%
- Persistent absence
- 24.26%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Bicester School0.8 miles
Secondary · Bicester
-
The Cooper School1.6 miles
Secondary · Bicester
-
Gosford Hill School6.9 miles
Secondary · Kidlington
-
The Marlborough Church of England School7.9 miles
Secondary · Woodstock
-
The Swan School8.7 miles
Secondary · Oxford
Other schools in Bicester
- The Bicester School Secondary
- The Cooper School Secondary
- Brookside Primary School Primary
- Bure Park Primary School Primary
- Chesterton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Dr Radcliffe's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Five Acres Primary School Primary
- Fringford Church of England Primary School Primary
- Fritwell Church of England Primary School Primary
- Gagle Brook Primary School Primary
- Glory Farm Primary School Primary
- King's Meadow Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Whitelands Academy teach?
- Whitelands Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bicester.
- Who is the headteacher of Whitelands Academy?
- The headteacher of Whitelands Academy is Mr Haris Hussain, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Whitelands Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Whitelands 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 many pupils are at Whitelands Academy?
- Whitelands Academy has 565 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Whitelands Academy full?
- Whitelands Academy has capacity for 600 pupils and 565 on roll (94%), 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 Whitelands Academy a faith school?
- No. Whitelands Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Whitelands Academy a selective school?
- No. Whitelands Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Whitelands Academy part of an academy trust?
- Whitelands Academy is part of THE WHITE HORSE FEDERATION. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Whitelands Academy have?
- The schools register lists Whitelands Academy's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How does Whitelands Academy compare with other schools in Oxfordshire?
- Whitelands Academy ranked 18th of 41 secondary schools in Oxfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Whitelands Academy's absence rate?
- Whitelands Academy's overall absence rate is 9.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Whitelands Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Whitelands 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 10 July 2026.