The Cavendish School
Park Drive, Impington, CB24 9LY
- Phase
- Free Schools
- School type
- Free schools special
- Ages
- 7 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- EASTERN LEARNING ALLIANCE
- Headteacher
- Mrs Stephanie Smith
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Eastern Learning Alliance
- Constituency
- St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 80
- Pupils on roll
- 128
- URN
- 148578
- Local authority
- Cambridgeshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01223200421
About this school
The Cavendish School is a special academy in Impington. It teaches children aged 7 to 18 and has 128 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Cavendish 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 7 | 11 | 9 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 14% | 9% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 29% | 9% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 29% | 9% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 14% | 9% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 97.0 | 114.0 | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | 97.0 | 111.0 | - |
| Reading progress | - | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | - | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 12 |
| Attainment 8 score | 28.4 |
| Progress 8 score | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 41.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.5 |
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 The Cavendish 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 | Cambridgeshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14% | 56.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 9% | 55.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 57.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 16.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 81 |
| 2023/24 | 99 |
| 2024/25 | 116 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 30.17%
- English as an additional language
- 3.4%
- Overall absence
- 14.71%
- Persistent absence
- 35%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hope Tree School0.7 miles
Special schools · Cambridgeshire
-
Gretton School1.3 miles
Special schools · Cambridge
-
Castle School, Cambridge1.8 miles
Special schools · Cambridge
-
OA - Cambridge1.9 miles
Academies · Cambridge
-
Red Balloon Learner Centre - Cambridge2.0 miles
Independent schools · Cambridge
Common questions
- What ages does The Cavendish School teach?
- The Cavendish School teaches children aged 7 to 18. It is a special school in Impington.
- Who is the headteacher of The Cavendish School?
- The headteacher of The Cavendish School is Mrs Stephanie Smith, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Cavendish School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Cavendish 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 The Cavendish School?
- The Cavendish School has 128 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 18.
- Is The Cavendish School full?
- The Cavendish School has capacity for 80 pupils and 128 on roll (160%), 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 Cavendish School a faith school?
- No. The Cavendish School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Cavendish School a selective school?
- No. The Cavendish School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Cavendish School part of an academy trust?
- The Cavendish School is part of EASTERN LEARNING ALLIANCE. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Cavendish School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 14% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is The Cavendish School's absence rate?
- The Cavendish School's overall absence rate is 14.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Cavendish School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Cavendish 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.