Stopsley High School
St Thomas's Road, Luton, LU2 7UX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- MIDDLESEX LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Karen Hand
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Luton North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,350
- Pupils on roll
- 1,046
- URN
- 148692
- Local authority
- Luton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01582870900
About this school
Stopsley High School is a secondary academy in Luton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,046 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Stopsley 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 | 222 | 204 | 198 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.9 | 41.5 | 42.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.41 -0.61 to -0.21 | -0.33 -0.54 to -0.12 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 37% | 42.2% | 37.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 63.7% | 60.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15% | 19.1% | 25.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.4 | 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 Stopsley 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 | Luton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.9 | 41.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.5 | 42.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.3 | 43.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,048 |
| 2023/24 | 1,081 |
| 2024/25 | 1,074 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Stopsley High School compares
Stopsley High School ranked 10th of 13 secondary schools in Luton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 46% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.3 | 8% | 31% | 1,046 | — |
| Icknield High School | 49.4 | 7.6% | 26.3% | 1,452 | 1.0 miles |
| Denbigh High School | 52.6 | 5.9% | 31.3% | 1,130 | 1.1 miles |
| Putteridge High School | 49.2 | 5.6% | 21.2% | 1,193 | 1.1 miles |
| Queen Elizabeth School | 39.9 | 7.1% | 32.6% | 1,229 | 1.2 miles |
| Cardinal Newman Catholic School A Specialist Science College | 50 | 6.6% | 18.8% | 1,655 | 1.6 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)
- 31.01%
- English as an additional language
- 43.1%
- Overall absence
- 7.96%
- Persistent absence
- 25.26%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Icknield High School1.0 miles
Secondary · Luton
-
Denbigh High School1.1 miles
Secondary · Luton
-
Putteridge High School1.1 miles
Secondary · Luton
-
Queen Elizabeth School1.2 miles
Secondary · Luton
-
Cardinal Newman Catholic School A Specialist Science College1.6 miles
Secondary · Luton
Other schools in Luton
Stopsley High School ranks 11th of the 14 ranked secondary schools in Luton.
- Cardinal Newman Catholic School A Specialist Science College Secondary
- Challney High School for Boys Secondary
- Challney High School for Girls Secondary
- Chiltern Academy Secondary
- Denbigh High School Secondary
- Icknield High School Secondary
- Lea Manor High School Secondary
- Lealands High School Secondary
- Manshead Church of England Academy Secondary
- Putteridge High School Secondary
- Queen Elizabeth School Secondary
- The Chalk Hills Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Stopsley High School teach?
- Stopsley High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Luton.
- Who is the headteacher of Stopsley High School?
- The headteacher of Stopsley High School is Ms Karen Hand, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Stopsley High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Stopsley 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 Stopsley High School?
- Stopsley High School has 1,046 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Stopsley High School full?
- Stopsley High School has capacity for 1,350 pupils and 1,046 on roll (77%), 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 Stopsley High School a faith school?
- No. Stopsley High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Stopsley High School a selective school?
- No. Stopsley High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Stopsley High School part of an academy trust?
- Stopsley High School is part of MIDDLESEX LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Stopsley High School have?
- The schools register lists Stopsley High School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Stopsley High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.9 in 2022/23 and 42.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Stopsley High School compare with other schools in Luton?
- Stopsley High School ranked 10th of 13 secondary schools in Luton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 46% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Stopsley High School's absence rate?
- Stopsley High School's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Stopsley High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Stopsley 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.