Sir William Ramsay School
Rose Avenue, High Wycombe, HP15 7UB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- INSIGNIS ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Neil Stocking
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Insignis Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- HI - Hearing Impairment, PD - Physical Disability
- Constituency
- Chesham and Amersham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,041
- Pupils on roll
- 984
- URN
- 150611
- Local authority
- Buckinghamshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01494815211
About this school
Sir William Ramsay School is a secondary academy in High Wycombe. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 984 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. 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Inadequate
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Inadequate
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Not effective
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: serious weaknesses.
This inspection took place when the school was registered as Sir William Ramsay School (URN 137256).
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 186 |
| Attainment 8 score | 35.4 |
| Progress 8 score | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 48.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 20.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.1 |
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 Sir William Ramsay 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 | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
How Sir William Ramsay School compares
Sir William Ramsay School ranked 35th of 36 secondary schools in Buckinghamshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35.4 | 11.6% | 33.8% | 984 | — |
| The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe | 73.9 | 6.1% | 5.7% | 1,451 | 1.3 miles |
| Holmer Green Senior School | 47.1 | 7.5% | 11.1% | 1,244 | 1.4 miles |
| The Highcrest Academy | 38.5 | 9.9% | 35.6% | 1,045 | 1.4 miles |
| Wycombe High School | 73.9 | 5.5% | 8% | 1,371 | 2.9 miles |
| John Hampden Grammar School | 72.3 | 5.7% | 4.7% | 1,281 | 3.1 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)
- 33.83%
- English as an additional language
- 30.1%
- Overall absence
- 11.56%
- Persistent absence
- 38.83%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe1.3 miles
Secondary · High Wycombe
-
Holmer Green Senior School1.4 miles
Secondary · High Wycombe
-
The Highcrest Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · High Wycombe
-
Wycombe High School2.9 miles
Secondary · High Wycombe
-
John Hampden Grammar School3.1 miles
Secondary · High Wycombe
Other schools in High Wycombe
Sir William Ramsay School ranks 8th of the 8 ranked secondary schools in High Wycombe.
- Cressex Community School Secondary
- Holmer Green Senior School Secondary
- John Hampden Grammar School Secondary
- The Highcrest Academy Secondary
- The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe Secondary
- Wycombe High School Secondary
- Bowerdean Nursery School Nursery
- Abbey View Primary Academy Primary
- Ash Hill Primary School Primary
- Ash Hill Primary School Primary
- Beechview Academy Primary
- Bledlow Ridge School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Sir William Ramsay School teach?
- Sir William Ramsay School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in High Wycombe.
- Who is the headteacher of Sir William Ramsay School?
- The headteacher of Sir William Ramsay School is Mr Neil Stocking, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Sir William Ramsay School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sir William Ramsay 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 Sir William Ramsay School?
- Sir William Ramsay School has 984 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Sir William Ramsay School full?
- Sir William Ramsay School has capacity for 1,041 pupils and 984 on roll (95%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Sir William Ramsay School a faith school?
- No. Sir William Ramsay School has no designated religious character.
- Is Sir William Ramsay School a selective school?
- No. Sir William Ramsay School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Sir William Ramsay School?
- Sir William Ramsay School is part of INSIGNIS ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Sir William Ramsay School have?
- The schools register lists Sir William Ramsay School's special educational needs provision as: HI - Hearing Impairment; PD - Physical Disability. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How does Sir William Ramsay School rank locally?
- Sir William Ramsay School ranked 35th of 36 secondary schools in Buckinghamshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Sir William Ramsay School's absence rate?
- Sir William Ramsay School's overall absence rate is 11.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sir William Ramsay School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sir William Ramsay 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.