Bury St Edmunds County High School

Academy converter·Secondary school Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk·IP32 6RF
Composite score
62.2
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#942
National rank
#95
In East of England
#4
In Suffolk
Top 30%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
49.8
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
53%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
70%
% EBacc grade 5+
32%
EBacc average points score
4.64

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Requires improvement
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes
Sixth form provision
Good

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
67 first choices, 98 places
First choices per place
0.68
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
232
any preference, for 98 places
Applications from another council area
2%
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.09
00.511.5
1 per place
n/a20220.8920230.5420240.7820250.682026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put Bury St Edmunds County High School first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–16
Pupils on roll
739
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
24.6%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
10.0%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
16.1%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
2.2%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
10.8%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
30.5%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
20.4
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£7,972
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
98%
214 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
93%
Apprenticeship
3%
Employment
1%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

School overview

Bury St Edmunds County High School is a secondary school serving Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. It has 739 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll. At its most recent graded inspection, Ofsted rated Bury St Edmunds County High School 'Good'. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 49.8, above the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 3.6 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the top 30% of secondary schools nationally.

53% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, above the national average of about 45%. 70% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Bury St Edmunds County High School was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 67 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 98% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 10.8%. There are about 20.4 pupils per teacher. When comparing schools, it is still worth visiting in person to see whether the atmosphere and approach suit your child. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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