Cressex Community School

Cressex Community School is performing well overall, maintaining its status as a good school. The school is highly valued by both pupils and families, who appreciate the initiatives taken by staff to enhance student outcomes. With a diverse community, pupils take pride in their school environment, and their behaviour is commendable. The leadership team is ambitious and has focused on developing strong and well-organized curriculums across most subjects, inspiring pupils through notable role models in their learning. Despite overall strengths, the school has identified areas for improvement in subjects where the curriculum develops more slowly and has taken proactive measures to improve the uptake of modern foreign languages in GCSE courses to enhance the educational experience further.

Strengths

• Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and are ambitious for their futures.
• The school effectively supports the most disadvantaged pupils, leading to good outcomes.
• Calm and focused lessons are complemented by targeted questioning from teachers.
• Pupils enjoy the diverse and multicultural environment of the school.
• Strong emphasis on reading and oracy across all curriculum areas.
• A small sixth form provides targeted support that positively impacts student confidence and ambition.
• Effective arrangements for safeguarding are in place.

Areas for Improvement

• Too few pupils study a modern foreign language at GCSE.
• Some subjects have not fully developed their curriculums, affecting knowledge retention over time.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Cressex Community School attended 92.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 21.0% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 3.5% of pupils at Cressex Community School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Cressex Community School had 16.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 16.2% of pupils at Cressex Community School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Cressex Community School received £8,854 and spent £9,189 for each of its 766 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £308,000 (£402 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in High Wycombe · Buckinghamshire local authority: places and applications

What is Cressex Community School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cressex Community School is Good, from an inspection in April 2024.

When was Cressex Community School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cressex Community School was last inspected in April 2024.

How many pupils does Cressex Community School have?

Cressex Community School has 766 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cressex Community School cover?

Cressex Community School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Cressex Community School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.3, and 42% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Cressex Community School?

Cressex Community School is at Holmers Lane, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP12 4QA.