Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College

Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College has recently undergone its first routine inspection since becoming an academy. Overall, the school is judged to be performing well with good ratings across all domains, including the quality of education and leadership. The school fosters a supportive and respectful community where students feel safe and valued, leading to strong academic outcomes. Leaders are effectively working to ensure the curriculum meets the diverse needs of all students, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). However, there is still work to be done in certain areas to enhance the assessment strategies for tracking student progress and improving reading support for some pupils.

Strengths

• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and deliver the curriculum effectively.
• Pupils and students achieve well and progress to positive destinations.
• The atmosphere in the school is calm and productive, with minimal disruption to learning.
• Leaders prioritize reading and provide effective training for teachers.
• A wide range of extra-curricular activities are available to students.
• There is a strong commitment to personal development and citizenship education.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment strategies are not sufficiently well developed in a small number of key stage 3 subjects.
• Some pupils are not catching up with their reading as quickly as they should.

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 Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 10.7% 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, 2.0% of pupils at Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College had 14.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.5% 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, 5.9% of pupils at Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.8% 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 2024–25 Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College received £7,275 and spent £7,520 for each of its 1,358 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £725,000 (£534 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Sandbach · Cheshire East local authority: places and applications

What is Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College is Good, from an inspection in November 2022.

When was Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College last inspected by Ofsted?

Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College was last inspected in November 2022.

How many pupils does Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College have?

Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College has 1,340 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College cover?

Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 54.3, and 62% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College?

Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College is at Middlewich Road, Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11 3NT.