Bury St Edmunds County High School

Bury St Edmunds County High School is performing securely overall. Safeguarding standards are met, and all key areas are judged at least at the expected standard, with personal development and wellbeing judged strong. Leaders have maintained the quality of provision through a period of significant change, including changes to the senior leadership team, and work closely with the Unity Schools Partnership trust. Pupils are happy, feel safe and are well cared for, and behaviour is calm and orderly. The school's notable strengths include a highly effective personal development programme, a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities, strong careers guidance, and good achievement in English and mathematics. Outcomes are broadly in line with national averages, and disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND are well supported. Inclusion systems are effective, and leaders use pupil premium funding well to support academic outcomes and wellbeing. Areas for improvement remain. Attendance for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND is still below national averages, and leaders are continuing work to improve this. Teaching is generally effective, but adaptive teaching is not consistently embedded, and on some occasions misconceptions are not identified quickly enough or adaptations do not fully remove barriers to learning. These points are being addressed through training and coaching.

Strengths

• Personal development and wellbeing provision is strong and has a positive impact on school culture.
• Pupils feel happy, safe and cared for, and bullying or discrimination is not tolerated.
• Pupils behave well, classrooms are calm and purposeful, and disruption is rare.
• The school offers a wide range of inclusive extra-curricular activities, trips and leadership roles.
• Careers guidance is effective and pupils are well prepared for their next steps.
• English and mathematics achievement is a particular strength, with outcomes in line with national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are well supported and achieve well overall.
• Inclusion systems are effective, including support in The Martlet Centre and use of pupil premium funding.
• Leaders and governance have a clear vision, strong monitoring systems and a positive culture.
• Staff wellbeing is prioritised, and professional development is valued and effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND remains below national averages.
• Leaders need to continue work to support regular attendance, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• Adaptive teaching is not consistently embedded across the school.
• On some occasions, teaching does not identify misconceptions quickly enough to help pupils embed their understanding.
• Sometimes teachers do not fully implement adaptations that remove barriers to learning.
• Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8 was below the national average in 2023/24.
• Overall absence and persistent absence were above national averages in 2023/24.

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 Bury St Edmunds County High School attended 90.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.2% 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, 6.9% of pupils at Bury St Edmunds County High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 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 Bury St Edmunds County High School had 18.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.0% 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, 14.3% of pupils at Bury St Edmunds County High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.8% 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 Bury St Edmunds County High School received £9,135 and spent £8,843 for each of its 739 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £225,000 (£305 per pupil).

Across all 39 schools of Unity Schools Partnership, income was £8,494 and spending £8,500 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 Bury St Edmunds · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

Bury St Edmunds County High School is part of Unity Schools Partnership, which runs 40 schools. The nearest others:

• Tollgate Primary School Bury St Edmunds
• Abbots Green Primary Academy Bury St Edmunds
• Sir Peter Hall School Bury St. Edmunds
• Sybil Andrews Academy Bury St. Edmunds
• Wickhambrook Primary Academy Newmarket
• Glemsford Primary Academy Sudbury
• Ditton Lodge Primary School Newmarket
• West Row Academy Bury St. Edmunds
• Newmarket Academy Newmarket
• Houldsworth Valley Primary Academy Newmarket

What is Bury St Edmunds County High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bury St Edmunds County High School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Bury St Edmunds County High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bury St Edmunds County High School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Bury St Edmunds County High School have?

Bury St Edmunds County High School has 657 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bury St Edmunds County High School cover?

Bury St Edmunds County High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Bury St Edmunds County High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.8, and 44% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Bury St Edmunds County High School?

Bury St Edmunds County High School is at Beetons Way, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 6RF.