Diss High School

Diss High School continues to perform well, maintaining its status as a good school during its recent inspection. The school prides itself on being inclusive, with a happy and safe environment where pupils are well-behaved and engage positively with their learning. The leadership, which is relatively new following the school's recent joining of the Enrich Learning Trust, has quickly identified key areas for improvement, particularly focusing on enhancing attendance and behavior along with teaching effectiveness. The school offers an ambitious curriculum that is well-structured, enabling most pupils to achieve good outcomes.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, safe, and feel supported.
• Strong behavior management leads to minimal disruption in lessons.
• High expectations for attendance and conduct are effectively promoted.
• Effective teaching practices across the curriculum, including for weaker readers.
• Wide range of extracurricular activities enrich pupils' experiences.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils with SEND do not receive the precise help they need to access the curriculum.

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 Diss High School attended 90.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 24.6% 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, 7.5% of pupils at Diss 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 Diss High School had 14.9 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, 14.1% of pupils at Diss High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.1% 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 Diss High School received £7,253 and spent £7,787 for each of its 919 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £890,000 (£968 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Enrich Learning Trust, income was £7,395 and spending £7,499 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 Diss · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

Diss High School is part of Enrich Learning Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Kenninghall Primary School
• Long Stratton High School Norwich
• Spooner Row Primary School Wymondham
• Wymondham High Academy Wymondham
• Taverham High School Norwich
• Dereham Neatherd High School Dereham
• Millfield Primary School North Walsham
• North Walsham High School North Walsham

What is Diss High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Diss High School is Good, from an inspection in May 2024.

When was Diss High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Diss High School was last inspected in May 2024.

How many pupils does Diss High School have?

Diss High School has 877 pupils on roll.

What age range does Diss High School cover?

Diss High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Diss High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 43.0, and 36% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Diss High School?

Diss High School is at Walcot Road, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 4DH.