Vandyke Upper School

Vandyke Upper School continues to demonstrate a good standard of education, reflecting its clear ambition for students to become 'world ready citizens'. Pupils display pride in their school, engage actively in a broad curriculum, and achieve well across all measures, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school environment is positive, with a focus on character development, safety, and community involvement that contributes to both personal and academic growth. The inspection recognized effective leadership and careful planning to maintain high educational standards, especially in preparing students for their next educational steps or careers.

Strengths

• Pupils are articulate ambassadors for their school and behave well.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, meeting pupils’ needs effectively.
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and use assessment well.
• A significant proportion of pupils participate in extracurricular activities, including the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
• The school provides effective support for students with SEND, ensuring they achieve well.
• Pupils receive skilled support to improve their reading and literacy skills.
• The school has a highly effective approach to careers education.

Areas for Improvement

• Some teachers have not effectively planned the teaching of difficult concepts, which impacts some pupils' understanding.

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 Vandyke Upper School attended 92.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 20.7% 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, 5.8% of pupils at Vandyke Upper School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 7 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 Vandyke Upper School had 15.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.8% 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, 11.9% of pupils at Vandyke Upper School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.6% 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 Vandyke Upper School received £7,920 and spent £7,386 for each of its 1,507 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,464,000 (£1,635 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
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All schools in Leighton Buzzard · Central Bedfordshire local authority: places and applications

What is Vandyke Upper School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Vandyke Upper School is Good, from an inspection in March 2024.

When was Vandyke Upper School last inspected by Ofsted?

Vandyke Upper School was last inspected in March 2024.

How many pupils does Vandyke Upper School have?

Vandyke Upper School has 1,517 pupils on roll.

What age range does Vandyke Upper School cover?

Vandyke Upper School for pupils aged 13 to 18.

Where is Vandyke Upper School?

Vandyke Upper School is at Vandyke Road, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, LU7 3DY.