Ixworth High School

Ixworth High School is a happy, inclusive school where pupils are proud and feel safe and cared for. Historically, published outcomes were weak, but recent leadership changes and the school’s join with Sapientia Education Trust have created a renewed sense of ambition and confidence. Pupils now work hard, behave well and are learning successfully in calm, purposeful classrooms. The school has overhauled its curriculum, made reading a high priority and ensured specialist teachers provide clear explanations and check understanding. Attendance has improved, pupils value enrichment and leadership opportunities, and careers and personal development provision are strong. Pupils with SEND, including those in The Forge specialist provision, are generally well supported and included in school life. Safeguarding is effective. Inspectors identified two main areas for improvement. In some subjects, feedback is not precise enough to help pupils improve their work consistently. Occasionally, adaptations for pupils with SEND are not effective enough, meaning some pupils do not secure new knowledge as well as they could. The school joined the trust in September 2024, the headteacher took up post in April 2024, and this was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strengths

• A renewed culture of ambition has improved pupils’ confidence, effort and quality of work.
• Pupils behave well and classrooms are calm and purposeful.
• The curriculum has been overhauled with clear sequencing and a strong focus on reading.
• Specialist teachers give rich explanations and check understanding, helping pupils close gaps.
• Attendance has improved through strong intervention and support.
• Pupils benefit from enrichment sessions, leadership roles and a rich careers programme.
• Personal, social, health and economic education develops values such as tolerance and respect.
• Pupils with SEND, including those at The Forge, are generally well supported and included.
• Leadership has secured significant improvement and staff feel supported and involved.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Feedback in some subjects lacks precision, limiting pupils’ depth of understanding.
• Teaching adaptations for pupils with SEND are not consistently effective, so some do not secure new knowledge as well as they could.

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 Ixworth High School attended 90.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 28.2% 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, 14.8% of pupils at Ixworth High 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 Ixworth High School had 14.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.4% 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, 18.2% of pupils at Ixworth High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 9.6% 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 Ixworth High School received £8,410 and spent £7,874 for each of its 548 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £273,000 (£499 per pupil).

Across all 23 schools of Sapientia Education Trust, income was £8,533 and spending £8,510 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.

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All schools in West Suffolk · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

Ixworth High School is part of Sapientia Education Trust, which runs 23 schools. The nearest others:

• Great Hockham Primary School and Nursery Thetford
• Burston Community Primary School Diss
• Old Buckenham Primary School Attleborough
• Old Buckenham High School Attleborough
• Rosecroft Primary School Attleborough
• Attleborough Academy Attleborough
• Attleborough Primary School Attleborough
• Tivetshall Community Primary School Norwich
• Stradbroke High School Eye
• Wymondham College Wymondham

What is Ixworth High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ixworth High School is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Ixworth High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ixworth High School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Ixworth High School have?

Ixworth High School has 512 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ixworth High School cover?

Ixworth High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Ixworth High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.7, and 32% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Ixworth High School?

Ixworth High School is at Walsham Road, Ixworth, Suffolk, IP31 2HS.