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The Ashcombe School

Secondary Ages 11-18 1,533 pupils Dorking
All schools in Dorking

The Ashcombe School is an academy converter in Dorking for pupils aged 11 to 18. It has 1,533 pupils on roll. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 55.2, and 61% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

GCSE results: 2026. A-level results: 2025.

Type Secondary / Academy converter
Age Range 11-18
Religion Does not apply
Address Ashcombe Road
Dorking
Surrey
RH4 1LY
Phone 01306886312
Reference Number 143901

General Makeup

Number of pupils 1533
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 53.75%
Girls: 46.25%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 11.9%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 7%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 21.7

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 126 114 240
8 126 112 238
9 130 109 239
10 120 118 238
11 123 110 233
12 108 78 186
13 91 68 159

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 77.9%
White, Other 10.4%
White & Asian 2.5%
Mixed, Other 2.5%
White & Black (African) 1%
Unclassified 0.8%
Indian 0.7%
African 0.7%
Asian, Other 0.7%
White & Black (Caribbean) 0.6%
Irish 0.3%
Chinese 0.2%
Pakistani 0.2%
Caribbean 0.1%

Overall Ofsted Rating
Last Report Date 22 May 2024 – no overall grade published for this inspection
Date Report
22 May 2024 School inspection
08 Jan 2019 Short inspection
06 Jan 2017 Academy conversion letter
28 Jan 2015 Full inspection:
Previously as The Ashcombe School
10 Nov 2010 Full inspection:
06 Nov 2008 Curriculum and development visit
13 Feb 2008 Full inspection:
27 Feb 2007 Curriculum and development visit
18 Oct 2004 Full inspection

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

  • English
  • Maths
  • 3 subjects from qualifications that count towards the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), like sciences, language and history
  • 3 more GCSE qualifications (including EBacc subjects) or technical awards from a list approved by the Department for Education

Each grade a pupil gets is assigned a point score from 9 (the highest) to 1 (the lowest). These scores are added up, with English and maths counted twice.

School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
55.2

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 61.4%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 75.1%

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

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GCSE Results

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Grades

School Local Nationwide
Average Grade B- B C+
Average Grade (best 3) C+ B C+
Percentage Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Students getting AAB or better 15.6%
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Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 174 8
Third Preference 124 0
From another Local Authority 1 0

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 The Ashcombe School had 1,508 pupils for 1,476 places. That is 32 more pupils than the school has room for.

Pupils and places

Year 7 intake in the “Dorking Secondary” planning area

Surrey counted 392 Year 7 pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 350 in 2031–32, down 11%.

20172018201920212022202320242025
Places 1,4781,4781,4781,4901,4901,4901,4901,476
Pupils 1,4151,3931,3991,4641,4681,4721,4941,508
Unfilled 4.3%5.8%5.3%1.7%1.5%1.2%0.0%0.0%

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 The Ashcombe School attended 92.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 17.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

2018201920212022202320242025
Authorised absence 5.6%5.1%4.0%6.8%6.0%5.9%5.1%
Unauthorised absence 1.4%1.6%1.1%1.5%2.4%2.2%2.1%
Severely absent pupils 1.2%1.3%1.2%1.6%3.1%3.1%3.1%

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, 3.4% of pupils at The Ashcombe School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

20182019202020212022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 13.59.84.94.87.36.14.05.9
Permanent exclusions 00000000

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 The Ashcombe School had 16.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

201820192020202120222023202420252026
Pupils per adult 13.112.212.312.511.911.811.513.214.1
Teachers who left state teaching 3.3%7.0%9.6%6.5%8.0%5.6%10.1%7.1%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 63.6%64.0%–59.5%87.0%70.0%66.7%60.8%–
Sick days per teacher 3.23.1–4.56.63.54.15.5–

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, 18.7% of pupils at The Ashcombe School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.1% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Specific learning difficulty 87 7
Social, emotional and mental health 76 12
Autistic spectrum disorder 54 14
Speech, language and communication needs 25 7
Moderate learning difficulty 26 4
No specialist assessment of need 7 0
Other difficulty or disability 5 1
Hearing impairment 3 0
Physical disability 1 2
Vision impairment 2 0
Multi-sensory impairment 0 1

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 The Ashcombe School received £7,896 and spent £7,137 for each of its 1,513 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £624,000 (£412 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of South East Surrey Schools Education Trust, income was £8,878 and spending £7,651 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue reserve £585,000£493,000£628,000£670,000£700,000£680,000£624,000
per pupil £419£343£428£454£474£454£412
In-year balance £498,000£611,000-£74,000-£139,000£538,000£120,000£1,149,000
per pupil £357£425-£50-£94£364£80£760

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.

Name Distance
St Martin's CofE Primary School
Ranmore Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 1HW
0.41 miles
Dorking Nursery School
West Street, Dorking, RH4 1BY
0.6 miles
St Paul's CofE Primary School
St Paul's Road West, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 2HS
0.73 miles
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
Norfolk Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3JA
0.75 miles
Powell Corderoy Primary School
Longfield Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3DF
1.11 miles
St John's Church of England Primary School
Goodwyns Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 2LR
1.53 miles
Surrey Hills All Saints Primary School
School Lane, Westcott, Dorking, RH4 3QF
1.66 miles
North Downs Primary School
Wheelers Lane, Brockham, Betchworth, Surrey, RH3 7LA
2.04 miles
Polesden Lacey Infant Academy
Oakdene Close, Great Bookham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT23 4PT
2.82 miles
Great Bookham School
Griffin Way, Great Bookham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT23 4JJ
3.37 miles
Eastwick Infant School
Eastwick Drive, Great Bookham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT23 3PP
3.6 miles
Eastwick Junior School
Eastwick Drive, Great Bookham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT23 3PP
3.6 miles
Manor House School
Manor House Lane, Leatherhead, KT23 4EN
3.61 miles
Oakfield Junior School
Bell Lane, Fetcham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 9ND
3.76 miles
Fetcham Village Infant School
School Lane, Fetcham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 9JU
3.8 miles
St Lawrence Primary School
Lower Road, Effingham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT24 5JP
3.86 miles
Little Downsend Leatherhead
13 Epsom Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 8ST
4.14 miles
Leatherhead Trinity School and Nursery
Woodvill Road, Leatherhead Trinity School and Nursery, Woodvill Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 7BP
4.32 miles
St Peter's Catholic Primary School
Grange Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 7JN
4.45 miles
The Weald CofE Primary School
Newdigate Road, Beare Green, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 4QW
4.48 miles
Name Distance
The Priory Church of England School
West Bank, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3DG
0.96 miles
Unified Academy
Chart Lane South, Dorking, RH5 4DB
1.24 miles
RGS Surrey Hills
London Road, Dorking, RH5 6EA
2.09 miles
St Teresa's School
Effingham Hill, Dorking, RH5 6ST
3 miles
Papillon House
Pebble Close, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 7PA
3.28 miles
Howard of Effingham School
Lower Road, Effingham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT24 5JR
3.72 miles
Aurora Poppyfield School
Lower Road, Effingham, KT24 5JP
3.8 miles
Woodlands School
Fortyfoot Road, Leatherhead, KT22 8RY
3.88 miles
St John's School
Epsom Road, Leatherhead, KT22 8SP
4.06 miles
Downsend School
1 Leatherhead Road, Leatherhead, KT22 8TJ
4.28 miles
St Andrew's Catholic School
Grange Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 7JP
4.42 miles
Bramley Hill School
Chequers Lane, Walton on the Hill, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 7ST
4.46 miles
Moon Hall School, Reigate
Flanchford Road, Leigh, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 8RE
4.57 miles
Therfield School
Dilston Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 7NZ
4.64 miles
Merrywood House Independent Special School
The Old Pheasantry, Merrywood Grove, Tadworth, Surrey, Surrey, KT20 7HF
4.73 miles
Leith Hill School
Pasture Wood Road, Holmbury St Mary, Surrey, RH5 6LQ
4.76 miles
Fox Grove School
Kingston Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 7PW
4.89 miles

All schools in Dorking · Surrey local authority: places and applications

The Ashcombe School is part of South East Surrey Schools Education Trust, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

How many pupils does The Ashcombe School have?

The Ashcombe School has 1,533 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Ashcombe School cover?

The Ashcombe School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are The Ashcombe School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 55.2, and 61% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Ashcombe School?

The Ashcombe School is at Ashcombe Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 1LY.

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