Stowmarket High School

Stowmarket High School is a secondary academy in the Kingfisher Schools Trust. Inspectors found a happy, caring school where pupils are respectful, lessons are calm and behaviour is not a concern. The school has high expectations and clear routines, and pupils benefit from a broad personal development programme, strong careers education and many clubs and trips. Safeguarding is effective. The school has improved rapidly since its previous inspection, when it was judged to require improvement. Leadership is a particular strength: leaders have redesigned the curriculum, provided high-quality staff training and managed workload well, and parents recognise the changes. Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and achieve well, and reading support helps pupils become fluent readers. This was a graded inspection, and under current arrangements the school is not given an overall effectiveness grade. There are still areas to improve. On occasion, key knowledge is not taught precisely enough, so some pupils do not achieve as well as they could or build deep understanding. Some pupils also face barriers to taking up the school’s clubs, trips and visits, which limits their access to the full wider experience on offer.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, well cared for and respectful, with strong relationships.
• High expectations of behaviour create calm lessons and a pleasant school atmosphere.
• A redesigned curriculum and high-quality training help teachers explain learning clearly and check understanding.
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported well, achieving from their starting points.
• Reading is central to lessons, with explicit vocabulary teaching and effective support for weaker readers.
• Comprehensive personal development, careers education and a wide range of clubs and trips prepare pupils well.
• Leaders have driven rapid improvement, considered staff workload and wellbeing, and gained parent confidence.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Key knowledge is sometimes not taught precisely enough, so some pupils do not achieve as well as they could.
• Some pupils face barriers to taking part in clubs, trips and visits, limiting their breadth of experience.

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 Stowmarket High School attended 92.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 21.4% 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, 8.1% of pupils at Stowmarket 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 Stowmarket High School had 15.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.0% 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 Stowmarket High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.8% 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 Stowmarket High School received £7,701 and spent £7,158 for each of its 898 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £290,000 (£323 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Kingfisher Schools Trust, income was £7,914 and spending £8,139 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 Stowmarket · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

Stowmarket High School is part of Kingfisher Schools Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Snape Primary School Saxmundham
• Alde Valley Academy Leiston
• Sir John Leman High School Beccles
• Roman Hill Primary School Lowestoft
• Southtown Primary School Great Yarmouth
• Northgate Primary School Great Yarmouth

What is Stowmarket High School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Stowmarket High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Stowmarket High School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Stowmarket High School have?

Stowmarket High School has 901 pupils on roll.

What age range does Stowmarket High School cover?

Stowmarket High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Stowmarket High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 42.5, and 38% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Stowmarket High School?

Stowmarket High School is at Onehouse Road, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 1QR.