Old Buckenham High School

Secondary Ages 11-16 501 pupils Attleborough
All schools in Attleborough

Old Buckenham High School is an academy converter in Attleborough for pupils aged 11 to 16. It has 501 pupils on roll. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.2, and 38% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

GCSE results: 2026.

Type Secondary / Academy converter
Age Range 11-16
Religion Does not apply
Address Abbey Road
Old Buckenham
Attleborough
Norfolk
NR17 1RL
Phone 01953860233
Reference Number 146144

General Makeup

Number of pupils 501
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 47.7%
Girls: 52.3%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 26%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 6%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 24.2

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 40 49 89
8 52 62 114
9 48 42 90
10 52 47 99
11 47 62 109

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 88.8%
White, Other 4.6%
White & Asian 1.6%
White & Black (African) 0.8%
Mixed, Other 0.8%
White & Black (Caribbean) 0.6%
Indian 0.6%
Asian, Other 0.6%
Unclassified 0.4%
Pakistani 0.2%

Overall Ofsted Rating
Last Report Date 28 Mar 2023 – no overall grade published for this inspection
Date Report
28 Mar 2023 School inspection
12 Sep 2018 Academy conversion letter
07 Oct 2015 Full inspection:
Previously as Old Buckenham High School
21 Mar 2014 Monitoring visit
09 Oct 2013 Full inspection:
23 May 2011 Full inspection:
14 May 2008 Full inspection:
07 Feb 2005 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)
45.2

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 37.6%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 59.6%

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:

Sample

Unlock

GCSE Results

Sample

Unlock
Unlock Premium

See how Old Buckenham High School ranks locally and nationally. Percentile rankings against every other school, historic result charts, admissions data and post-GCSE destinations are all included.

£9.99 one-off payment. Lifetime access, no subscription.

Unlock for £9.99

Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 49 3
Third Preference 30 2
From another Local Authority 1 0

Previous years

Sample

Unlock

Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 Old Buckenham High School had 490 pupils for 575 places. 85 places (14.8%) were unfilled.

Pupils and places

Year 7 intake in the “A11 South Secondary Phase” planning area

Norfolk counted 263 Year 7 pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 244 in 2031–32, down 7%.

201920212022202320242025
Places 700575575575575575
Pupils 545526504509495490
Unfilled 22.1%8.5%12.3%11.5%13.9%14.8%

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 Old Buckenham High School attended 91.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 25.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

201920212022202320242025
Authorised absence 5.6%4.7%7.6%7.4%7.3%6.7%
Unauthorised absence 1.4%1.0%1.4%1.7%1.6%1.6%
Severely absent pupils 3.0%1.8%4.3%4.3%3.6%2.7%

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, 8.7% of pupils at Old Buckenham High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

2019202020212022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 9.77.412.910.212.114.626.8
Permanent exclusions 2011032

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 Old Buckenham High School had 19.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

20192020202120222023202420252026
Pupils per adult 11.512.611.811.912.712.211.812.8
Teachers who left state teaching 20.4%14.4%10.9%26.2%10.4%9.4%16.3%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 80.0%–75.0%77.1%75.7%76.7%80.6%–
Sick days per teacher 4.1–3.95.73.45.66.9–

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, 16.2% of pupils at Old Buckenham High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Social, emotional and mental health 24 5
Moderate learning difficulty 17 1
Specific learning difficulty 15 3
Speech, language and communication needs 14 3
Autistic spectrum disorder 7 5
Hearing impairment 2 1
Physical disability 1 1
Vision impairment 1 1
Multi-sensory impairment 0 1
Other difficulty or disability 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 Old Buckenham High School received £7,894 and spent £7,875 for each of its 498 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £248,000 (£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

2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue reserve £106,000£88,000-£14,000£221,000£215,000£241,000£248,000
per pupil £192£160-£26£442£426£491£499
In-year balance -£208,000-£226,000£8,000£220,000-£174,000-£71,000£10,000
per pupil -£378-£409£15£440-£344-£144£19

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
Old Buckenham Primary School
Abbey Road, Old Buckenham, Attleborough, Norfolk, NR17 1RH
0.14 miles
Banham Primary School
Crown Street, Banham, Norwich, Norfolk, NR16 2EX
2.32 miles
Attleborough Primary School
Besthorpe Road, Attleborough, Norfolk, NR17 2NA
2.54 miles
Rosecroft Primary School
London Road, Attleborough, Norfolk, NR17 1BE
2.57 miles
Carleton Rode Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School
Church Road, Carleton Rode, Norwich, Norfolk, NR16 1RW
2.96 miles
Bunwell Primary School
The Turnpike, Bunwell, Norwich, Norfolk, NR16 1SN
3.63 miles
Spooner Row Primary School
Station Road, Spooner Row, Wymondham, Norfolk, NR18 9JR
3.94 miles
Kenninghall Primary School
School Close, Kenninghall, Norfolk, NR16 2EJ
4.16 miles
Wymondham College Prep School
Golf Links Road, Morley, Wymondham, Norfolk, NR18 9SZ
4.22 miles
All Saints Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Winfarthing
Mill Road, Winfarthing, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 2DZ
4.62 miles
Great Ellingham Primary School
Hingham Road, Great Ellingham, Attleborough, Norfolk, NR17 1HX
4.66 miles
Morley Church of England Primary Academy
Deopham Road, Morley St. Botolph, Wymondham, Norfolk, NR18 9TS
4.93 miles
Name Distance
Chapel Green School
Attleborough Road, Old Buckenham, Norfolk, NR17 1RF
0.1 miles
Acorn Park School
Andrews Furlong, Mill Road, Banham, Norwich, Norfolk, NR16 2HU
1.98 miles
Attleborough Academy
9 Norwich Road, Attleborough, Norfolk, NR17 2AJ
2.64 miles
Aurora Eccles School
Quidenham, Norwich, NR16 2NZ
3.34 miles
Aurora White House School
Quidenham, Norwich, Norfolk, NR16 2NZ
3.34 miles
Wymondham College
Golf Links Road, Morley, Wymondham, Norfolk, NR18 9SZ
4.22 miles

All schools in Attleborough · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

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

How many pupils does Old Buckenham High School have?

Old Buckenham High School has 501 pupils on roll.

What age range does Old Buckenham High School cover?

Old Buckenham High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Old Buckenham High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.2, and 38% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Old Buckenham High School?

Old Buckenham High School is at Abbey Road, Old Buckenham, Attleborough, Norfolk, NR17 1RL.

Filters

Basics

Age Range

Special Schools

Independent Schools

Faith Schools

Key Stage 2 Attainment

Students Meeting expected standard

Unlock Premium to filter by results - £9.99 one-off, lifetime access.

Unlock for £9.99

Students Meeting higher standard

Unlock Premium to filter by results - £9.99 one-off, lifetime access.

Unlock for £9.99

GCSE Attainment

Attainment 8 score percentile

Unlock Premium to filter by results - £9.99 one-off, lifetime access.

Unlock for £9.99

Students getting 5 or more GCSE's at grade 9-4 (A-C)

Unlock Premium to filter by results - £9.99 one-off, lifetime access.

Unlock for £9.99
There are too many schools to show on the map at one time.
Please either zoom in or adjust the filters to reduce the number of schools.