Alde Valley Academy
Academy sponsor led · 645 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 33.7
Academy converter
Debenham High School
- Pupils on roll
- 714of 625 places
- Free school meals
- 14.0%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 138
- Ofsted
- Good, 2 March 2023Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Debenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled High School (URN 124860, until 1 January 2011).
What the data says
Debenham High School has no sixth form. Of the 135 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 1% moved to a sixth form college, 20% to a further education college and 4% started an apprenticeship.
GCSE results in 2025 were well above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 55.7 against 46.1 across England and 42.8 in Suffolk, with 68% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Art and Design is unusually popular at GCSE: 24% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.
As an 11–16 school, Debenham High School is judged on where pupils go at 16 rather than on A level results.
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Suffolk and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Debenham High School | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 135 | 7,591 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 96% | 93% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 89% | 87% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 64% | 39% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 1% | 5% | 13% |
| — further education college | 20% | 42% | 37% |
| — other education | 4% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 4% | 5% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 0% | 2% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Debenham High School | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 55.7 | 42.8 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 68% | 40% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 85% | 61% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 27% | 27% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.74 | 3.70 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 10% | 25% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 40.7 | 30.8 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 57.4 | 46.7 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 2% | 10% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 137 | 99% | 88% | 28% | 22% | 87% |
| English Language | 137 | 99% | 89% | 26% | 20% | 88% |
| English Literature | 136 | 99% | 86% | 29% | 21% | 91% |
| Religious Studies | 134 | 97% | 31% | 43% | 32% | 87% |
| Combined Science | 111 | 80% | 65% | 14% | 9% | 80% |
| Geography | 70 | 51% | 41% | 50% | 25% | 97% |
| Design and Technology | 47 | 34% | 11% | 6% | 23% | 70% |
| Physical Education | 44 | 32% | 11% | 18% | 24% | 84% |
| History | 42 | 30% | 41% | 43% | 26% | 88% |
| Art and Design | 33 | 24% | 7% | 24% | 24% | 94% |
| Business Studies | 32 | 23% | 18% | 44% | 20% | 97% |
| French | 29 | 21% | 18% | 41% | 29% | 93% |
| Physics | 25 | 18% | 23% | 56% | 46% | 100% |
| Biology | 25 | 18% | 23% | 72% | 45% | 100% |
| Chemistry | 25 | 18% | 23% | 52% | 47% | 100% |
| Spanish | 17 | 12% | 19% | 41% | 27% | 94% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 16 | 12% | 8% | 0% | 21% | 69% |
| Music | 13 | 9% | 5% | 31% | 33% | 85% |
| Computer Science | 13 | 9% | 13% | 15% | 30% | 62% |
| Economics | 10 | 7% | 1% | 80% | 34% | 100% |
| Drama | 9 | 7% | 7% | 11% | 27% | 89% |
| Classical Civilisation | 3 | 2% | 1% | — | 40% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Studies | 9 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 5 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Suffolk
Beccles High School
Free schools · 182 pupils
77% stayed in education · Attainment 8 27.6
Benjamin Britten Academy of Music and Mathematics
Academy sponsor led · 1,263 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.9
Breckland School
Free schools · 615 pupils
81% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.4
Bungay High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 922 pupils
90% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.7
Bury St Edmunds County High School
Academy converter · 657 pupils
93% stayed in education · Attainment 8 49.8
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.