Alde Valley Academy
Academy sponsor led · 645 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 33.7
Academy converter
Bury St Edmunds County High School
- Pupils on roll
- 657of 1,020 places
- Free school meals
- 26.1%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 168
- Ofsted
- Report card, 19 May 2026Read the Ofsted report
Curriculum and teaching Expected standardAchievement Expected standardAttendance and behaviour Expected standardPersonal development and wellbeing Strong standardInclusion Expected standardLeadership and governance Expected standardPost-16 provision Not applicableSafeguarding Met
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Bury St Edmunds County Upper School (URN 124787, until 1 August 2011).
What the data says
Bury St Edmunds County High School has no sixth form. Of the 214 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 3% moved to a sixth form college, 49% to a further education college and 3% started an apprenticeship.
Drama is unusually popular at GCSE: 21% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 49.8 against 46.1 across England and 42.8 in Suffolk, with 53% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Almost every leaver found a sustained destination: only 1% were not in education, work or training six months on, against 6% nationally.
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 | This school | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 214 | 7,591 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 98% | 93% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 93% | 87% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 40% | 39% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 3% | 5% | 13% |
| — further education college | 49% | 42% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 1% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 1% | 5% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 1% | 2% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | This school | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 49.8 | 42.8 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 53% | 40% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 70% | 61% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 58% | 27% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.64 | 3.70 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 20% | 25% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 37.1 | 30.8 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 52.9 | 46.7 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 6% | 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 | 168 | 100% | 88% | 26% | 22% | 77% |
| English Language | 168 | 100% | 89% | 24% | 20% | 71% |
| English Literature | 164 | 98% | 86% | 27% | 21% | 71% |
| Combined Science | 113 | 67% | 65% | 3% | 9% | 60% |
| Geography | 99 | 59% | 41% | 25% | 25% | 60% |
| History | 94 | 56% | 41% | 39% | 26% | 73% |
| French | 69 | 41% | 18% | 28% | 29% | 72% |
| Physics | 51 | 30% | 23% | 55% | 46% | 100% |
| Biology | 51 | 30% | 23% | 67% | 45% | 100% |
| Chemistry | 51 | 30% | 23% | 53% | 47% | 100% |
| Business Studies | 45 | 27% | 18% | 11% | 20% | 49% |
| Physical Education | 43 | 26% | 11% | 28% | 24% | 65% |
| Computer Science | 41 | 24% | 13% | 20% | 30% | 59% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 38 | 23% | 8% | 8% | 21% | 55% |
| Drama | 35 | 21% | 7% | 23% | 27% | 89% |
| German | 29 | 17% | 5% | 28% | 33% | 97% |
| Fine Art | 23 | 14% | 9% | 17% | 28% | 74% |
| Photography | 23 | 14% | 6% | 17% | 19% | 61% |
| Music | 22 | 13% | 5% | 36% | 33% | 82% |
| Graphic Communication | 21 | 13% | 1% | 14% | 23% | 48% |
| Religious Studies | 15 | 9% | 31% | 20% | 32% | 60% |
| Spanish | 4 | 2% | 19% | — | 27% | — |
| Japanese | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Russian | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 87% | — |
| Polish | 1 | 1% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Business Management | 23 | — | — |
| Sports / Movement Science | 9 | — | — |
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
Castle Manor Academy
Academy converter · 760 pupils
88% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.3
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.