Cardinal Newman Catholic School A Specialist Science College
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,655 pupils
94% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.0
Academy converter
Icknield High School
- Pupils on roll
- 1,452of 1,445 places
- Free school meals
- 27.9%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 281
- Ofsted
- Good, 14 February 2024Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Icknield High School (URN 109711, until 1 December 2011).
What the data says
Icknield High School has no sixth form. Of the 290 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 70% moved to a sixth form college and 17% to a further education college.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 70% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
Photography is unusually popular at GCSE: 28% of the year group took it, against 6% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 49.4 against 46.1 across England and 45.0 in Luton, with 58% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
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 Luton and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Icknield High School | Luton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 290 | 3,003 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 93% | 91% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 92% | 89% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 5% | 13% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 70% | 47% | 13% |
| — further education college | 17% | 27% | 37% |
| — other education | — | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | — | 1% | 3% |
| Employment | — | 1% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 6% | 6% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 1% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Icknield High School | Luton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 49.4 | 45.0 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 58% | 42% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 74% | 63% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 37% | 49% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.41 | 4.05 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 26% | 32% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 42.8 | 38.2 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 51.6 | 48.1 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 50% | 49% | 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 | 280 | 100% | 88% | 30% | 22% | 78% |
| English Language | 280 | 100% | 89% | 22% | 20% | 73% |
| English Literature | 279 | 99% | 86% | 23% | 21% | 81% |
| Combined Science | 248 | 88% | 65% | 10% | 9% | 62% |
| Geography | 150 | 53% | 41% | 20% | 25% | 60% |
| History | 110 | 39% | 41% | 24% | 26% | 66% |
| Graphic Communication | 82 | 29% | 1% | 13% | 23% | 80% |
| Business Studies | 80 | 28% | 18% | 18% | 20% | 68% |
| Photography | 80 | 28% | 6% | 0% | 19% | 74% |
| French | 61 | 22% | 18% | 23% | 29% | 84% |
| Art and Design | 60 | 21% | 7% | 20% | 24% | 80% |
| Religious Studies | 55 | 20% | 31% | 24% | 32% | 73% |
| Design and Technology | 44 | 16% | 11% | 32% | 23% | 82% |
| Textiles | 43 | 15% | 2% | 30% | 27% | 86% |
| Computer Science | 38 | 14% | 13% | 50% | 30% | 92% |
| Physical Education | 37 | 13% | 11% | 3% | 24% | 62% |
| Chemistry | 33 | 12% | 23% | 67% | 47% | 100% |
| Spanish | 33 | 12% | 19% | 18% | 27% | 82% |
| Biology | 32 | 11% | 23% | 66% | 45% | 100% |
| Physics | 32 | 11% | 23% | 63% | 46% | 100% |
| German | 21 | 7% | 5% | 19% | 33% | 95% |
| Arabic | 3 | 1% | 1% | — | 47% | — |
| Italian | 2 | 1% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Urdu | 2 | 1% | 1% | — | 42% | — |
| Polish | 1 | 0% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Bengali | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 35% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Studies | 9 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 1 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Luton
Challney High School for Boys
Academy converter · 1,197 pupils
94% stayed in education · Attainment 8 47.7
Challney High School for Girls
Academy converter · 1,062 pupils
91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.1
Chiltern Academy
Free schools · 1,203 pupils
91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 49.5
Denbigh High School
Academy converter · 1,130 pupils
92% stayed in education · Attainment 8 52.6
Lealands High School
Foundation school · 1,025 pupils
86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.3
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.