Alde Valley Academy
Academy sponsor led · 645 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 33.7
Academy sponsor led
Stowmarket High School
- Pupils on roll
- 901of 1,200 places
- Free school meals
- 20.5%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 178
- Ofsted
- Inspected, 10 June 2025Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Stowmarket High School (URN 124818, until 18 July 2017).
What the data says
Stowmarket High School has no sixth form. Of the 148 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 51% to a further education college and 6% started an apprenticeship.
GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 40.5 against 46.1 across England and 42.8 in Suffolk, with 35% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Fine Art is unusually popular at GCSE: 20% of the year group took it, against 9% of pupils across England.
As an 11–16 school, Stowmarket 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 | Stowmarket High School | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 148 | 7,591 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 92% | 93% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 81% | 87% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 29% | 39% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | 5% | 13% |
| — further education college | 51% | 42% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 5% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 5% | 5% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 3% | 2% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Stowmarket High School | Suffolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 40.5 | 42.8 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 35% | 40% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 61% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 35% | 27% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.52 | 3.70 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 23% | 25% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 30.1 | 30.8 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 43.5 | 46.7 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 8% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 175 | 98% | 89% | 6% | 20% | 63% |
| Mathematics | 175 | 98% | 88% | 11% | 22% | 70% |
| English Literature | 173 | 97% | 86% | 10% | 21% | 65% |
| Combined Science | 156 | 88% | 65% | 5% | 9% | 49% |
| Geography | 101 | 57% | 41% | 8% | 25% | 55% |
| History | 85 | 48% | 41% | 14% | 26% | 49% |
| French | 50 | 28% | 18% | 2% | 29% | 60% |
| Business Studies | 38 | 21% | 18% | 11% | 20% | 58% |
| Design and Technology | 38 | 21% | 11% | 24% | 23% | 74% |
| Fine Art | 36 | 20% | 9% | 14% | 28% | 69% |
| Photography | 34 | 19% | 6% | 32% | 19% | 94% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 30 | 17% | 8% | 10% | 21% | 40% |
| Physical Education | 24 | 13% | 11% | 25% | 24% | 75% |
| Computer Science | 22 | 12% | 13% | 0% | 30% | 36% |
| Textiles | 19 | 11% | 2% | 5% | 27% | 37% |
| Chemistry | 12 | 7% | 23% | 17% | 47% | 83% |
| Physics | 12 | 7% | 23% | 25% | 46% | 92% |
| Biology | 12 | 7% | 23% | 17% | 45% | 92% |
| German | 12 | 7% | 5% | 8% | 33% | 83% |
| Russian | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 87% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Childcare Skills | 21 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 20 | — | — |
| Sports Coaching | 20 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 20 | — | — |
| Music performance: Group | 17 | — | — |
| Engineering Studies | 17 | — | — |
| Graphic Design | 15 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 14 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 13 | — | — |
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.