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Challney High School for Girls

Secondary · Luton · LU4 9FJ

Data updated

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Outstanding

Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system

This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.

Quality of education: OutstandingBehaviour & attitudes: OutstandingPersonal development: OutstandingLeadership & management: OutstandingSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 14 January 2020

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

1,062 pupils · 100% of 1,064 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
11–16
Gender
Girls
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
32% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
79.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
11% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
2% of pupils (2024/2025)
Website
http://www.challneygirls.luton.sch.uk
URN
144312

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 233 families named it first for 219 Year 7 places, 1.06 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 0.768 miles; distance decided places in 1 of the 2 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2021 to 2026. Ofsted last graded it Outstanding on 14 January 2020, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 6.1% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

1.06 first-choice applications per place

219 places offered · 233 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Places by distance, last offered at 0.768 miles for 2026 entry.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 0.768 miles

measured in a straight line.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

GCSE results (2024/2025)

206 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025

Attainment 8 score
50.1
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
72.3%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
47.6%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
4.2
England 4.1

Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school50.1
Median of its 12 closest peers46.8
Luton average45.6
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is ahead of the schools that teach a comparable intake.

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Rosedale CollegeHayes · 26 miles awayGood46.2
Harrow High SchoolHarrow · 23 miles awayGood47.4
Grove AcademySlough · 28 miles awayNeeds attention41.1
Soar Valley CollegeLeicester · 59 miles awayOutstanding51.5
Crown Hills Community CollegeLeicester · 57 miles awayOutstanding47.4
Park High SchoolStanmore · 22 miles awayGood48.9
Sir John Thursby Community CollegeBurnley · 151 miles awayGood41
Isleworth and Syon School for BoysIsleworth · 29 miles awayGood43.1
Nottingham Girls' AcademyNottingham · 80 miles awayOutstanding47.7
Villiers High SchoolSouthall · 27 miles awayOutstanding (2019)46.3
Lampton AcademyHounslow · 29 miles awayOutstanding52.5
Lift KingsleyHounslow · 30 miles awayGood45.1

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

Asian Pakistani 59% (Luton 25%, England 5%) · Any other Asian background 16% (Luton 7%, England 3%) · Asian Bangladeshi 11% (Luton 12%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 3% (Luton 3%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 3% (Luton 4%, England 4%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Luton 2%, England 3%) · Black African 1% (Luton 9%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Asian 1% (Luton 2%, England 2%) · Any other White background 1% (Luton 11%, England 7%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Luton 1%, England 1%) · Not recorded 1% (Luton 1%, England 2%) · other groups together 1%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
6.1%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
13.9%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

8.60 suspensions per 100 pupils and 1 permanent exclusion · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Luton: 13.99 suspensions and 0.31 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
20.1
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

78% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 8% moved to another state school · 14% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

1.86% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

81.7% of teachers took sickness absence, 7.6 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £51,733; 16.7% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2024-25)

This school£8,108
Typical secondary school£7,846

Where the money went (2024-25)

Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 71% (77%) · premises 14% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 4% (6%) · supplies and services 12% (11%) · educational supplies 2% (6%) · bought-in professional services 1% (1%) · catering 2% (3%)

Reserves (2024-25)

Revenue reserve £0; in-year balance +£74,000

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
93%
Continuing in education
91%
Apprenticeship
2%
Employment

suppressed (small cohort)

Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
4/10more deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
3/10more deprived than most of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher31.4%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications24.5%18.1%
In managerial or professional work21.4%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways26.9%18.1%
Residents in very good health46.3%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier40.6%62.3%
Social housing32.3%17.1%
Privately rented27.1%20.5%
Detached houses7.4%22.9%
Flats12.1%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms17.6%21.1%
Households with no car or van19.2%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01015716 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£330,000339 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£280,000–£370,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (58)£382,500
Semi-detached (183)£335,000
Terraced (78)£286,000
Flat (20)£158,500

Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Year 7 cutoff distance (1.24 km, 2026 entry): 518 sales, median £318,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
0an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
7an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
39an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
8an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools