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Stowupland High School

Secondary · Stowmarket · IP14 4BQ

Data updated

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Requires improvement

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: Requires improvementBehaviour & attitudes: Requires improvementPersonal development: Requires improvementLeadership & management: Requires improvementSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 10 January 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

846 pupils · 78% of 1,085 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
28.7% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
4% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
11.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
5.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
Sixth form
Yes
Website
https://www.stowuplandhighschool.co.uk/
URN
151384

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 120 families named it first for 126 Year 7 places, 0.95 first choices per place. We hold 4 Year 7 admissions rounds for it, 2023 to 2026; none was decided by a published distance. Ofsted last graded it Requires improvement on 10 January 2023, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 8% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

0.95 first-choice applications per place

126 places offered · 120 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

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

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

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One free check a month, no account needed. No cutoff distance applied in 2026, so there is no boundary for your address to be inside of. The check shows how far you live from the school and how many rounds running it has placed every applicant. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools that do ration places by distance and whether you are inside them, and the address check across every school at once.

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

GCSE results (2024/2025)

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

Attainment 8 score
41.1
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
59.5%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
39.9%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
3.5
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.

A-level results (2024/2025)

A-level points per entry (England: 35 ≈ B-) D
21.1
England 35

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

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school41.1
Median of its 12 closest peers43.5
Suffolk average43.3
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is behind 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
Peacehaven Community SchoolPeacehaven · 106 miles awayGood40.1
The Dean AcademyLydney · 155 miles awayNeeds attention43.1
Great Torrington SchoolTorrington · 237 miles awayGood39
Sir John Talbot's SchoolWhitchurch · 164 miles awayGood46.8
Bonus Pastor Catholic CollegeBromley · 69 miles awayOutstanding50.7
Harrow Way Community SchoolAndover · 128 miles awayExpected standard44.4
St Thomas More RC CollegeManchester · 157 miles awayGood44
Brixham CollegeBrixham · 232 miles awayNeeds attention36.7
Meols Cop High SchoolSouthport · 194 miles awayExpected standard44.7
West Lakes AcademyEgremont · 245 miles awaySpecial measures40.8
Caistor Yarborough AcademyMarket Rasen · 106 miles awayExpected standard43.8
St Antony's Roman Catholic School, a Voluntary AcademyManchester · 165 miles awayRequires improvement42.4

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

Special educational needs

Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.

Provision type: SEN unit.

SEN unit
23 of 24 places taken nearly full

Unit places come from the school census and describe the position when it was taken, not today. Confirm with the local authority before relying on them.

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 85% (Suffolk 77%, England 59%) · Any other White background 5% (Suffolk 7%, England 7%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Suffolk 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (Suffolk 2%, England 2%) · Not recorded 1% (Suffolk 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Suffolk 1%, England 1%) · Black African 1% (Suffolk 2%, England 5%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Suffolk 1%, England 3%) · other groups together 2%

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)
8%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
20.9%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

52.17 suspensions per 100 pupils and 7 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Suffolk: 30.98 suspensions and 0.34 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
18.2
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

88% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 2% moved to another state school · 10% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% 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)

70.7% of teachers took sickness absence, 14.5 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 £42,710; 10.4% 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£12,644
Typical secondary school£7,846

Where the money went (2024-25)

Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 70% (77%) · premises 17% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 6% (6%) · supplies and services 7% (11%) · educational supplies 7% (6%) · bought-in professional services 0% (1%) · catering 4% (3%)

Reserves (2024-25)

Revenue reserve £430,000; in-year balance -£2,014,000

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

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
4/10more deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
6/10around the middle for England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher24.7%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications21.8%18.1%
In managerial or professional work30.6%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways15.7%18.1%
Residents in very good health43.7%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier73.8%62.3%
Social housing19.1%17.1%
Privately rented7%20.5%
Detached houses34.3%22.9%
Flats8.3%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms19.6%21.1%
Households with no car or van12.7%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01030081 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£285,000110 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£250,000–£397,500the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (46)£409,500
Semi-detached (55)£265,000
Terraced (9)£248,000

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

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
1an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
1an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
5an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
4an 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