Birchwood High School

GCSE results 2024/25

On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the lower half.

Progress 8 2023/24

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry

C+

Average points per entry

32.1

England average 32.3

A level students

79

Pupils

Pupils on roll

1417

Places

1500

How full

94% full — 1417 of 1500 places taken

Girls / boys

647 / 770

Overall absence

10%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent

30%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years

20%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language

13%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan

3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support

10%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training

93%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education

85%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship

4%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form

45%

No sustained destination

6%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort

230

After sixth form

Went to university

47%

England 50%

In education, work or training

93%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship

10%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort

105

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went on to a degree

52%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort

117

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for East Hertfordshire 005C, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree

43%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications

13%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home

89%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing

3%

England 17%

Households with no car

10%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive

41%

England 39.9%

School details

Type

Academy converter

Phase

Secondary

Ages

Ages 11–18

Gender

Mixed

Admissions

Non-selective

Religious character

None

Sixth form

Yes

Nursery

No

Boarding

Day school

Trust

BIRCHWOOD HIGH SCHOOL

Headteacher

Principal: Sam Griffin

Local authority

Hertfordshire

Ward

Bishop's Stortford Parsonage

Constituency

Hertford and Stortford

URN

137637

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.