SF School Facts UK

Boys selective secondary school in Amersham, Buckinghamshire

Dr Challoner's Grammar School

Chesham Road, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP6 5HA

Selective Sixth form Boys Full
School website 01494787500

Ofsted

Standards maintained at the last ungraded inspection, on 6 November 2024.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

73.9 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

96% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

98% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

7.1 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

87% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the top 5% of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the top 10%.

Progress 8 2023/24

1.18confidence interval 0.95 to 1.41

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well above average.

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
A-
Average points per entry
47.4

England average 32.3

A level students
220

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1384
Places
1356
How full
Full — 1384 pupils against 1356 places
Girls / boys
98 / 1286
Overall absence
5%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
14%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
3%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
17%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
1%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
14%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
99%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
99%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
0%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
93%
No sustained destination
1%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
184

After sixth form

Went to university
80%

England 50%

In education, work or training
94%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
2%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
216

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

77% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
93%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
220

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 Buckinghamshire 032D, 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
62%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
8%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
71%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
4%

England 17%

Households with no car
16%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
39%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Boys
Admissions
Selective (entrance test)
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
DR CHALLONER'S GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Headteacher
Headteacher: David Atkinson
Local authority
Buckinghamshire
Ward
Amersham & Chesham Bois
Constituency
Chesham and Amersham
URN
136419

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Amersham SchoolAcademy converter No grade 49.7 0.9 mi
Dr Challoner's High SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 79.1 1.8 mi
Chesham Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 74 2.3 mi
Chiltern Hills AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 40.3 2.3 mi
Holmer Green Senior SchoolAcademy converter No grade 47.1 3.8 mi
St Clement Danes SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 65.1 4.2 mi
The Misbourne SchoolAcademy converter No grade 50.8 4.3 mi
Sir William Ramsay SchoolAcademy converter Inadequate 2022 35.4 4.8 mi

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.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Marling SchoolAcademy converter No grade 73.9
St Aidan's Church of England High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 56.4
Tonbridge Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 77.2
Denmark Road High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 72.9
Poole Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 70.2
The Five Islands AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 48.7
Altrincham Grammar School for GirlsAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 80.6
Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for BoysCommunity school No grade 63.7

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.