SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Norwich, Norfolk

Hellesdon High School

187 Middletons Lane, Hellesdon, Norwich, Norfolk, NR6 5SB

Ofsted Requires improvement · 2023 Sixth form Full
School website 01603424711

Ofsted

Requires improvementas at 3 October 2023

Graded Requires improvement at its last graded inspection, on 3 October 2023.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 2 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

40.3 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

32% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

53% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.5 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

28% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the bottom quarter of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is middle, which is where this one sits, it is in the bottom quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.49confidence interval -0.67 to -0.31

Taking that range into account, pupils made less progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as below 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
C+
Average points per entry
31.7

England average 32.3

A level students
79

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1476
Places
1290
How full
Full — 1476 pupils against 1290 places
Girls / boys
684 / 792
Overall absence
11%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
28%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
26%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
12%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
4%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
5%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
92%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
80%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
7%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
43%
No sustained destination
5%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
248

After sixth form

Went to university
36%

England 50%

In education, work or training
86%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
8%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
175

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

11% 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
51%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
168

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 Broadland 011C, 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
21%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
22%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
82%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
7%

England 17%

Households with no car
12%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
42%

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
THE WENSUM TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Helen Watts
Local authority
Norfolk
Ward
Hellesdon South East
Constituency
Norwich North
URN
138039

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Red Balloon - NorwichOther independent school No grade 1.1 mi
Include School NorfolkOther independent school No grade 1.4 mi
Sewell Park AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 39.1 2 mi
Ormiston Victory AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 45.3 2 mi
City Academy NorwichAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2024 35.2 2.3 mi
Jane Austen CollegeFree schools Outstanding 2024 53.7 2.5 mi
Norwich SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.7 mi
Sprowston Community AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 45 2.9 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
St Hilda's Church of England High SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 51.8
Varndean SchoolCommunity school Good 2022 48.8
The Charter School North DulwichAcademy converter No grade 65
The Arnewood SchoolAcademy converter No grade 37.6
Abbey Grange Church of England AcademyAcademy converter No grade 55.9
King Charles I SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 44
City of Norwich School, An Ormiston AcademyAcademy converter Good 2021 50.4
Ken Stimpson AcademyAcademy converter Requires improvement 2022 41.7

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.