Secondary school in Henlow, Central Bedfordshire
Henlow Church of England Academy
Church Road, Henlow, Bedfordshire, SG16 6AN
Ofsted
Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 29 April 2025.
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.
GCSE results 2024/25
Attainment 8 score
The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.
Grade 5+ in English & maths
Grade 4+ in English & maths
EBacc average point score
Entered the EBacc
On Attainment 8 this school is in the lower half 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 bottom quarter.
Progress 8 2023/24
Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as 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.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 599
- Places
- 900
- How full
- 67% full — 599 of 900 places taken, so places are likely to be available
- Girls / boys
- 282 / 317
- Overall absence
- 8%
- Persistently absent
- 22%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 18%
- English as an additional language
- 5%
- With an EHC plan
- 8%
- On SEN support
- 14%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Central Bedfordshire 010D, 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
- 34%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 12%
- Households owning their home
- 82%
- Households in social housing
- 8%
- Households with no car
- 6%
- Adults economically inactive
- 33%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 9–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- POPPY HILL CHURCH OF ENGLAND MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Naomi Chalkley
- Local authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Ward
- Clifton, Henlow & Langford
- Constituency
- Hitchin
- URN
- 138027
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel Whitbread AcademyAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 46.7 | 1.6 mi |
| Etonbury AcademyAcademy converter | No grade | 45.5 | 1.8 mi |
| Pix Brook AcademyFree schools | Good 2024 | — | 2.3 mi |
| Robert Bloomfield AcademyAcademy converter | No grade | — | 2.6 mi |
| Stratton SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 38.9 | 4 mi |
| Fearnhill SchoolFoundation school | No grade | 38.9 | 4.2 mi |
| Edward Peake CofE VC SchoolVoluntary controlled school | No grade | — | 4.6 mi |
| St Francis CollegeOther independent school | No grade | — | 4.6 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.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Priory SchoolFoundation school | Good 2023 | 46.4 |
| The Bishop of Winchester AcademyAcademy sponsor led | Good 2023 | 49.6 |
| Honywood SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 46.3 |
| Henley In Arden SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 50.4 |
| Bungay High SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 41.7 |
| Redden Court SchoolAcademy converter | Outstanding 2022 | 47.4 |
| St Thomas More Catholic School, BlaydonAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 51.9 |
| Riddlesdown CollegiateAcademy converter | Outstanding 2023 | 50.7 |
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.