SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Christchurch, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Highcliffe School

Parkside, Highcliffe, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 4QD

Ofsted Good · 2023 Sixth form Full
School website 01425273381

Ofsted

Goodas at 28 June 2023

Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 28 June 2023.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 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

47 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

46% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

75% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.3 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

46% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle 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 bottom quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.05confidence interval -0.24 to 0.13

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.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
C+
Average points per entry
34.6

England average 32.3

A level students
107

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1519
Places
1461
How full
Full — 1519 pupils against 1461 places
Girls / boys
721 / 798
Overall absence
7%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
18%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
15%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
3%

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
94%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
86%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
6%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
42%
No sustained destination
5%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
236

After sixth form

Went to university
44%

England 50%

In education, work or training
88%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
6%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
126

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

28% 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
55%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
152

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 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 018A, 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
33%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
15%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
83%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
2%

England 17%

Households with no car
11%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
52%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–19
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
HISP MULTI ACADEMY TRUST LTD
Headteacher
Headteacher: Patrick Earnshaw
Ward
Highcliffe & Walkford
Constituency
Christchurch
URN
136763

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
The Grange SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 36.3 1.5 mi
The Arnewood SchoolAcademy converter No grade 37.6 2.6 mi
Twynham SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 53.5 2.8 mi
Durlston SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.9 mi
Ballard SchoolOther independent school No grade 3 mi
St Peter's Catholic Comprehensive SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 47 3.5 mi
Avonbourne Boys' AcademyAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 47.3 4.6 mi
Avonbourne Girls AcademyAcademy converter No grade 53 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.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Langley Park School for GirlsAcademy converter Good 2022 55.8
Winterbourne AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 52
Woodhey High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 47.3
Tudor Grange Academy, SolihullAcademy converter No grade 58.7
Debenham High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 55.7
Wymondham CollegeAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 56.4
Sir Roger Manwood's SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 62.7
Harris Academy Chafford HundredAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 55.5

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.