SF School Facts UK

Boys secondary school in Sandbach, Cheshire East

Sandbach School

Crewe Road, Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11 3NS

Sixth form Boys Full
School website 01270758870

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 18 March 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.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

48.2 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

50% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

74% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

17% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the upper half 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

0.28confidence interval 0.11 to 0.45

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as 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
C+
Average points per entry
33.2

England average 32.3

A level students
100

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1534
Places
1500
How full
Full — 1534 pupils against 1500 places
Girls / boys
95 / 1439
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
7%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
4%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
12%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
97%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
88%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
6%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
51%
No sustained destination
2%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
230

After sixth form

Went to university
59%

England 50%

In education, work or training
93%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
13%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
116

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

23% 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
63%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
111

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 Cheshire East 031F, 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
49%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
8%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
72%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
13%

England 17%

Households with no car
10%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
30%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Free schools
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–19
Gender
Boys
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
SANDBACH SCHOOL
Headteacher
Headteacher: Sarah Burns
Local authority
Cheshire East
Ward
Sandbach Town
Constituency
Congleton
URN
137491

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
The Lodge APOther independent school No grade 0.2 mi
Sandbach High School and Sixth Form CollegeAcademy converter Good 2022 55.6 0.2 mi
Sir William Stanier SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 28.4 3.6 mi
Alsager SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 51.9 3.7 mi
Holmes Chapel Comprehensive SchoolAcademy converter No grade 48.2 3.7 mi
Cheshire Studio SchoolStudio schools Good 2023 24 4.1 mi
Crewe Engineering and Design UTCUniversity technical college No grade 32.4 4.2 mi
Middlewich High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 41.2 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
The Cardinal Wiseman Catholic SchoolVoluntary aided school Outstanding 2024 58.4
The Cottesloe SchoolFoundation school No grade 45.4
St Mary's RC High SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 52.2
Townley Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 75
WaingelsAcademy converter Good 2023 50.8
Brighton Hill Community SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 44.5
The John Fisher SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2023 55.6
Pensby High SchoolFoundation school Good 2023 44.8

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.