SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Beccles, Suffolk

Sir John Leman High School

Ringsfield Road, Beccles, Suffolk, NR34 9PG

Sixth form
School website 01502713223

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 14 April 2026.

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

44.8 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

41% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

68% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.7 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

21% 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 second least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the lower half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.22confidence interval -0.40 to -0.04

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
30.8

England average 32.3

A level students
80

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1404
Places
1476
How full
Nearly full — 1404 of 1476 places taken
Girls / boys
721 / 683
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
23%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
23%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
3%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
2%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
11%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
99%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
91%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
6%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
34%
Pupils in the cohort
233

After sixth form

Went to university
47%

England 50%

In education, work or training
84%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
15%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
73

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

9% 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
56%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
129

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 East Suffolk 010B, 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%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
20%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
73%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
11%

England 17%

Households with no car
18%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
56%

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
KINGFISHER SCHOOLS TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Sarah Hartshorn
Local authority
Suffolk
Ward
Beccles & Worlingham
Constituency
Lowestoft
URN
137055

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Beccles High SchoolFree schools Requires improvement 2024 27.6 0.6 mi
Bungay High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 41.7 4.9 mi
Hobart High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 46.1 6.5 mi
Pakefield High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 38.4 7 mi
East Point AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 39.5 7.3 mi
Benjamin Britten Academy of Music and MathematicsAcademy sponsor led No grade 44.9 8 mi
Langley SchoolOther independent school No grade 8.1 mi
Ormiston Denes AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 40.5 8.5 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 Paul's School for GirlsVoluntary aided school Outstanding 2023 61
St Mary's Catholic High SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 45
Madani Girls' SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2022 61.4
Queens Park Community SchoolAcademy converter No grade 51.1
Eggbuckland Community CollegeAcademy converter Requires improvement 2024 42.3
SGS Berkeley Green UTCUniversity technical college Good 2022 41.2
St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary AcademyAcademy converter No grade 49.5
Huxlow AcademyAcademy converter No grade 41.9

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.