The Astley Cooper School

GCSE results 2024/25

On Attainment 8 this school is in the bottom 10% of state-funded secondaries in England.

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

Progress 8 2023/24

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

D+

Average points per entry

24.7

England average 32.3

A level students

29

Pupils

Pupils on roll

914

Places

1055

How full

87% full — 914 of 1055 places taken

Girls / boys

445 / 469

Overall absence

14%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent

39%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years

37%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language

18%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan

4%

England 3.5%

On SEN support

25%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training

87%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education

81%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship

3%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form

41%

No sustained destination

7%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort

135

After sixth form

Went to university

52%

England 50%

In education, work or training

83%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship

7%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort

29

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went on to a degree

53%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort

19

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 Dacorum 007C, 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

27%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications

23%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home

52%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing

28%

England 17%

Households with no car

15%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive

36%

England 39.9%

School details

Type

Community school

Phase

Secondary

Ages

Ages 11–18

Gender

Mixed

Admissions

Non-selective

Religious character

None

Sixth form

Yes

Nursery

No

Boarding

Day school

Headteacher

Headteacher: Sam Orsborne

Local authority

Hertfordshire

Ward

Grovehill

Constituency

Hemel Hempstead

URN

117552

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

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.