SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

The Highcrest Academy

Hatters Lane, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP13 7NQ

Sixth form
School website 01494529866

Ofsted

Some aspects judged not as strong as at the last graded inspection, on 11 December 2024.

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

38.5 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

28% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

53% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.3 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

25% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the bottom quarter 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

-0.39confidence interval -0.60 to -0.18

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
27.7

England average 32.3

A level students
56

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1045
Places
1069
How full
Nearly full — 1045 of 1069 places taken
Girls / boys
534 / 511
Overall absence
10%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
27%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
36%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
26%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
5%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
10%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
89%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
82%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
50%
No sustained destination
6%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
175

After sixth form

Went to university
58%

England 50%

In education, work or training
84%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
80

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

11% 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
72%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
74

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 Buckinghamshire 043B, 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
31%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
15%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
32%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
44%

England 17%

Households with no car
22%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
26%

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
THE HIGHCREST ACADEMY
Headteacher
Principal: Glen Burke
Local authority
Buckinghamshire
Ward
Totteridge & Bowerdean
Constituency
Wycombe
URN
136858

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
The Chalfonts Independent Grammar SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.7 mi
Godstowe Preparatory SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.9 mi
The Royal Grammar School, High WycombeAcademy converter No grade 73.9 1 mi
Wycombe AbbeyOther independent school No grade 1.2 mi
Sir William Ramsay SchoolAcademy converter Inadequate 2022 35.4 1.4 mi
St Michael's Catholic SchoolAcademy converter No grade 49.1 1.5 mi
Wycombe High SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 73.9 1.7 mi
John Hampden Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 72.3 1.9 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
All Saints' Academy, CheltenhamAcademy sponsor led No grade 38.5
Edmonton County SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 41
Queen's Park High SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 44.2
Acklam Grange SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 48.5
Thornhill Community Academy, A Share AcademyAcademy converter Good 2023 43.6
Stockport AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 47
Meadowhead School Academy TrustAcademy converter Good 2022 46
Kingswood Secondary AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 42.9

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.