SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Wadhurst, East Sussex

Uplands Academy

Lower High Street, Wadhurst, East Sussex, TN5 6AZ

Sixth form
School website 01892782135

Ofsted

Standards maintained at the last ungraded inspection, on 15 January 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

42.5 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

37% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

70% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.6 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

44% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the lower half of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is middle, which is where this one sits, it is in the lower half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.23confidence interval -0.47 to 0.02

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
27.9

England average 32.3

A level students
25

Pupils

Pupils on roll
699
Places
1000
How full
70% full — 699 of 1000 places taken, so places are likely to be available
Girls / boys
321 / 378
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
25%

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
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
15%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
95%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
88%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
2%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
32%
No sustained destination
4%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
139

After sixth form

Went to university
8%

England 50%

In education, work or training
72%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
8%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
36

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

18% 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
54%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
50

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 Wealden 005D, 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
50%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
7%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
88%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
1%

England 17%

Households with no car
4%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
36%

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
MARK EDUCATION TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Chris Connor
Local authority
East Sussex
Ward
Frant & Wadhurst
Constituency
Sussex Weald
URN
148945

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Mayfield SchoolOther independent school No grade 4.3 mi
Beechwood SchoolOther independent school No grade 5.7 mi
Skinners' Kent AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 38.4 5.9 mi
The Skinners' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 70.8 6.7 mi
Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar SchoolFoundation school Outstanding 2023 73.4 6.8 mi
Bennett Memorial Diocesan SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 54 7 mi
Heathfield Community CollegeCommunity school Good 2023 50.6 7 mi
Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for BoysCommunity school No grade 63.7 7.1 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 Priory Ruskin AcademyAcademy sponsor led Outstanding 2024 41.4
The Hathaway AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 41.1
Cardinal Wiseman Catholic SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 46.6
Northallerton School & Sixth Form CollegeAcademy sponsor led No grade 37.5
Sacred Heart Catholic AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 42.4
Stockport SchoolCommunity school No grade 45.7
St Thomas More RC CollegeVoluntary aided school Good 2022 44
King Edward VII SchoolCommunity school Good 2023 50.8

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.