Secondary school in Bicester, Oxfordshire
Whitelands Academy
Hexham Road, Bicester, Oxfordshire, OX26 1AY
Ofsted
Graded Good at its last graded inspection, on 10 January 2023.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.
GCSE results 2024/25
Attainment 8 score
The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.
Grade 5+ in English & maths
Grade 4+ in English & maths
EBacc average point score
Entered the EBacc
On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle 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
No Progress 8 score published for this school.
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.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 565
- Places
- 600
- How full
- 94% full — 565 of 600 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 247 / 318
- Overall absence
- 10%
- Persistently absent
- 24%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 19%
- English as an additional language
- 18%
- With an EHC plan
- 5%
- On SEN support
- 23%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Cherwell 016H, 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
- 54%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 8%
- Households owning their home
- 60%
- Households in social housing
- 21%
- Households with no car
- 10%
- Adults economically inactive
- 19%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Free schools
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- THE WHITE HORSE FEDERATION
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Haris Hussain
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Ward
- Bicester South and Ambrosden
- Constituency
- Bicester and Woodstock
- URN
- 147872
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruern Abbey SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 0.7 mi |
| The Bicester SchoolAcademy sponsor led | Good 2024 | 47.9 | 0.8 mi |
| The Cooper SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 41.7 | 1.6 mi |
| Heyford Park SchoolFree schools | Good 2023 | 39.7 | 4.5 mi |
| Oxford Montessori SchoolsOther independent school | No grade | — | 6.9 mi |
| Gosford Hill SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 45.3 | 6.9 mi |
| The Marlborough Church of England SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 55.4 | 7.9 mi |
| d'Overbroeck'sOther independent school | No grade | — | 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.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Marden High SchoolFoundation school | Good 2022 | 55.1 |
| St Nicholas Catholic High SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2024 | 50.8 |
| Imberhorne SchoolCommunity school | No grade | 45.1 |
| St Laurence SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 54.5 |
| Chatham GrammarAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 61.8 |
| Blackfen School for GirlsAcademy converter | No grade | 44.1 |
| Becket Keys Church of England Free SchoolFree schools | No grade | 56 |
| Brookvale Groby Learning CampusAcademy converter | No grade | 49.5 |
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.
- 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.