Beccles High School, Beccles

Ofsted's report card from its 30 June 2026 inspection grades Beccles High School on 6 areas: 1 strong standard, 4 expected standard and 1 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "The trust took over the school in September 2024."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders ensure that attendance is a priority for staff and pupils."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Leaders have introduced effective and timely improvements to the curriculum."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "All pupils feel welcome and valued."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Pupils wear their badges for participating in activities and developing skills around school with pride."

Achievement - Needs attention. "Historical weaknesses meant that pupils' achievement was significantly below the national average."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that targeted and precise assessments effectively identify and address gaps in pupils' understanding"; "Leaders should foster greater resilience and independence in pupils' attitudes to learning, encouraging them to fully engage with diverse learning opportunities"; "Leaders should continue to embed the personal development and wellbeing curriculum to ensure that pupils secure a detailed knowledge that prepares them well for life in modern Britain".

From the headteacher's welcome: "I am proud and privileged to be the Headteacher of Beccles High School. I feel extremely fortunate to work alongside the talented and diverse learners, staff, families and community partners as the school enters the next phase of its development. The About Us section will tell you a great deal about how we work and includes our prospectus."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football and STEM.

On phones, the school says: "Students are required to keep their mobile phones switched off and stored in their bags throughout the school day."

In 2026, pupils at Beccles High School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 25.4, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 43.4 in Suffolk and 47 across England.

10% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 40% in Suffolk and 47% in England.

That is down from 27.6 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -1.15: pupils made well below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 19.7, against 30.2 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 10.5 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 16 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Art and Design and Religious Studies.

For September 2026 entry, 39 families put Beccles High School as their first choice and 89 named it as one of their preferences, for 40 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

Beccles High School is one of 23 schools run by Sapientia Education Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 45.9 in 2024/25.

Of the 71 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 86% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 78% to a further education college, 1% to an apprenticeship and 4% into work.

50% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 1.1% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 36 pupils (19.8%) received SEN support and 43 (23.6%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is social, emotional and mental health needs.

Beccles High School has a SEN unit for moderate learning difficulties: 21 places, 21 pupils on roll.

Beccles High School had 20 teachers in 2026, one for every 11 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical secondary school, at about one for every 17.

The nearest railway station is Entrance, about 850 metres away (roughly a 11-minute walk).

23 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Beccles High School (in), 70 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Beccles High School stands in is among the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 51 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and other theft. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Suffolk (32), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Beccles High School issued 199 suspensions, 83.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The primary schools closest to Beccles High School are Beccles Primary Academy (0.3 miles), Ravensmere Infant School (0.3 miles), The Albert Pye Community Primary School (0.3 miles) and St Benet's RC Primary School and Nursery (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.