Dr Challoner's Grammar School, Amersham

In 2026, pupils at Dr Challoner's Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 76.2, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 55 in Buckinghamshire and 47 across England.

99% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 61% in Buckinghamshire and 47% in England.

That is up from 73.9 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 1.18: pupils made well above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 19 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Physics, Biology and Chemistry.

Dr Challoner's Grammar School is a grammar school: places go to children who reach the required standard in its entrance test, and only then are the oversubscription criteria applied.

For September 2026 entry, 238 families put Dr Challoner's Grammar School as their first choice and 669 named it as one of their preferences, for 185 places offered. That is 1.3 first choices for every place. 70 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Dr Challoner's Grammar School admits pupils through an entrance test - in Buckinghamshire, the Secondary Transfer Test. Children have to be registered for it in advance, normally in the spring or summer of Year 5; the test itself is usually sat in September of Year 6, and results come out in October, before the 31 October deadline for naming secondary schools.

Passing the test makes a child eligible rather than guaranteeing a place: when more children pass than there are places, Dr Challoner's Grammar School ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Buckinghamshire's admissions pages and the school's own policy for this year's registration deadline - a child who is not registered in time cannot sit the test.

Buckinghamshire has 13 state grammar schools in all, so a child who passes may have several selective schools to choose between.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Dr Challoner's Grammar School are Amersham School (0.9 miles, Good, Attainment 8 52.4); Dr Challoner's High School (1.8 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 76.2); Chesham Grammar School (2.3 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 75.6); and Chiltern Hills Academy (2.3 miles, Good, Attainment 8 40.9).

Dr Challoner's Grammar School's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

298 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Dr Challoner's Grammar School (as of September 2025): 93% would recommend the school, 93% say their child is happy there and 67% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that the school has high expectations for their child (95%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (67%).

Of the 186 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 98% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 3% to a further education college, 1% to an apprenticeship and 1% into work.

Of the 229 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 74% went on to university or other higher education, 2% to apprenticeships and 16% into work. 75% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

2.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 42 pupils (3%) received SEN support and 15 (1.1%) 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 autism.

The nearest railway station is Amersham Rail Station, about 270 metres away (roughly a 3-minute walk).

12 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Dr Challoner’s Grammar School, 60 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Dr Challoner's Grammar School stands in is among the 10% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 76 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Buckinghamshire (44), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Dr Challoner's Grammar School issued 36 suspensions, 2.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Dr Challoner's Grammar School are St Mary's CofE Primary School, Amersham (0.6 miles); Chestnut Lane School (0.7 miles); Woodside Junior School (0.7 miles); and Elangeni School (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.