Hinchingbrooke School, Huntingdon

Ofsted's report card from its 6 May 2026 inspection grades Hinchingbrooke School on 7 areas: 7 strong standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Strong standard. "Pupils across the school achieve consistently well."

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Leaders maintain a clear focus on fostering pupils' high levels of attendance."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Leaders have ensured that the curriculum is broad and ambitious."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Inclusion is a notable strength of the school."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders and those responsible for governance know the school very well."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "The personal development programme is ambitious and age-appropriate."

Post 16 provision - Strong standard. "Leaders have a clear understanding of the strengths and priorities for improvement in the sixth form."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure continued improvement to curriculum implementation to achieve exceptional standards of teaching that have a transformational impact on the achievement of all pupils, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities".

In its own words: "Hinchingbrooke School is an extraordinary school set in extraordinary grounds. The story of Hinchingbrooke House, the 16th century stately home in which our Sixth Form is based, is in many ways the story of our country, from the reformation and English civil war through to the restoration and beyond."

From the headteacher's welcome: "We are proud of our students and our large, diverse Sixth Form community. Our students are drawn from a wide geographical area across Huntingdon, St Ives, St Neots and from the A1 corridor. Numbers are growing and this can be attributed to a number of factors including: Our students do very well with us."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include dance and Duke of Edinburgh.

In 2026, pupils at Hinchingbrooke School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 49, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 50.3 in Cambridgeshire and 47 across England.

49% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 52% in Cambridgeshire and 47% in England.

That is down from 50.3 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.24: pupils made above 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 38.6, against 52.3 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 13.7 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and History.

For September 2026 entry, 423 families put Hinchingbrooke School as their first choice and 673 named it as one of their preferences, for 329 places offered. That is 1.3 first choices for every place. 97 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Hinchingbrooke School is one of 17 schools run by The Cam Academy Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 48.5 in 2024/25.

200 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Hinchingbrooke School (as of April 2026): 86% would recommend the school, 85% say their child is happy there and 61% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (88%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (61%).

Of the 294 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 91% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 38% to a further education college, 2% to an apprenticeship and 1% into work.

Of the 229 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 56% went on to university or other higher education, 3% to apprenticeships and 29% into work. 26% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

In 2026, 276 pupils (12.7%) received SEN support and 65 (3%) 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.

The nearest railway station is Huntingdon Rail Station, about 630 metres away (roughly a 8-minute walk).

5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Hinchingbrooke School (outside), 120 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 181 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and public order offences. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Cambridgeshire (57), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Hinchingbrooke School issued 107 suspensions, 5.1 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Hinchingbrooke School are Cromwell Academy (0.4 miles), Stukeley Meadows Primary School (0.7 miles), Huntingdon Primary School (1.1 miles) and Godmanchester Community Academy (1.2 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.