Iceni Secondary Academy, Thetford
Iceni Secondary Academy is a secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 16 in Thetford, part of Academy Transformation Trust. It was rated Requires improvement at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in March 2020. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in December 2024 did not change this grade. Its 2026 GCSE results were the 50th-highest of the 53 schools in Norfolk with published results, and 2,957th of 3,298 across England. It was 75% full in 2025.
- GCSE results
- Below England average
- Ofsted
- Requires improvement (2020)
- Demand
- Every first choice offered
- Attendance
- Below England average
- Progress (2024)
- Well below average
Year 7 applications for September 2027 close in 5 days
Deadline Saturday 31 October 2026. Apply to Norfolk (the council where you live). Offers on 1 March.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
Iceni Secondary Academy in detail
Results
In 2026, pupils at Iceni Secondary Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 37.3, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 45 in Norfolk and 47 across England.
26% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 43% in Norfolk and 47% in England.
That is down from 39 in 2025.
Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.73: 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 28, against 39.7 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 11.7 points.
Pupils sat GCSEs in 14 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Geography and History.
Getting a place at Iceni Secondary Academy
For September 2026 entry, 102 families put Iceni Secondary Academy as their first choice and 148 named it as one of their preferences, for 110 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.
Admissions history and your chances at Iceni Secondary Academy
The trust
Iceni Secondary Academy is one of 21 schools run by Academy Transformation Trust, an academy trust.
Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 40 in 2024/25.
What parents say
91 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Iceni Secondary Academy (as of September 2025): 46% would recommend the school, 67% say their child is happy there and 41% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that their child is happy at the school (67%); the weakest, that the school supports their child's wider development (41%).
Where pupils go next
Of the 143 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 78% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 62% to a further education college, 6% to an apprenticeship and 6% into work.
Who goes there
4.5% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
In 2026, 120 pupils (21.6%) received SEN support and 21 (3.8%) 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.
Getting there
There is no railway, tram or Underground station within about three miles of Iceni Secondary Academy.
1 bus stop is within a five-minute walk; the closest is High School (adjacent), 90 metres away.
The area around the school
In August 2026, police recorded 3 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences and drug offences. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Norfolk (28).
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Iceni Secondary Academy issued 550 suspensions, 94.5 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 2 permanent exclusions.
Primary schools nearby
The primary schools closest to Iceni Secondary Academy are Duchy of Lancaster Methwold CofE Primary School (0.5 miles); and The Norman Church of England Primary School, Northwold (1.5 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.
Duchy of Lancaster Methwold CofE Primary SchoolThe Norman Church of England Primary School, Northwold
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE multi-academy trust performance data; Ofsted Parent View; DfE destination measures; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Every family who put it first was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance did not limit places that year.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from March 2020, 6 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's December 2024 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
Iceni Secondary Academy creates a safe, welcoming environment where young people thrive. Staff are caring and committed, with strong relationships at the heart of the school. Pupils benefit from a broad curriculum, good behaviour support, and enriching personal development activities that help them become respectful, ambitious learners.
Key Strengths
- Behaviour is orderly and purposeful with pupils keen to learn and conducting themselves well
- Strong personal development programme helping pupils build positive character traits and learn to aim high, work hard and be kind
- Effective safeguarding arrangements that prioritize pupil well-being
- Well-trained staff who now teach the curriculum effectively in most areas
- Good support for weaker readers to access the curriculum
Areas for Improvement
- Pupils have historical gaps in knowledge that the school is not addressing effectively enough, meaning they struggle to understand new content
- Support for pupils with SEND is not tailored closely enough to their individual learning needs
- The school has not communicated its improvements to parents well enough, so some do not understand the changes being made
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective with strong systems in place that prioritize pupil well-being and create an open, positive culture around safety.
Extracurricular Activities
Sport, drama, school magazine
Iceni Secondary Academy is a safe and calm place where pupils like being here and benefit from strong relationships with caring staff. The school is making progress after addressing long-term weaknesses, though the quality of education requires improvement due to gaps in pupils' knowledge from previous poor provision.
At a Glance
23.2%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
91 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
Secondary Performance (GCSE)
Academic year 2025/26GCSE Results
2025/26 academic year
Progress 8 has declined from -0.38 to -0.73 (2023 to 2024). Attainment 8 has declined from 38.9 to 37.3 (2023 to 2026). GCSE English & Maths 5+ has declined from 32% to 26% (2023 to 2026).
Performance by Group
| Group | Progress 8 | Attainment 8 | Eng+Maths 5+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| All pupils | - | 37.3 | 26% |
| Disadvantaged(21) | - | 28.0 | 9.5% |
| Not known to be disadvantaged(79) | - | 39.7 | 30.4% |
| Boys(61) | - | 36.6 | 26.2% |
| Girls(39) | - | 38.3 | 25.6% |
Show more breakdowns (1)
| Non mobile(97) | - | 37.2 | 24.7% |
2025/26 academic year - DfE performance tables data
GCSE Subjects Offered
2025/26 academic year - entries by number of pupils
After GCSEs - Leaver Destinations
After GCSEs (Year 11) - 143 students
2023/24 data
Exclusions & Suspensions
2
Permanent exclusions
0.34%
Exclusion rate
550
Suspensions
94.50%
Suspension rate
119 pupils received one or more suspensions out of 582 pupils
2024/25 academic year
Keep up with Iceni Secondary Academy
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Iceni Secondary Academy from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Iceni Secondary Academy is in Norfolk; for families living there:
Apply to Norfolk for free school transport. Its policy is on the council's website.
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 1
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 0
- Children hurt
- 0
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 1 road collision in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 0 serious and 1 slight.
No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt.
0 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Norfolk is 4 (the median across 462 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at Iceni Secondary Academy
Will you get a place at Iceni Secondary Academy? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Iceni Secondary Academy's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Iceni Secondary Academy:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Iceni Secondary Academy.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Norfolk, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Iceni Secondary Academy for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Norfolk got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
75%
Available places
568 pupils
757 places
189 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Thetford
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Thetford
Across Norfolk council
Places available
9,559
Applications
8,625
Got 1st preference
94.1%
Got preferred school
98.3%
All secondary applications across Norfolk council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Every first choice offered
Inspection History(5)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
120
SEN Support
21
EHC Plans
25.4%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
555
Total Pupils
292
Boys
263
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
34
Teachers
16.3:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£54,593
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£6,894
Per pupil
£4286k
Total funding
£153k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
11.3%
Overall absence
28.3%
Persistent absence
601
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Iceni Secondary Academy
Questions parents ask about Iceni Secondary Academy
What are GCSE results like at Iceni Secondary Academy?
In the 2026 results, pupils at Iceni Secondary Academy achieved an Attainment 8 score of 37.3. 26% passed GCSE English and maths at grade 5 or above.
What is Iceni Secondary Academy's Ofsted rating?
Iceni Secondary Academy's most recent Ofsted inspection, in December 2024, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in March 2020, it was rated Requires Improvement.
What is the catchment area for Iceni Secondary Academy?
No fixed boundary. When Iceni Secondary Academy is oversubscribed, Norfolk allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Iceni Secondary Academy?
Iceni Secondary Academy was not full in 2025: it ran at 75% of its 757 places.
How big are the classes at Iceni Secondary Academy?
Classes at Iceni Secondary Academy average 25.2 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to Iceni Secondary Academy?
Iceni Secondary Academy has around 555 pupils on roll. 23% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Iceni Secondary Academy?
11.3% of sessions were missed at Iceni Secondary Academy in 2024/25. 28.3% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Iceni Secondary Academy?
Apply through Norfolk's coordinated admissions process, naming Iceni Secondary Academy on your application. Applications for Year 7 places starting in September 2027 close on Saturday 31 October 2026, and offers are made on Monday 1 March 2027.
How many road collisions happen near Iceni Secondary Academy?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 1 road collision in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 0 serious and 1 slight. No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt. 0 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Norfolk is 4 (the median across 462 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Iceni Secondary Academy?
Iceni Secondary Academy is at Stoke Road, Methwold, Thetford, Norfolk, IP26 4PE.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)