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Princes Risborough School, Princes Risborough

Good
Secondary
Academy converter
Mixed
Ages 11–18

Princes Risborough School is a secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 18 in Princes Risborough, part of Insignis Academy Trust. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in November 2022. Its 2026 GCSE results were the 25th-highest of the 36 schools in Buckinghamshire with published results, and 2,026th of 3,298 across England. It was 97% full in 2025.

GCSE results
Below England average
Ofsted
Good (2022)
Demand
Oversubscribed
Attendance
Below England average
Progress (2024)
Average
New inspections, open days and news, by email.

Year 7 applications for September 2027 close in 4 days

Deadline Saturday 31 October 2026. Apply to Buckinghamshire (the council where you live). Offers on 1 March.

Data last updated 26 Oct 2026

Princes Risborough School in detail

Results

In 2026, pupils at Princes Risborough School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 43.8, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 55 in Buckinghamshire and 47 across England.

44% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 61% in Buckinghamshire and 47% in England.

That is up from 40.3 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.08: pupils made about 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 41.8, against 44.3 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 2.5 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 23 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Geography and History.

Getting a place at Princes Risborough School

For September 2026 entry, 180 families put Princes Risborough School as their first choice and 447 named it as one of their preferences, for 178 places offered. That is slightly more first choices than places. 26 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Admissions history and your chances at Princes Risborough School

The trust

Princes Risborough School is one of 6 schools run by Insignis Academy Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 53.6 in 2024/25.

All 6 schools in Insignis Academy Trust

Where pupils go next

Of the 166 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 81% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 37% to a further education college, 3% to an apprenticeship and 4% into work.

Of the 80 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 64% went on to university or other higher education, 3% to apprenticeships and 28% into work. 9% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

Who goes there

Princes Risborough School has a resourced provision for autism: 25 places, 25 pupils on roll.

Staffing

Princes Risborough School had 81 teachers in 2026, one for every 14 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical secondary school, at about one for every 17.

Getting there

The nearest railway station is Princes Risborough Rail Station, about 1070 metres away (roughly a 13-minute walk).

9 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Princes Risborough School (in), 60 metres away.

Suspensions and exclusions

In 2024/25, Princes Risborough School issued 366 suspensions, 33.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

Primary schools nearby

The primary schools closest to Princes Risborough School are Princes Risborough Primary School (0.7 miles) and Monks Risborough CofE Primary School (0.9 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.

Princes Risborough Primary SchoolMonks Risborough CofE Primary School

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; DfE destination measures; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; DfE school workforce census; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); DfE exclusions statistics

Location

Key Information

DfE GIAS
Head:Mr Vincent Forshaw
Pupils:1,083
LA:Buckinghamshire
Phone:01844345496
Address:Merton Road, Princes Risborough, HP27 0DR
Trust:INSIGNIS ACADEMY TRUST (6 schools)
Status:open
Opened:1 September 2018

Ofsted Rating

Ofsted · 4 years ago
Good

Overall

Good

Quality of Education

Good

Behaviour & Attitudes

Good

Personal Development

Good

Leadership & Management

Good

Sixth Form

Inspected 1 November 2022View full report
URN:146377
UKPRN:10081065
Constituency:Mid Buckinghamshire
Urban/Rural:Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city

Ofsted Insights

Ofsted rated this school Good at its November 2022 inspection.

Rated Good for

Quality of education, Behaviour & attitudes, Personal development, Leadership & management, Sixth form.

About

Princes Risborough School is a co-educational secondary school in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire. It accepts children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18 and has approximately 925 pupils.

From Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

At a Glance

17.6%

Free School Meals

No

Boarding

No

Nursery

Yes

Sixth Form

Resourced provision: Autism

SEN Provision

No

Special Measures

Secondary Performance (GCSE)

Academic year 2025/26

GCSE Results

2023
2024
2025
2026
Attainment 8 GCSE Eng+Maths

2025/26 academic year

Progress 8 has remained stable at around -0.08 (2023 to 2024). Attainment 8 has improved from 42.6 to 43.8 (2023 to 2026). GCSE English & Maths 5+ has improved from 40% to 44% (2023 to 2026).

Performance by Group

GroupProgress 8Attainment 8Eng+Maths 5+
All pupils-43.843.7%
Disadvantaged(31)-41.838.7%
Not known to be disadvantaged(136)-44.344.9%
Boys(82)-41.645.1%
Girls(85)-45.942.4%
Show more breakdowns (2)
Known or believed to be other than English(25)-48.448%
Non mobile(165)-43.943.6%

2025/26 academic year - DfE performance tables data

GCSE Subjects Offered

English Language330
Mathematics330
English Literature322
Combined Science254
Geography186
History170
Business Studies170
Art and Design140
Sports Studies108
Spanish86
Food Preparation and Nutrition80
Biology70
Chemistry66
Physics64
Speech and Drama54
Design and Technology52
Dance50
French50
Information and Communication Technology28
Computer Science28

+ 3 more subjects

2025/26 academic year - entries by number of pupils

After GCSEs - Leaver Destinations

After GCSEs (Year 11) - 166 students

Continued education81%
Further education37%
Apprenticeships3%
Employment4%
Not in education/employment8%

2023/24 data

Exclusions & Suspensions

0

Permanent exclusions

0.00%

Exclusion rate

366

Suspensions

33.27%

Suspension rate

116 pupils received one or more suspensions out of 1,100 pupils

2024/25 academic year

How Does This School Compare?

Ranked against 3 nearby secondary schools

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Keep up with Princes Risborough School

Term dates

Princes Risborough School is an academy, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Buckinghamshire's term dates for its community schools.

Getting There

Bus Stops

Princes Risborough School (in)
61m · 1 min walk
Chestnut Road (SE-bound)
155m · 3 min walk
Oak Road (NE-bound)
185m · 3 min walk
Ash Road (SW-bound)
251m · 4 min walk
The Crescent
332m · 5 min walk

Free school transport

Check free transport to Princes Risborough School from your postcode →

You apply to the council where you live. Princes Risborough School is in Buckinghamshire; for families living there:

Safety and surroundings

Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)

Collisions
5
Fatal
0
Serious
0
Children hurt
0

Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 5 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 0 serious and 5 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 Buckinghamshire is 4 (the median across 274 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.

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Commute and house prices

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Your chances of a place at Princes Risborough School

Will you get a place at Princes Risborough School? Get the admissions report

Your home postcode, set against Princes Risborough School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.

What the report includes for Princes Risborough School:

  • The straight-line distance from your home to Princes Risborough School.
  • Buckinghamshire publishes last distance offered figures, but none for Princes Risborough School that we hold, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
  • Applications, first choices and offers at Princes Risborough School for 2019 to 2026 entry.
  • How many families in Buckinghamshire 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

97%

Near capacity

1,101 pupils

1,136 places

35 spare places in 2025

2025, DfE school capacity data

Area Demand Pressure - Princes Risborough

High pressure
New homes approved:312
Projected new pupils:56

Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Princes Risborough

Across Buckinghamshire council

Low demand council-wide0.95 applications per place

Places available

6,847

Applications

6,535

Got 1st preference

76.7%

Got preferred school

93.9%

All secondary applications across Buckinghamshire council (2026/27), not just this school.

This school: Oversubscribed

Inspection History(2)

1 November 2022
Quality of EducationGood
Behaviour & AttitudesGood
Personal DevelopmentGood
Leadership & ManagementGood
Sixth FormGood
16 May 2017
Inadequate
Leadership & ManagementInadequate

SEND & SEN Provision

SEN Overview

122

SEN Support

64

EHC Plans

17.2%

of Total Pupils

2026 academic year

Provision & Specialist Facilities

Princes Risborough School has a resourced provision for autism: 25 places, 25 pupils on roll.

Source: GIAS, Department for Education.

Resourced Provision

Pupils by Need Type

Autistic Spectrum Disorder52
Social, Emotional & Mental Health44
Specific Learning Difficulty33
Speech, Language & Communication22
Other13
Moderate Learning Difficulty5
Physical Disability2
EHC Plan
SEN Support

Pupil Demographics

Ethnicity

White British
71.2%
Asian
9.7%
Black
1.6%
Mixed
7.6%
Other
1.1%
Unclassified
0.6%

2026 academic year

Key Indicators

Free School Meals17.6%
English as Additional Language12.7%

1,083

Total Pupils

561

Boys

522

Girls

2026 academic year

Workforce

81

Teachers

13.4:1

Pupil-teacher ratio

£52,814

Mean salary

2026 data

School Funding

£7,027

Per pupil

£6832k

Total funding

£187k

Pupil premium

Deprivation£388,766
EAL funding£68,922
Lump sum£148,638

2025-26 financial year allocations

Pupil Absence
2024/25

12.4%

Overall absence

32.4%

Persistent absence

952

Enrolments

Authorised7.6%
Unauthorised4.9%
Persistent (10%+)32.4%
Severe (50%+)6.7%

Absence trend

8.8%
18/19
8.2%
20/21
12.5%
21/22
12.6%
22/23
12.1%
23/24
12.4%
24/25
Overall absence rate

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

Questions parents ask about Princes Risborough School

What are GCSE results like at Princes Risborough School?

In the 2026 results, pupils at Princes Risborough School achieved an Attainment 8 score of 43.8. 44% passed GCSE English and maths at grade 5 or above.

What is Princes Risborough School's Ofsted rating?

Princes Risborough School was rated Good at its most recent Ofsted inspection in November 2022. At its previous graded inspection in 2017 it was rated Inadequate.

What is the catchment area for Princes Risborough School?

No fixed boundary. When Princes Risborough School is oversubscribed, Buckinghamshire allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.

Is it hard to get a place at Princes Risborough School?

Princes Risborough School was close to full in 2025, at 97% of its capacity.

How big are the classes at Princes Risborough School?

Classes at Princes Risborough School average 24.1 pupils (2025/26).

How many pupils go to Princes Risborough School?

Princes Risborough School has around 1083 pupils on roll. 18% are eligible for free school meals.

Does Princes Risborough School have specialist SEN provision?

Princes Risborough School has a resourced provision for autism: 25 places, 25 pupils on roll.

What is attendance like at Princes Risborough School?

12.4% of sessions were missed at Princes Risborough School in 2024/25. 32.4% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).

How do I apply to Princes Risborough School?

Apply through Buckinghamshire's coordinated admissions process, naming Princes Risborough School 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 Princes Risborough School?

Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 5 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 0 serious and 5 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 Buckinghamshire is 4 (the median across 274 schools, same distance and years).

Where is Princes Risborough School?

Princes Risborough School is at Merton Road, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, HP27 0DR.

Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)

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