Abbeygate Sixth Form College
Abbeygate Sixth Form College is a free schools 16 to 19 in Bury St Edmunds for pupils aged 16 to 19. It has 1,163 pupils and room for 1,750. About 0 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England.
Beetons Way, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 3YU01284 636501abbeygatesfc.ac.ukMr Stuart Small headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.
Results
A level and sixth-form results, 2025
544 students finished sixth-form courses.
All sixth-form measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students | 544 | 566 | 385 | 345 |
| Average A level points per entryA level APS per entry | 33.41 | 32.65 | 33.15 | 35.98 |
| Average A level grade | C+ | C+ | C+ | B- |
| Best three A levelsBest 3 A levels APS | 33.80 | 32.91 | 33.56 | 36.34 |
| AAB or better in subjects universities likeAAB+ in two facilitating subjects | 11% | 11% | 10% | 10% |
| A level progressA level value added | -0.07 | -0.10 | – | – |
| Applied general courses: points per entry | 27.55 | 25.87 | 26.92 | 27.52 |
| Stayed and finishedRetained and assessed | 94% | 94% | 93% | 95% |
A level subjects
30 A level subjects had results in 2025. Each figure is the share of students who got an A* to B, next to the average for state sixth forms in England. When only a handful of students take a subject, its figures jump around from year to year.
Strongest A levels
Every A level subject against England, 2025
A levels only. BTECs, T levels and other courses are in the table above. Subjects with fewer than five students aren't published.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Suffolk council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Specific learning difficulty (75), Other difficulty or disability (18), Autistic spectrum disorder (15), emotional and mental health (5), Physical disability (3), language and communications needs (3).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 1,163 | 1,114 | 1,073 | 910 | 752 | 584 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 7% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 4% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 7% | 6% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 5% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 14% | 6% | 5% | 7% | 2% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 1% |
What pupils do next
After sixth form
Where the 366 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 81%, compared with 90% for everyone else.
Where the ones heading for university went
Among students from low-income families, 71% went on to degree-level study or training and 12% to a top-third university.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 89% | 91% | 94% |
| Education | 55% | 56% | 56% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 5% | 5% |
| Work | 29% | 31% | 32% |
| Not in education, work or training | 8% | 7% | 5% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Suffolk College | Further education | 90 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| St Edmundsbury CofE Primary Academy | Academy | 240 m | 168 | Requires improvement 2024 | 1 | Compare |
| King Edward VI CEVC School | Church of England | 420 m | 1,189 | Not inspected | 36 | Compare |
| Bury St Edmunds County High School | Academy | 920 m | 657 | Report card 2026 | 55 | Compare |
| Westgate Community Primary School and Nursery | Council | 980 m | 301 | Good 2022 | 8 | Compare |
| Sexton's Manor Primary School | Academy | 980 m | 165 | Not inspected | 1 | Compare |
| St Benedict's Catholic School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 968 | Not inspected | 70 | Compare |
| St Edmund's Catholic Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Abbeygate Sixth Form College a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score Abbeygate Sixth Form College yet.
How many pupils does Abbeygate Sixth Form College have?
1,163 pupils aged 16 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,750 places, so it is 66% full.
How big are the classes at Abbeygate Sixth Form College?
The average class had 18.7 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does Abbeygate Sixth Form College have a sixth form?
Yes. The average A level grade in 2025 was C+. 30 A level subjects had results in 2025; the full list is in the results section.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Beetons Way, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 3YU
- Telephone
- 01284 636501
- Website
- www.abbeygatesfc.ac.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Stuart Small
- Type of school
- Free schools 16 to 19 (Free schools 16 to 19, free schools)
- Phase
- Sixth form / post-16, ages 16-19, with sixth form
- Multi-academy trust
- Eastern Education Group Trust (10 schools)
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Ward
- Minden
- Constituency
- Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Opened
- 2 September 2019 (new provision)
- URN
- 147063 · LAESTAB 9354049 · UKPRN 10083728
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- A level subjects: DfE A level and other 16 to 18 results, subject entries and grades, 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.