Alfriston School
Alfriston School is a special academy in Beaconsfield for girls aged 11 to 18. It has 164 pupils, 14 more than it has places for. About 32 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit more than at most schools. Ofsted visited in January 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Penn Road, Knotty Green, Beaconsfield, HP9 2TS01494 673740alfristonschool.comMrs Claire Smart headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 13 January 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 20 September 2023 | Ungraded | School remains Outstanding (Concerns) - S5 Next |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
28 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | Buckinghamshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 28 | 24 | 25 | 23 | 24 | 24 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | – | – | – | 0.8 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 54.1 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | – | – | -1.98 | -1.66 | -1.53 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | – | – | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 59% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | – | – | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 75% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | – | – | – | 0.00 | 0.10 | 0.08 | 4.84 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | – | – | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 44% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | – | – | – | 0.5 | 1.2 | 1.3 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | – | – | – | 1.0 | 3.7 | 1.5 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | – | – | 1.0 | 2.7 | 1.5 | – | – |
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
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 Buckinghamshire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 38 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for all schools with enough answers to publish.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with moderate learning difficulties.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Buckinghamshire with moderate learning difficulties provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Moderate learning difficulty (47), language and communications needs (44), Autistic spectrum disorder (24), Specific learning difficulty (24), Physical disability (9), emotional and mental health (9).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 164 | 164 | 159 | 155 | 154 | 155 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 34% | 27% | 27% | 27% | 27% | 26% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 12% | 12% | 13% | 11% | 10% | 7% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 88.1% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 11.9% | 12.4% | 10.2% | 9.1% | 5.6% | 11.1% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 9.3% | 9.3% | 8.4% | 7.5% | 5.1% | 10.6% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.6% | 3.1% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 32.8% | 40.2% | 32.5% | 24.8% | 17.0% | 24.1% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 16.5 | 7.6 | 5.2 | 11.0 | 7.7 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 25 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 86%, compared with 94% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 92% | 91% | 96% | 96% |
| Education | 92% | 91% | 96% | 96% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 4% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
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 special 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High March School | Independent | 0.9 miles | 299 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| St Mary and All Saints CofE Primary School | Church of England | 1.3 miles | 353 | No overall grade 2025 | 87 | Compare |
| Davenies School | Independent | 1.3 miles | 322 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Holtspur School & Pre-School | Council | 1.6 miles | 191 | Good 2023 | 60 | Compare |
| Butlers Court School | Council | 1.6 miles | 419 | Good 2024 | 90 | Compare |
| Beaconsfield High School | Academy (grammar) | 1.6 miles | 1,283 | Outstanding 2019 | 97 | Compare |
| The Beaconsfield School | Academy | 1.7 miles | 876 | Good 2024 | 46 | Compare |
| Tylers Green First School | Council | 1.8 miles | 179 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Alfriston School a good school?
Alfriston School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from January 2026 rated its teaching as needs attention.
What is Alfriston School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 13 January 2026 it rated teaching as needs attention, achievement as needs attention, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as needs attention.
How many pupils does Alfriston School have?
164 pupils aged 11 to 18 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 150 places, so it is 109% full. It is a girls' school.
What is attendance like at Alfriston School?
Pupils were in school 88.1% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 33% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about Alfriston School?
74% of the 38 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 68% say their child is happy there. Across England, 84% of parents would recommend their child's school.
Does Alfriston School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for moderate learning difficulties. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Alfriston School have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Penn Road, Knotty Green, Beaconsfield, HP9 2TS
- Telephone
- 01494 673740
- Website
- www.alfristonschool.com
- Headteacher
- Mrs Claire Smart
- Type of school
- Special academy (Academy special converter, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-18, with sixth form
- Gender
- Girls
- Single-academy trust
- Alfriston School (1 schools)
- Local authority
- Buckinghamshire
- Ward
- Penn, Tylers Green & Loudwater
- Constituency
- Chesham and Amersham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 March 2012 (academy converter)
- URN
- 137934 · LAESTAB 8257003 · UKPRN 10036322
- Formerly
- Alfriston School
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
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.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 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.