The Mandeville School Review 2026: Aylesbury secondary in a rapid improvement phase

There is no pretending this is an easy moment for The Mandeville School. Leadership has been re-set, systems are being tightened, and the school is working through a fast, practical improvement agenda after a challenging period. The current Head of School, Sara Durose, took up post in January 2024.

The school is a mixed, non selective secondary with post 16 provision, serving Aylesbury and operating across two sites. Ofsted’s inspection of 19 and 20 November 2024 graded Quality of Education as Inadequate and confirmed that safeguarding arrangements are effective.

For parents, the key question is fit and trajectory. This is a school with a clear improvement direction, a small sixth form that is currently being rebuilt, and admissions that are competitive but not defined by ultra tight distance rules.

The Mandeville School describes its direction through a simple internal phrase, Believe Achieve Succeed, which appears consistently across transition materials and curriculum intent. That matters because the school is in a phase where consistency is the product. Families should expect a setting that is codifying routines, making expectations explicit, and standardising what a lesson looks like.

External evaluation provides a useful snapshot of culture. Pupils report feeling happy and safe, and the behaviour of most pupils is described as positive, with staff applying newer behaviour approaches consistently. The same report notes that recent improvements are beginning to take effect, which aligns with what parents typically see in schools in a turnaround phase, clearer boundaries, more predictable consequences, and fewer grey areas in classrooms.

The house system is one of the more established anchors for identity. Students joining in Year 7 are placed into one of five houses, Chequers, Hartwell, Rothschild, Verney and Windsor, each linked to local landmarks. For many children, that kind of structure provides a smaller community inside a larger school, which can be especially valuable during the Year 7 settling in period.

Historically, the school presents itself as established in the 1960s, with later growth and facility upgrades linked to its current phase as an academy within Insignis Academy Trust. That trust context matters day to day, because governance, school improvement capacity, and staffing support are shaped at trust level as well as within the school.

This is an area where the numbers are candid and the context is important.

For GCSE outcomes, The Mandeville School is ranked 3,560th in England and 7th in Aylesbury (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). This places performance below England average overall.

Headline GCSE indicators reinforce that picture. The school’s Attainment 8 score is 36.4 and Progress 8 is -0.78, meaning pupils, on average, make less progress than similar pupils nationally from their starting points. EBacc entry and outcomes also suggest challenge: the average EBacc points score is 3.03 compared with an England average of 4.08, and 50% achieve grades 5 or above across the EBacc.

The most useful way to interpret these figures is alongside the improvement narrative set out in formal evaluation: curriculum work in some subjects has taken too long to complete, gaps in knowledge have accumulated, and outcomes have not improved quickly enough, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and or disabilities.

Post 16 performance data is not presented here as an outcomes table, because the sixth form is currently small and its offer is in a rebuild phase. What can be stated with confidence is scale and focus. The sixth form roll is listed as 30 students in the most recent inspection report, and the current provision includes BTEC Sport Level 3 delivered in collaboration with a trust partner.

Parents comparing local options should use the FindMySchool Local Hub and Comparison Tool to view these GCSE indicators side by side with nearby schools serving the same area, and to keep the conversation grounded in published outcomes rather than reputation alone.

The school has put a defined teaching and learning framework in place, branded as TMS CORE. It is explicitly linked to Rosenshine and Tom Sherrington’s work, and it sets out a shared lesson structure and common expectations.

What does that mean in practice for students and parents?

Example: the framework specifies that every lesson should include a retrieval starter, a visible big question, explicit instruction and modelling, guided and independent practice, and a final recap that links back to the big question.

Evidence: this is not presented as optional guidance, it is framed as a minimum entitlement, designed to make lessons predictable and to reduce variation between classrooms.

Implication: for students who benefit from structure, including those with weaker prior knowledge, this approach can reduce cognitive load and help them re build confidence. For high prior attainers, the effectiveness depends on how consistently challenge is embedded, which the framework explicitly names as one of its pillars.

Curriculum intent pages repeat the same internal language and signal a focus on broad access and aspiration, with assessment tracking supported through an online system that allows families to view attitudes to learning and assessment grades.

It is also worth noting, in a factual rather than promotional way, that the school’s improvement priorities are directly tied to curriculum sequencing and assessment accuracy. Formal evaluation identifies weaknesses in defining what should be taught and when in some subjects, and in identifying and closing gaps in learning through effective checking of understanding. For families, the practical question to ask on a visit is not whether the curriculum is ambitious in principle, but how the school is ensuring that missed learning is being found and re taught without simply moving on.

For many families, destinations are the most tangible measure of whether a school is preparing young people for real options at 16 and 18.

For the 2023/24 cohort, with a cohort size of 48, published destination data shows:

• 33% progressing to university

• 27% progressing to further education

• 4% starting apprenticeships

• 23% entering employment

These figures do not cover every possible destination route, but they do provide a grounded sense of the balance of pathways for recent leavers. They also underline that this is not a sixth form pipeline school at present; it is a school where a significant share of students move into further education, work, or employment linked routes after Year 11 or Year 13.

The school’s careers approach aligns to the Gatsby Benchmarks and references provider access legislation, which should translate into more visible technical and apprenticeship information for Years 8 to 13. For parents, the practical implication is that the school should be able to talk clearly about local colleges, apprenticeships, and employer encounters, not only traditional academic progression.

Year 7 admission is managed through Buckinghamshire Council’s coordinated process. The published admissions number for September 2026 is 210, and a supplementary information form is not required.

Buckinghamshire’s published timetable for September 2026 entry sets out a clear sequence: online applications open on 4 September 2025, the deadline is 31 October 2025, and National Offer Day is 2 March 2026. The school’s own admissions guidance mirrors this structure, describing the window as opening when children start Year 6 and closing at the end of October, with outcomes communicated at the start of March.

Demand data indicates modest oversubscription rather than extreme competition: 251 applications for 222 offers, a ratio of 1.13 applications per place, and a first preference ratio recorded as 1. There is no published last distance offered figure available here, so families should not assume entry is determined by a narrow radius. Instead, the practical step is to read the current admissions policy and use FindMySchoolMap Search to check likely travel distance and transport practicality, then keep expectations realistic around annual variation in demand.

For sixth form entry, Buckinghamshire’s directory lists a published admissions number for September 2026 of 70. The school also signals that its sixth form offer is evolving, with current provision including BTEC Sport Level 3 and a wider trust linked pathway for post 16 choices across partner schools.

A school in improvement mode lives or dies on trust, consistency, and safeguarding culture. The school’s safeguarding information is explicit about expectations, including a whole school responsibility model and an emphasis that no concern is too small. Recruitment checks and safer working practices are referenced as part of the safeguarding approach, which aligns with standard statutory expectations.

Wellbeing support is presented through a tiered model. Students are directed first to tutor and year based pastoral staff, with escalation into specialist routes through SEND or safeguarding teams where needed. The SEND pages also emphasise joint working between professionals, parents and students, which is usually a good sign that the school expects support plans to be collaborative rather than purely school led.

The most recent inspection report also describes high levels of absence and persistent absence, alongside some in school truancy, identifying attendance as a key barrier to progress. For parents, this has two implications. First, if your child has historically struggled with attendance, ask what the attendance strategy looks like now, including early intervention triggers. Second, if your child is a reliable attender, ask how the school is protecting lesson time and ensuring that classrooms remain calm and purposeful.

A school’s co curricular life is often where confidence is rebuilt, friendships settle, and marginal students find their thing. The published co curricular timetable gives unusually concrete examples for a mainstream state secondary, which makes this section easier to evidence.

At lunchtime, activities listed include Student Council, Gaming community, Singing for stage, Rock band, KS3 Art club, and Board games. After school, the timetable references SEND homework club, Dance (invite only), Science club, and Book club. There are also future additions flagged, including Languages, Cooking, Lego, and Dungeons and Dragons.

Example: a student who is socially cautious may find it easier to start with structured clubs such as Board games or Book club, where conversation has a shared focus.

Evidence: both are explicitly listed as scheduled activities rather than informal suggestions.

Implication: this can reduce the pressure of unstructured time, which is often where anxiety and low level behaviour can surface.

The school also runs a Breakfast Club every morning from 8.00am to 8.25am in the canteen. That is not a full wraparound offer, but it can be meaningful for families balancing early starts, and it can improve punctuality for students who struggle with morning routines.

House identity adds another layer of participation, with house colours appearing on ties and planners, and house membership shaping inter house events. For some students, that visible belonging is the easiest route into participation before they are ready for wider leadership roles.

The published school day starts with students expected through main reception at 8.28am, followed by tutor time and assemblies from 8.30am, and the school day ending at 3.00pm. Breakfast Club runs from 8.00am to 8.25am. Buckinghamshire Council’s directory lists before and after school provision as not available, so families should treat breakfast provision as the main structured pre school option.

This is a state funded school with no tuition fees. Parents should still plan for the usual secondary costs such as uniform, equipment, trips, and optional activities.

For transport, the key practical step is to consider the school’s local catchment and travel routes within Aylesbury, and to check eligibility for any council supported transport where relevant, especially if your child would be travelling across the town at peak times.

• Inspection context and improvement pace. Quality of education was graded Inadequate in November 2024, with specific concerns about curriculum design and the time taken to complete vital curriculum work in some subjects. Families should ask what has changed since that point, and what is already embedded rather than planned.

• Attendance as a live issue. Formal evaluation highlights persistent absence and some in school truancy as factors that limit learning, even when behaviour is improving. If your child is vulnerable to disengagement, explore attendance support and early intervention.

• Small sixth form, limited breadth for now. The sixth form roll is listed as 30, and the current on site offer is described as small, with BTEC Sport Level 3 referenced as a core element. Students seeking a wide A level menu should explore whether they would be better served by a larger sixth form option locally.

• Operational complexity. The school operates across two sites and uses alternative providers, which can be effective when well managed but requires strong oversight to maintain consistent quality and safeguarding. Parents may want to understand how timetabling and transitions between sites work for their child’s year group.

The Mandeville School is best understood as a community secondary in the middle of a structured reset. The culture indicators around safety and behaviour are moving in the right direction, and the school has a clearly defined teaching framework designed to bring consistency into classrooms.

It suits families who want a local Aylesbury secondary, value clear routines, and are prepared to engage with a school that is actively improving rather than already at cruising altitude. The limiting factor is not cost or selection, but confidence in the pace of academic improvement, particularly at Key Stages 3 and 4.