Felixstowe School Review 2026: A large coastal secondary with a clear improvement story

Momentum matters here. Felixstowe School is a state secondary and sixth form for students aged 11 to 19, with a published capacity of 1,500 and a roll of 1,241 at the time of the most recent inspection. The latest Ofsted inspection (4 to 5 June 2024, report published 09 July 2024) judged the school to be Good across all areas, including sixth form provision.

Leadership has been stable through a period of significant change. Emma Wilson-Downes has been headteacher since October 2019, following a transition period when the school joined Unity Schools Partnership in September 2019. For families, the headline is straightforward: this is a non-selective local school aiming to raise outcomes through stronger behaviour routines, a more ambitious curriculum, and better consistency in teaching.

The most convincing aspect of Felixstowe School is its direction of travel. The culture is described as safer, calmer, and more purposeful than it was earlier in the school’s improvement journey, with higher expectations around behaviour and classroom conduct now supporting learning with fewer interruptions. Students benefit from the structure of a large secondary, but with pastoral organisation that tries to keep individuals visible, including a house system and tutor groups as students join the school.

The school sits within a trust context, and that matters because it shapes how improvement is resourced and monitored. Felixstowe School is part of Unity Schools Partnership, and trust support is positioned as a practical driver of school improvement, including strengthening leadership and supporting staffing stability. For parents, the practical implication is that this is not a stand-alone school operating in isolation. Decision-making, curriculum development, and staffing capacity sit within a wider system.

There is also a clear emphasis on preparing students for adult life. Personal, social, health and economic education is presented as planned and sequenced, and careers guidance is framed as a strength across the school, with sixth form students receiving additional bespoke support to raise aspirations. That mix, more stable routines plus a stronger future-facing message, tends to suit students who do best when expectations are explicit and support is practical rather than abstract.

Felixstowe School’s published outcomes place it below England average on headline secondary measures, even as the wider narrative is one of improvement.

GCSE outcomes and context

Based on the FindMySchool ranking (derived from official data), Felixstowe School is ranked 3,444th in England for GCSE outcomes and ranked 1st locally within Felixstowe. That position places it below England average, within the bottom 40% of ranked schools in England.

On the underlying GCSE measures provided:

• Attainment 8 is 35.8.

• Progress 8 is -0.48, indicating students make less progress than pupils with similar prior attainment nationally.

• The average EBacc APS is 3.07.

• 5.9% achieved grades 5 or above across the EBacc measure provided.

These figures are best read in two ways. First, they confirm that outcomes, particularly progress, remain an area for continued focus. Second, they help explain why the school’s improvement strategy places so much weight on consistency of teaching, behaviour routines that protect learning time, and strengthening literacy, especially for weaker readers.

A practical implication for families is that the “right fit” will often depend on how much structure your child benefits from, and how well they respond to deliberate academic habits such as regular retrieval practice, reading support, and a calm classroom climate. Where students need stability and clear routines to learn well, a tightening culture can be a real advantage. Where students are already highly independent and self-propelling, the more important question becomes subject consistency, because variation between departments is explicitly recognised as a remaining challenge.

Sixth form outcomes

Felixstowe School has a smaller sixth form than many large secondaries, with 89 students recorded in sixth form at the time of inspection. On A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), the school is ranked 1,762nd in England and ranked 1st locally within Felixstowe. This again places it below England average on the distribution used for ranking.

The grade profile shows:

• 6.48% of entries at A*

• 7.41% at A

• 22.22% at B

• 36.11% at A* to B

For context, the England comparison figures are 23.6% at A* to A and 47.2% at A* to B.

The implication is not that ambitious students should avoid the sixth form. It is that families should ask sharper questions about subject availability, class sizes, and how well the sixth form programme supports progression to the next step, whether that is university, apprenticeships, or employment. The school’s own framing emphasises targeted support and strong subject knowledge in sixth form teaching, which will matter most for students who need clear guidance and structured independent study expectations.

Parents comparing local options can use the FindMySchool Local Hub pages to view GCSE and A-level performance side-by-side, including progress measures, rather than relying on headline grades alone.

Curriculum ambition is a central pillar of the current strategy. The curriculum is described as broad and balanced, with increasing challenge built into subject planning, and a move towards more students taking a suite of academic subjects that make up the English Baccalaureate. The significance for families is simple: the school is explicitly trying to raise expectations of what students study and what they are expected to remember, not merely how they are managed.

In day-to-day classroom terms, the strongest indicator is the push for clearer explanations, regular checking of understanding, and lessons that hold students to higher expectations. Where teaching is strong, students get explanations that break down knowledge carefully and check what students have retained. Where teaching is less consistent, the reasons given are familiar to many improving schools, temporary staffing arrangements and the need for some teachers to develop practice further.

Reading is treated as a non-negotiable foundation. Students who struggle receive additional help, and literacy support is part of the improvement strategy. The remaining challenge is precision for a small number of the weakest readers, where support is not always closely matched to what those students need to learn next, which then limits progress across the wider curriculum. This matters for parents because it points to a practical question to explore: how quickly does the school identify reading gaps on entry to Year 7, and what exactly happens for students who need intensive decoding and fluency work?

Support for students with special educational needs and disabilities is described as being built into curriculum thinking, with adaptations to help students access learning, and careful use of alternative learning placements for a small number of pupils where a mainstream timetable is not the best fit. For families considering the school with additional needs, the best approach is to look for specificity, what adjustments are typical in your child’s subjects, what interventions are delivered, and how progress is tracked term by term.

Because the school does not publish a detailed Russell Group or Oxbridge destination breakdown on its own website, destination outcomes here rely on the dataset figures for 16 to 18 leavers.

For the 2023/24 cohort (cohort size 66):

• 41% progressed to university

• 12% started apprenticeships

• 33% moved into employment

• Further education is recorded as 0% for this cohort

The most useful way to read these figures is as a mixed, practical progression picture rather than a single-track “university-only” pipeline. For many families, that is reassuring: the school serves students with varied ambitions and routes, and an outcomes profile that includes employment and apprenticeships alongside university.

Within school, careers guidance is positioned as continuous, with sixth form leaders providing additional bespoke support to help students understand how to reach their goals. The implication is that sixth form success here depends heavily on how well students engage with that support, and how consistently the school maintains expectations around attendance, study habits, and independent learning.

Year 7 entry (September 2026)

Applications for Year 7 entry for September 2026 are made through Suffolk County Council as part of coordinated admissions. For Suffolk secondary transfer, the published county guidance sets the on-time deadline as Friday 31 October 2025.

Suffolk also makes clear that late applications are processed after places have been offered to those who applied on time, with late applications considered after offers have been issued in early March 2026.

Oversubscription criteria are set out in the school’s determined admissions policy. The published criteria include looked-after and previously looked-after children, exceptional medical or social grounds, partner primary school attendance, and then proximity using straight-line distance as the tie-breaker when required.

If your housing decision depends on admission, use the FindMySchool Map Search to check your measured distance carefully and to test multiple addresses. Even where distance is a criterion, it is not a guarantee, because the pattern of applications changes each year.

In-year admissions

In-year applications are handled directly by the school, with the school coordinating its own in-year admissions and reporting outcomes to the local authority.

Sixth form entry (Year 12)

The admissions policy for post-16 indicates a published admission number for sixth form entry, and sets the expectation that all applicants are admitted if the number of applications does not exceed that capacity, with oversubscription criteria applying if demand exceeds the published number. Because post-16 offer details can change year to year based on course viability and cohort planning, families should confirm the current Year 12 offer directly via the school’s published sixth form materials before relying on a specific subject combination.

This is a school that treats “time in school” as a major driver of outcomes. Attendance is framed as a priority, both in the inspection improvement points and in the school’s own attendance guidance, with a strong message about the cumulative impact of absence across the year. The practical implication for parents is that support and sanctions around attendance are likely to feel firm, particularly for families where absence patterns are emerging.

Safeguarding is an area where parents should take confidence from the most recent official assessment: inspectors confirmed safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Pastoral support is also linked to wider inclusion decisions. The school makes use of alternative provision for a small number of students, and the leadership approach is framed as ensuring placements are relevant and appropriate, rather than defaulting to internal isolation as the only option. For families, this raises a sensible question to explore during admissions conversations: how does the school decide when internal support is enough, and when a different placement is in a student’s best interests?

The enrichment offer is an important signal at Felixstowe School because it supports the wider message that students should see school as more than lessons and tests. The school runs an enrichment and extracurricular programme across year groups, framed around developing interests and building links between students across different ages.

What makes the offer more tangible is the specificity. Activities referenced include robotics and podcasting, which sit naturally alongside a modern curriculum and can be strong engagement hooks for students who are motivated by making and creating, not only written work. Music also has a clear place, with an orchestra cited as a participation route, which matters for students who want structured ensemble experience rather than only individual tuition.

Alongside that, the published club timetable materials indicate a practical mix of academic and interest-led options such as Games Design club, German club, Drum club, Fitness club, and Lego activity sessions. Chaplaincy-linked enrichment references also include Chess Club, Theology Club, Debate Club, and Garden Club, suggesting that quieter, discussion-led activities sit alongside sport and performance.

For students who benefit from belonging, the house structure supports participation. Houses contain multiple tutor groups and a dedicated sixth form tutor group, and heads of house hold responsibility for monitoring progress and removing barriers to learning, which connects extracurricular identity back to academic oversight.

Finally, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is available for students aged 14 and above, providing a clear personal development route that can suit students who grow through responsibility, volunteering, and structured physical challenge.

The implication for parents is that extracurricular is not simply “nice to have” here. For some students, particularly those whose motivation improves when school feels purposeful and social, clubs and enrichment can be the difference between drifting and engaging.

The school day expectation is clear: students are expected to arrive at 08:20 for an 08:30 start, with the entrance locking at 08:25. The school explicitly states that it does not operate wrap-around care provision.

On travel, the school actively promotes walking, scooting, cycling, and public transport, and highlights practical facilities including cycle parking, scooter parking, and lockers for helmets or equipment. For families who need to drive, the travel policy describes a “5 minute walk zone” approach and asks for considerate, legal parking that respects local residents.

• Outcomes remain a work in progress. Progress 8 is -0.48, and GCSE ranking places the school below England average. Families should look closely at subject-level consistency and ask how the school ensures strong teaching across all departments.

• Attendance is a major focus. The improvement priorities include reducing absence for some students, and the school’s messaging is explicit about how quickly absence undermines learning. This can be supportive for many families, but it may feel pressurised where there are complex medical or family circumstances.

• Wrap-around care is not available. For working families, the absence of breakfast or after-school childcare provision may require additional planning, even where clubs are available.

• A large school experience. With over 1,200 pupils recorded on roll at inspection, this is a big secondary. That scale suits students who enjoy social breadth and choice, but some will prefer a smaller setting.

Felixstowe School is best understood as a large community secondary and sixth form that has moved into a more stable, higher-expectation phase, with a Good inspection judgement and a clear strategy built around curriculum ambition, calmer behaviour, and stronger careers guidance.

Who it suits: students who benefit from structure, clear routines, and a school that is actively improving, particularly those who will engage with clubs, enrichment, and careers support as part of their wider development. The key decision point for parents is not the direction of travel, which is positive, but whether subject consistency and outcomes match your child’s needs and ambitions.