UK Schools
Birchwood High School
Birchwood High School is a mixed secondary academy in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire County Council, teaching 1,417 pupils aged 11 to 18. Ofsted graded quality of education as Good at its most recent inspection in January 2025. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 46.1 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 19 December 2025 to 22 July 2026.
Ofsted inspection
The latest published Ofsted judgement for Birchwood High School.
From September 2024 Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. These are the graded judgement areas from the latest inspection.
Scale: Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate
Term dates & holidays 2025–2026
Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Birchwood High School.
- 1 CPD Day (School Closed)
- 2 School Opens (Years 7 & 12 only)
- 3 School Opens (All Students)
- 24 CPD Day (School Closed)
- 27–31 Autumn Half Term Holiday
- 19 Last Day of Autumn Term
- 22–31 Christmas Holiday
- 25 Christmas Day (Public Holiday)
- 26 Boxing Day (Public Holiday)
- 1–2 Christmas Holiday
- 1 New Year's Day (Public Holiday)
- 5 First Day of Spring Term
- 16–20 Spring Half Term Holiday
- 6 CPD Day (School Closed)
- 2 Last Day of Spring Term
- 3–17 Easter Holiday
- 3 Good Friday (Public Holiday)
- 6 Easter Monday (Public Holiday)
- 20 First Day of Summer Term
- 4 Early May Bank Holiday
- 25–29 Summer Half Term Holiday
- 25 Spring Bank Holiday
- 3 CPD Day (School Closed)
- 22 Last Day of Summer Term
- 23–31 Summer Holiday
- 1–31 Summer Holiday
- 31 Summer Bank Holiday
Key dates (2025–2026)
- School Opens (Years 7 & 12 only) Sep 2, 2025 Event
- School Opens (All Students) Sep 3, 2025 Event
- Autumn Half Term Holiday Oct 27-31, 2025 Holiday
- Last Day of Autumn Term Dec 19, 2025 Term
- Christmas Holiday Dec 22, 2025 - Jan 2, 2026 Holiday
- First Day of Spring Term Jan 5, 2026 Term
- Spring Half Term Holiday Feb 16-20, 2026 Holiday
- Last Day of Spring Term Apr 2, 2026 Term
- Easter Holiday Apr 3-17, 2026 Holiday
- First Day of Summer Term Apr 20, 2026 Term
- Summer Half Term Holiday May 25-29, 2026 Holiday
- Last Day of Summer Term Jul 22, 2026 Term
- Summer Holiday Jul 23 - Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
- CPD Day (School Closed) Sep 1, 2025 Event
- CPD Day (School Closed) Oct 24, 2025 Event
- CPD Day (School Closed) Mar 6, 2026 Event
- CPD Day (School Closed) Jul 3, 2026 Event
- New Year's Day (Public Holiday) Jan 1, 2026 Holiday
- Good Friday (Public Holiday) Apr 3, 2026 Holiday
- Easter Monday (Public Holiday) Apr 6, 2026 Holiday
- Early May Bank Holiday May 4, 2026 Holiday
- Spring Bank Holiday May 25, 2026 Holiday
- Summer Bank Holiday Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
- Christmas Day (Public Holiday) Dec 25, 2025 Holiday
- Boxing Day (Public Holiday) Dec 26, 2025 Holiday
Exam results & performance
The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Birchwood High School with Hertfordshire County Council and England.
Key stage 4 (GCSE) 46.1 Attainment 8 score
Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.
This school Hertfordshire County Council England
16 to 18 (A level & sixth form) 32.07 A level average point score
Results for students finishing post-16 study.
This school Hertfordshire County Council England
Attendance 29.9% Persistently absent pupils
Absence across the whole school year.
This school Hertfordshire County Council England
What pupils do after GCSEs 93% In education, apprenticeship or work
Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.
This school Hertfordshire County Council England
What students do after 16 to 18 study 93% In education, apprenticeship or work
Destinations the year after finishing post-16 study.
This school Hertfordshire County Council England
About this data source & caveats
Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.
We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.
Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for Birchwood High School. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.
Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Location & catchment area
Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Birchwood High School than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.