Alde Valley Academy is a mixed secondary academy in Leiston, Suffolk County Council, teaching 645 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted rated it Requires improvement at its last graded inspection in July 2024. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 33.7 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 3 September 2025 to 17 July 2026.

Ofsted inspection

The latest published Ofsted judgement for Alde Valley Academy.

Latest inspection
Requires improvement Overall effectiveness
Quality of educationRequires improvement
Behaviour & attitudesRequires improvement
Personal developmentRequires improvement
Leadership & managementRequires improvement
S5 Inspection · Inspected 9 Jul 2024 · Published 16 Sep 2024
Read full Ofsted report ↗

Scale: Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate

Term dates & holidays 2025–2026

Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Alde Valley Academy.

Alde Valley Academy term dates calendar 2025–2026
Official term-dates calendar · 2025–2026 · source

Interactive Calendar

September 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1 PD Day
  • 2 PD Day
  • 3 Autumn Term Starts (First Day)
October 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 24 PD Day
  • 27–31 Autumn Half Term
November 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
December 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 19 Autumn Term Ends (Last Day)
  • 20–31 Christmas Holiday
  • 25 Christmas Day (Bank Holiday)
  • 26 Boxing Day (Bank Holiday)
January 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–4 Christmas Holiday
  • 1 New Year's Day (Bank Holiday)
  • 5 PD Day
  • 6 Spring Term Starts (First Day)
February 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
  • 16–20 Spring Half Term
March 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 27 Spring Term Ends (Last Day)
  • 28–31 Easter Holiday
April 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–12 Easter Holiday
  • 3 Good Friday (Bank Holiday)
  • 6 Easter Monday (Bank Holiday)
  • 13 Summer Term Starts (First Day)
May 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 4 Early May Bank Holiday
  • 25–29 Summer Half Term
  • 25 Spring Bank Holiday
June 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
July 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 17 Summer Term Ends (Last Day)
  • 20 PD Day
  • 21 Summer Holiday Begins
August 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 31 Summer Bank Holiday

Key dates (2025–2026)

  • PD Day Sep 1, 2025 Event
  • PD Day Sep 2, 2025 Event
  • Autumn Term Starts (First Day) Sep 3, 2025 Term
  • PD Day Oct 24, 2025 Event
  • Autumn Half Term Oct 27-31, 2025 Holiday
  • Autumn Term Ends (Last Day) Dec 19, 2025 Term
  • Christmas Holiday Dec 20, 2025 - Jan 4, 2026 Holiday
  • PD Day Jan 5, 2026 Event
  • Spring Term Starts (First Day) Jan 6, 2026 Term
  • Spring Half Term Feb 16-20, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Term Ends (Last Day) Mar 27, 2026 Term
  • Easter Holiday Mar 28 - Apr 12, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Term Starts (First Day) Apr 13, 2026 Term
  • Summer Half Term May 25-29, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Term Ends (Last Day) Jul 17, 2026 Term
  • PD Day Jul 20, 2026 Event
  • Summer Holiday Begins Jul 21, 2026 Holiday
  • New Year's Day (Bank Holiday) Jan 1, 2026 Holiday
  • Good Friday (Bank Holiday) Apr 3, 2026 Holiday
  • Easter Monday (Bank 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 (Bank Holiday) Dec 25, 2025 Holiday
  • Boxing Day (Bank Holiday) Dec 26, 2025 Holiday

Exam results & performance

DfE performance tables Official results, 2024–2025 GOV.UK ↗
33.7 Attainment 8 England 46.1
23.7% Grade 5+ English & maths England 45.4%
25.5% Persistent absence England 17.8%

The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Alde Valley Academy with Suffolk County Council and England.

Key stage 4 (GCSE) 33.7 Attainment 8 score

Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.

This school Suffolk County Council England

Attainment 8 score · Average across 8 GCSEs, out of 90 33.7
Suffolk County Council 42.8 England 46.1 -12.4 vs England
Grade 5+ in English & maths · A strong pass 23.7%
Suffolk County Council 39.9% England 45.4% -21.7 vs England
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils 23.1
Suffolk County Council 30.8 England 34.9 -11.8 vs England
Disadvantage gap · Attainment 8 points; smaller is better 14.5
Suffolk County Council 15.9 England 15.5 -1 vs England
Disadvantaged pupils in the year group · Context for the scores above 26.7%
Suffolk County Council 24.5% England 28.2%
Pupils in the year group · Small cohorts swing wildly 135
Attendance 25.5% Persistently absent pupils

Absence across the whole school year.

This school Suffolk County Council England

Persistently absent pupils · Missed 10%+ of sessions; lower is better 25.5%
Suffolk County Council 17.9% England 17.8% +7.7 vs England
Overall absence · Lower is better 9.9%
Suffolk County Council 7% England 6.8% +3.2 vs 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 Suffolk County Council England

In education, apprenticeship or work 93%
Suffolk County Council 93% England 92% +1 vs England
Same, for disadvantaged pupils 84%
Suffolk County Council 84% England 83% +1 vs 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 Alde Valley Academy. 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 catchment Other secondary schools

Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Alde Valley Academy 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.