Cromer Academy

About Cromer Academy

Cromer Academy’s headline Progress 8 score of +0.26 places it well above the Norfolk local authority average of -0.02, meaning its pupils make significantly more academic progress between age 11 and 16 than their peers across the county. That gap is not marginal — it’s a full 0.28 of a grade per subject, which in practical terms lifts the school into the top 30% nationally and second in the North Norfolk district of seven schools. The school’s Attainment 8 score of 47 also suggests students leave with solid GCSE results, though the real standout is how much value the school adds: pupils arrive with broadly average starting points and leave with stronger outcomes than the typical Norfolk secondary delivers. The school is rated Good by Ofsted, a grade it has held consistently across inspections, and its leadership and management were judged Outstanding in the most recent graded inspection back in 2016.

Digging into the Progress 8 breakdown, the strongest subject area is maths, where the school achieves a progress score of +0.62 — that’s well above the national average and suggests particularly effective teaching in that department. English progress is more modest at +0.08, while the EBacc subjects overall come in at +0.56, indicating strong performance across the humanities and languages. The basics measure — pupils achieving grade 5 or above in both English and maths — sits at 53.5%, which is a solid benchmark. The school also has a notably high EBacc entry rate of 59.7%, well above the national average, and 42.6% of pupils achieve the EBacc at grade 5 or above. The Progress 8 banding is officially ‘Above average’, and the school ranks 14th out of 57 secondary schools across the whole of Norfolk, placing it comfortably in the top quarter of the county.

Cromer Academy is a non-selective, non-denominational secondary for 11 to 16 year olds with no sixth form, so families will need to plan for post-16 options elsewhere. The school is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 it received 208 applications for 136 places, with 135 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.53. Facilities include playing fields, tennis courts, an astro turf pitch, art studios, music rooms, and an ICT suite. The school offers a wide range of sports including hockey, netball, swimming, and dance, plus clubs such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, science club, and eco club. SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and social, emotional and mental health support. With 26.2% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a diverse intake and appears to add strong value for all its students, making it a particularly attractive option for families in the North Norfolk area who want a school that consistently outperforms the local average.

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